As I look back over my life

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.

Alright - 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!  The only thing they found was that my heart was shaped very abnormally...like it was twisted.  (maybe my heart actually did break when it felt like it broke when my mom passed away.)

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.