JUST ONE BREATH - AND LIFE CHANGES FOREVER

Time stopped for us - literally - on Saturday morning, October 18th.  Dan and I were taking our usual Saturday morning walk together. It was a frosty morning, about 22 degrees. We passed a neighbor whom we often see when we walk, and greeted him with a "Good Morning".  Just minutes later, Dan said the frosty air was hurting his lungs and that he couldn't walk any farther. He has mentioned this before when walking, and we didn't think this was odd.  But, we turned around to go home when he said he was experiencing some gas pains, and wanted to wait for me to go home and get the pickup, and bring him home. After arriving home, he continued to complain of gas pains and wanted to go to bed. I noted he was clammy and very sweaty, and realized this could be a heart attack. I immediately called 911 and told them I was concerned he was having a heart attack. I gave him 3 aspirin with a tiny bit of water while we waited for EMS to arrive.  Dan was still conscious and speaking, and the aspirin eased his pain. EMS arrived and determined he was in serious heart distress, and transported him emergently to the local heart hospital. 

It was a very frosty, foggy Saturday morning when our lives changed forever

EMS notified the cath lab, and he was taken in immediately upon arrival at the hospital. They knew he had heart blockage from the EKG. As they placed him on the table and prepped for the stent, Dan's heart stopped. After shocking him, they could not keep his heart stable, and they decided to put him on a heart pump, which kept the heart pumping when the heart was unable to. Two miracles happened - being in the cath lab when his heart stopped, and the access to this heart pump are what saved his life! 

Dan spent two days in ICU where he was constantly monitored with a nurse present. It took two days before his heart stabilized and they were able to wean him off the heart pump.  He spent two days without food or water in case they had to emergently take him to the heart lab again.  Open heart surgery was considered, but thankfully, he did not need it. He had 100% blockage of his LAD and 90% blockage of his RCA.  I cannot praise our God enough that He spared Dan's life, and for the incredible doctors and nurses who saved his life!  After two days in the ICU, he was able to have the second stent put in, and then was released home.

I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that without the mercy of God and the hands of talented medical professionals, I wouldn't have my husband with me today! But the mercy of God, with family and friends who were praying, made all the difference!

Saturday, October 18th, was going to be a busy day for us. Our neighbors were having a breakfast get-together, and then we were going to celebrate Danika's first birthday.  The birthday party was postponed, and the neighbors (who saw the ambulance and me following) prayed for us when I let them know what happened.  

Dan's brother flew in to be with us, and we were SO thankful to have him here during the long travels back and forth from the hospital, which was about an hour away.  Danielle's in-laws live near the hospital, and so I spent the first night with them. It was such an oasis of rest that night as they prayed with me, and were so gracious and kind.  

As I reflect on the events of the past week in my mind, the one thing that sticks out is this - how precious the prayers are that have been prayed! So many reached out to us, prayed for us, came to visit, and told us their friends/families were praying.  I felt and leaned on every one of those prayers, and I can say today that those prayers have sustained us and kept us! 

Dan is back home now, but is very weak. His heart suffered quite a bit of damage, and it will be a while before he is able to go back to work.  As many of you know, we own our own trucking business, and it requires a lot of heavy lifting and maintenance of the trucks. Just holding the wheel and driving requires a lot of effort, and it will take some time for his heart to heal enough to do this.  

Dan loves to work, and already, the healing process is hard for him.  He is never one to sit around and doesn't like to be still for long.  But the gratefulness in our hearts that he is still with us sustains us even in the tough times, and we know that the Lord will be with us through this valley. 

After I followed the ambulance to the hospital, there was a period of about an hour and a half before the kids arrived, and before I received any word of his condition. I was in the cath lab waiting area, completely by myself, with no one in that room.  I walked the entire area, praying out loud, singing, and playing scripture from my phone.  It was a precious time with the Lord, and I knew the Lord was with Dan, where I couldn't be, and He was taking care of my precious husband. I will always treasure that hour of intercessory prayer that the Lord granted me before learning just how bad Dan's condition was. If he had not been at the hospital at that exact moment when his heart stopped, he would not have survived. He could have been out on the road, in his truck driving, or out in the woods hunting... any number of places - but he was with me at home, and I recognized his symptoms and gave him 3 aspirin immediately while waiting for EMS to arrive.  I know without a doubt - GOD spared his life.  

Dan told me this morning that he knows he is living on extended time. Every day is a blessing to us. We both know how close he came to death, and our family is continuing to give the Lord praise that he is still with us today.  

I ask for your continued prayers for our family as we are also expecting Baby Clara any day now, and Alanna and Baby Clara have some complications that we found out about on Wednesday.  She will be monitored carefully over the next few days, and we would appreciate your prayers for Alanna and Baby Clara too.  

I've been leaning on the Lord moment by moment through the last few days, and I can say with calm assurance that I feel His loving Hand with us despite these difficult situations. I would appreciate your prayers for our family - so many others have much more sadness and sorrow than even we do. But if you would lift us up, we would appreciate it.  

My dear friend, Cheryl, wrote an inspirational post on the power of prayer recently, and if you'd like to be encouraged as I was in reading her post, you can find it here. I am so thankful that we don't walk through the troubles life brings us alone - but we have ONE who walks with us through it all, and provides comfort and support. None of us is exempt from the troubles life brings us. But having the Lord strengthen us during those times is such a comfort. 

 

This video is speaking to my heart today, and I pray it will comfort your heart, too. I am thankful for the strength of the Lord that comes to us in the midst of the troubles we face. 

May the blessings of the Lord be with each of you, and I appreciate the prayers you pray for our family!