911 What’s your emergency…. Words that give you fear as they do hope… Last night the love of my life collapsed in the hallway at about 11:00 pm, I was in bed reading when I heard a lot of commotion, I looked out the bedroom door to see him laying on his back unconscious. I ran to his side, where he was gray, cold, and not breathing! Our oldest two sons had been playing a video game when they came rushing over, Chris quickly dialed 911… Spike began breathing, but it was a sound I had never heard, still unresponsive I had his head in my lap and prayed, while pleading with him to come back, “ I need you, I don’t want to do this alone”… He came, too and quickly got up claiming “I am okay, I am fine” I just need to lay down, I could not refrain him, and he was heading to our bedroom, where again, I got there in time to watch him collapse yet again. Still on the phone with 911, they assured me help was on the way, and then I heard the sirens! Spike again regained consciousness, and some how I managed to dress him and get him onto the bed, the paramedics took his blood pressure, and checked his blood sugar, both were perfect.
They then began to ask a series of questions and told, him they needed to transport him. Spike, gotta love him, was refusing to go in the ambulance insisting that I would drive him! (I was thinking to myself, yeah right) in the mean time my sister, my parents, and Spike’s parents had all arrived. The paramedics would not release him until they spoke with a physician, and got an okay. They then offered to follow us to Lodi Memorial, which they did.
Upon arriving at Lodi Memorial, Spike was even more insistent that we just drive onto Kaiser. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez…. Let me tell you it is hard to argue with the guy, I didn’t want to cause him more stress, over paying for all of this, and he seemed to be perfectly fine… The paramedics instructed us to call 911 from anywhere on the road, if he should go unconscious again…. With my dad driving, my mother in law in the passenger seat, and me in the back seat with Spike, we got to Kaiser safely.
My mom, sister, and father in law stayed at our house with Tanner and Jeffrey sound to sleep, and Chris and Johnny, who were extremely upset and worried, they gathered together in prayer. Johnny then spent the next 45 minutes, sobbing his heart out in a ball on the couch. I can tell, you I honestly thought I lost my husband of 17 years, my best friend and lover of almost 19 years, and the father of my boys. When I held his cold, gray, unresponsive body on the hallway floor, I relived every moment of our lives together. I have always appreciated, valued, treasured, loved, and cherished this man. I have never taken for granted one ounce of our time together. I cried and prayed to God, to keep him with us, we all needed him.
At Kaiser the series of tests began, once again his blood pressure was perfect, they took it sitting, laying down, and standing up repeating this every half hour. Then they preformed an EKG on him to make sure his heart was strong and healthy… All the while my hubby is cracking jokes, and carrying on conversations, as well as trying to talk his way out of “tests”…. His mom said, “Leave it to you to talk your way out of this one.” I however reassured her, that he would not, and we would not be leaving without answers.
At about 2:00 am the doctor came in and explained that Spike has what is called Vasovagal Syncope. Also known as Fight or Flight… This is something he has had since he was a child, but usually the fainting is caused by pain. This, I have known, about…. It has happened a few times in our lives together and happened much more frequently when he was younger. Vasovagal Syncope is when the blood vessels in your legs dilate causing your heart rate and blood pressure to drop very low, resulting in fainting. The doctor assured us it was not harmful and he was perfectly fine to return to work and all normal activities.
What set this into motion tonight, was him falling asleep on the couch, waking up abruptly, bending over to feed the cats, (his nightly routine) feeling dizzy and light headed, walking across the house to our bathroom, feeling the room start to spin and the next thing he knew he had 7 firefighters and paramedics standing over the top of him. As long as when he feels these warning signs, (which he has had every time this has ever happened) he sits down, he should be able to avoid passing out. However, I now know that if it should happen again, all I have to do is raise his feet into the air, and he will regain consciousness, but he must lay completely flat for 20 minutes, to let his body “reboot” so to speak.
We feel very blessed to have a doctor with the wisdom to finally give us a name for this, and have a whole new reason to celebrate THANKSGIVING!
Philippians 4:6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.
Needless to say getting home at almost 3 am, with all of the emotional let down, we were both exhausted, yet couldn’t sleep. Spike finally fell asleep, while I lay close by being grateful that he was once again warm, solid, and strong. With pray of Thanksgiving and joy in my heart for this wonderful gift God gave to me. The love of my life, my partner, my best friend, the father of my boys… my HUSBAND!
It wasn’t until this afternoon, when we laid down for a nap, we both found sound sleep and rest in the Lord…
Proverbs 3:24 When you lie down, you shall not be afraid; yes, you shall lie down, and your sleep shall be sweet.
I post this as praise and to share with you all to cherish your time. Don’t let life get too busy, that you don’t take time to express your love and value your mate!
Lipstick and Laundry 