Heart Attack Close at Home

A Heart Attack can happen to anyone at any time.  According to http://heartinsight.heart.org/Summer-2017/New-Numbers-Same-Story/, “The number of adults living with heart failure increased from about 5.7 million (2009-2012) to about 6.5 million (2011-2014), according to the American Heart Association’s 2017 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics Update.”  Wow, that is a significant rise and I never thought I would have someone close to me to be affected by it.

What a day it was on 31 Oct 2017; I was dressed up as a crazy doctor on top of a table surrounded by fake blood, body parts screaming demonic sounds and gibberish to scare people. Then all of a sudden, my phone interrupted my Spotify scream playlist. I jumped off the table, hit ignore and less than a minute later my phone rang again, and I hit declined once more. Next, a text came through and the message read, “you need to step away from what you are doing and call home.”

Reading the message, I was in panic mode like what the hell happened. The first person came to mind was my mom, thinking she had a heart attack, passed away etc. I picked up the phone and called my sister in a frantic tone “what happened? ” and out of her mouth “dad had a heart attack and he is in Intensive Care Unit (ICU)” What? I could not believe it, my dad?  The man who at 63 worked two jobs to support his family. The man who looked healthy. The man who was an active walker and provider for my mom.  I could not believe it and breath in that moment.

I was in shock and soon the tears were rolling down. I couldn’t understand, he was healthy, active walker, a slim man. I couldn’t jump on a plane the next day because I was in a foreign country, so I all I could do was PRAY. I looked to the chaplain who was within a few feet and asked him to PRAY for my dad and with no question, we prayed in that moment! That night I could not sleep, I was anxious, worrying and just prayed for good news.

After three days, I was back in the United States and I got to see my dad laying lifeless in Newark Beth Israel Hospital. Emotions, between my siblings and I were overwhelming. We stayed positive, asks for the best doctors and leaned on each other to stay strong for our dad.

My dad was gone for 20 minutes and due to the performance by the doctors, they were able to regain a heartbeat. The adjustment was hard; seeing him hooked up to various machines in his sides, mouth, arms to help him breathe, control his blood pressure, control his bleeding, and feeding.

As the days progressed, my siblings and I were uncertain of the outcome.  After weeks of praying and the awesome nurses and doctors’ performance, my dad progress got better over time. He spent a total of forty-nine days in the hospital and rehabilitation center. With so much time on bed rest, my dad had to learn how to speak and walk again. With prayer, determination, consistency, and support, anyone can come out of any situation.

In conclusion, my dad went from critical to healthy and it all came down to the number of prayers received from family, friends and the medical staff who took amazing care of him. Take the time out of your day to show love to your family and friends daily. Life is too short to not LIVE it fully.

Remember to get educated on the signs of a Heart Attack because no one is exempt!

Shevvymac

“Motivation Accountability Change”