The day I died – Part Four

After they finished the oblation procedure they sent me back up to my room in the hospital. I called my wife Joy who was unable to come and see me because she did not at the time have a driver’s license. It was a very trying time for me but how much more for my precious wife and my two very young children. Joy was stuck at home with a child who was just about to turn three in a few days and another who was only ten months old.

I knew that if I died my children who not have any memories of their father. Oh they would have a picture or two and even a few video clips, but not a father who loved them. If I died my wife would be a widow with two young children and nowhere to turn. This was unacceptable two me so I prayed to God for his help and decided that I refused to die young. I would not leave my children without a daddy or my wife without a husband who would love and protected them.

The next day the hospital decided to do another procedure to see if I needed a pacemaker or if my condition could be treated with medication. I bet you can guess what I was hoping for. One a gain they strapped me to a board and put straight up with a little tilt forward. They would then inject me with adrenaline and message the artery in my neck to try to get me to pass out.

This did this two me four times increasing the amount of adrenaline each time. I managed to stay awake and not pass out till the last time. When I woke up on the table I was afraid that I had failed and that I would now need surgery to have a pacemaker implanted. But fortunately they said I would only need medication.

The day I died – Part Three

Image from WikipediaI did not have a heart attack but I had an irregular heartbeat. For some reason my heart has an extra beat and my heart rate varies from 55 to 120 back and forth. This is the condition from which the Reverend Jerry Farwell died this year.

After a stay over night at Norwood Hospital I was shipped of to St. Elizabeth’s in Boston. They had to determine if I needed a pacemaker or not. The whole Idea was quit scary but my thoughts were not on me but what would happen to my wife and children if I died. I could not bear to have them suffer.

At St. Elizabeth Hospital they were going to do a procedure on me called an oblation. This were they strap you to a table not much wider than an ironing board. They inserted a probe in to my vain in my right leg. This probe went all the way up into the inside of my heart. Now this procedure is normally done when the patient is asleep but because they were uncertain of why my heart stopped they kept me awake threw the entire ordeal.

As mentioned earlier the probe when threw the vain in my right leg near my groin and up into the inside of my heart. They then proceed in giving the inside of my heart a series of electric shocks to see how it responded to the stimulus. This was like having and internal cattle prod inside of my heart. It was quite painful.

After they finish with the shocks they cauterized a section of my heart to help get the irregular heartbeats under control. This two was quite painful being wide-awake. All I could do was lye as still as possible and pray. Pray that I would make it through this ordeal but most of all pray that I was here for my wife and kids.

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2008 Contract Of Friendship

This 2oo8 Contract been sent to me by Joy. So I am passing this to Liza and Flo.

And here's the contract!
After serious and cautious consideration...your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2008! It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to screw it up!!!

My Wish for You in 2008

May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills. May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips! May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires! May happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy. May the problems you had forget your home address! In simple words ...May 2008 be the best year of your life!

I Got My First Award

I recieced this 2 award beautiful blogger and medal of awesomeness from my wife Joy. Thank you Babe.

I forward this award to my other blog Just My Opinion, and send this award to Yvette, Gerby, Liza.

The day I died – Part two

A half a minute latter I woke up surrounded by doctors and nurses. Someone in the room said, “Had they called it?” When that nurse saw that I was conscious she said “Oh I meant had we called code blue.” This of course was a fib because all the nurses and doctors were all ready there. Believe me there is not much scarier than waking up in the emergency room hearing that.

My heart had stopped for half a minute, which seems like a short time but to a cardiologist that is a very long time. I wish I could tell you that I saw Jesus, angels or pearly gates but that would not be true. If I did experience any of that the memory did not come back with me. Even though I had always had strong faith in Christ as my Lord I did not have one of those experiences. Maybe I wasn’t gone long enough.

Even though Christ did not appear to me he had answered my prayers. You see I waited late in life to marry. My wife Joy is a beautiful Filipino who hails from the Philippines and we have two young daughters. At the time my oldest had just turned three and my youngest had not yet turned one. Because both my parents had passed away within the last 18 months if I died my wife and children would be left alone.

I knew my wife would return to the Philippines where my children would be raised in a third world country and suffer in poverty for the rest of their lives. Before my heart stopped I prayed to God and asked him for a favor. I knew if I died all would be well for me but for my wife and children’s sake I asked him to let me live till my children are grown and have families of their own. God honored my prayer and I am still here.

I will continue this series tomorrow with the experiences that followed after I came back from death.

The day I died – Part One

Image via WikipediaThree years ago this last December I died. I know you are wondering am I blogging from the other side? Fortunately I am back alive at least for today, and I have to trust God one day at a time for every breath and for every heartbeat. It gives you a whole new outlook on life.

One December day early in the month I was at my work sitting in my cube when I started to feel heaviness on my chest. It felt like my child was sitting on my chest. I walked up to my boss and asked if it was okay if I went to the hospital to get checked out. She immediately sent me on my way.

After a quick stop by my house to see my wife and kids I headed out the door to Norwood Hospital. Shortly after arriving they brought me to the treatment center of the emergency room. They assumed that I was having a heart attack so they treated me accordingly. The only problem was I was not having a heart attack instead it was anxiety brought on by the untimely death of my mother and all the issues I had to deal with just a few weeks before. We buried my Mom the day before Thanksgiving.

To ease my pain they gave me a Nitrate patch to open up the blood vessels and make it easier for the blood to flow. While I was lying there a few minutes later I started to feel funny. I felt kind of dizzy and I called out for the nurses. As I looked out across the room my peripheral vision stated to slowly collapse as if I was being sucked backwards threw a tunnel. The outside of the tunnel being the material world seemed to get farther way until like a pin prick it disappeared. At that moment my heart stopped beating.

The Super Bowl Bet

Image from WikipediaAs a resident of Massachusetts I bet you can’t guess who I am pulling for in the Super Bowl, of course the undefeated soon to be perfect New England Patriots. But one guy at work is not. He is a Giant’s fan. Now if you live in New York or somewhere else in the universe that’s okay. But we Bostonian’s take are sports and our rivalry with New York very seriously.

Clarence who is convinced that the Giant’s will prevail has said if his team loses this Sunday he will come to work on Monday in his wife’s dress. I don’t know about you but I think this guy is nuts. If making NFL history is not enough for you it cheer for a Pat’s victory on Sunday then how about cheering for a fool losing a bet and wearing a dress.

No matter what your reason I hope you will join me Sunday in cheering for the Perfect Pat’s in their next history setting game. If he loses and is man enough to show up Monday in a dress I promise to take a picture to share with you.

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