Life, Love and Making it Count

This week started a little differently than most. First my wife and I had just attended a virtual business conference all weekend. We were excited, exhausted and ready to take massive action in our business. Monday morning conference hangover… so many things to take action on, she still has to go back to work. 

930, sitting at her desk as I get ready to run out the door for a meeting, she yelps in pain. I can tell it isn’t a normal pain and start asking questions, where, how strong. It is a pain in her throat and it is a 7 or 8. Okay my wife says 7 or 8, that is serious. I grab our stuff, throw it in the car and plan to walk her to the car. By the time I get back to her, she is wincing in pain, like it has moved to her back and she feels like her abdomen is tight. I help her to the floor and realize I can’t take her to the hospital. I can’t help her. I call 911, the ambulance tests her heart and a couple things and says yes you need to go to the hospital but nothing really stands out as bad.

In the E.R. They test for gastrointestinal things, they hear a slight heart murmur, she starts cramping in her legs and is just completely uncomfortable, like writhing in the bed trying to find a spot where all the weird feelings stop and she can’t. They give her some pain meds and take her for a chest CT. 

They bring her back to the room and then it gets busy. You have a blood vessel that is swollen. Then the cardiovascular surgeon shows up and says it is called an aortic dissection and has to be repaired surgically, with open heart surgery. It all happens pretty fast now, they are typing and crossing for 4 units of blood, they are signing consent forms for surgery, for anesthesia. The anesthesiologist describes the iv’s he will put in her neck, the monitor direct to her heart, shit got real, really fast.

The one thing in the whole process is the surprise that my wife had no prior symptoms, no prior illness, no prior problems of any kind. She did her annual physical regularly, we walked 2 miles a day, there were no signs that something was wrong. Now she was nearly dead. 

I am so grateful for the technology, I am grateful for the doctors 

who can cut into her chest and replace the largest artery, at least the biggest piece and make it whole. The tear continues beyond the repair but it can be managed. 

My first lesson is never take another day for granted.

My wife is my partner in life, my partner in activity and my partner in business and I promised to bring her on my team sooner than later. That just needs to happen.

My second lesson is the power of prayer.

Literally hundreds of people have reached out with love and support and prayers on her behalf. I am so grateful for the relationships that we have built and even though we haven’t regularly been in touch with all of them, as soon as they hear something has happened they are willing to drop everything to help. I am so grateful. We expect love and support from the church circle, but now we have love and support from new circles, 

My third lesson is the power of surrender.

Even in the E.R. and when I was waiting for the surgery to be over, I wasn’t worried. I trusted God and I trusted the professionals God had brought us to. Sure I had moments of balling, and reminding God that I did not want to be alone, but they were brief and fleeting. The majority of the time I was at peace. I was not in control and there was no reason for me to stress like I could control any of what was happening, I could only surrender and trust. Trust that God had her and me. Trust that the doctors were the best in the world to care for her. Trust that no matter what the outcome we would move forward.