If I had ten thousand tongues

I couldn't thank God enough!

I've been hesitant to share this event, but I almost died on November 9th. I think I had been trying to down play it - especially to my kids, but the absolute truth of the matter is that I could be dead and gone.

On Sunday, Nov. 8, I had been out of breath and having pains in my chest all day. It continued throughout the night and I didn't get much sleep. I just decided that I would call my doctor in the morning when I got to work. So I got up, got dressed and went on into work. As I usually do on Monday mornings, I stopped by the Fire Academy to talk to Lt. Stallings and Lt. Davis - both of whom are paramedics as well as instructors at the fire academy. I just happened to mention to them my "little problem" and Yolanda (Stallings) immediately took out her bood pressure equipment and took my pressure. It turned out to be 220/168. She told Lt. Forrest to call 911 and I said "No - for what. Take the other arm that must be wrong." So, she took other arm and it was about the same. But I HATE hospitals and was refusing to go. Yoland just put me on oxygen and the next thing I knew the ambulance was there. Ok - so I agreed to go the hospital as long as they didn't take my to Einstein or Temple. So they took me to Roxborough.

On the way, I rec'd two shots of nitroglycerin under my tongue and two baby aspirin. Blood pressure stayed elevated.

Alroght - to make a long story shore - the Dr. at Roxborough took 2 EKGs and told me that "your heart is trying to go into cardiac arrest, but it wont." She looked kinda baffled as I recall. I know i was baffled - and still refused to see the seriousness of the situation and wanted to know how long before I would be released. She kindly let me know that I wasn't going to be released - I was being transferred to Hanemann Hospital where they would check for clotting and blockage - of whicH THERE WAS NONE!

So, I got my Christmas miracle early this year - just in time for Thanksgiving. It wasn't even until after Thanksgiving that I really sat down and thought about what had happened to me...I was still in denial. But there is no doubt that logically speaking, I should be dead...but I'm not.

I guess my work here isn't finished yet.