Every Day is a Bonus Day

We had a scare, but I'd like to begin by saying that Tammy will be okay. She woke me up at 4:35 on Saturday morning (11 days ago), saying, "I can't breathe, call 911!" She repeated it at least twice more. I hurriedly called 911 and explained to the dispatcher what was happening—what little Tammy could tell me and what I could observe. They continued to ask questions about Tammy and her condition. I explained the best I could, having only just awakened, while pleading with them to please hurry. Time seemed to crawl as we waited for help to arrive. I paused the 911 operator and ran to disarm our alarm and prop open the front door to save the arriving help whatever precious seconds I could. 

A Lakeville Police Department officer arrived shortly after Tammy appeared to lose consciousness. He announced his presence at the front door, and I yelled for him to come up the stairs. He hurried up the ten stairs to our bedroom and stood assessing the situation for a few seconds. He bent down and asked me to help put some pillows under Tammy's head, but before we could do that, he said, "We need to do CPR." Just as he began the compressions, paramedics from Allina Health arrived to take over. I stood in the room opposite where they were working; everything seemed surreal. After a short time, an officer called me out of the room to ask me some questions about Tammy's age and such. He may have needed the information, but he no doubt didn't want me to witness what was happening. 

We made our way downstairs while the paramedics worked to restart Tammy's heart with a combination of defibrillator paddles and a LUCAS device that performs chest compressions. I don't know how one is supposed to feel when they're in shock, but I felt numb and a little outside my body. I stood at the island in our kitchen and spoke with one of the officers, answering his questions. I excused myself to phone our friends across the street, Mark and Becky, to let them know what was happening and ask if they could come over to be with me. Not many minutes later, I saw them carrying Tammy out, not on a stretcher, but supported by what seemed like a blanket/tarp with straps for hand-holds on either side. 

I don't remember closing up our home; I just walked with Becky outside to their house across the street, where Mark was backing their car out. The ambulance sped ahead of us as we left the neighborhood for the ten-minute drive to Ridges Hospital ER. Thank you to whoever closed up our home.

I won't go into all of the details of what happened in the moments and hours that followed, but I can say this: Lakeville PD and Allina paramedics did an outstanding job of saving Tammy's life. She flatlined twice between our home and while in the ER. They performed CPR on her for approximately 25 minutes, giving her 10 shots of epinephrine during that time as they worked to restart and stabilize her heart. As I look back on the heroics they went through, I can't help but think that another team might have given up and not saved her. But they continued to work to save her, and they did. We're forever grateful. We plan to pay a visit to the Lakeville PD and talk with them in person, as well as try to find a way to personally thank the paramedics from Allina Health for all they did as soon as Tammy is up for it. 

Tammy was intubated for a little more than two days and in the ICU for three days before being moved to a standard hospital room. She has since relocated to a Transitional Care Unit (TCU) at Masonic Home in Bloomington as she works with physical therapists to regain her strength and to be overseen by medical staff before she comes home.

The doctors said her heart wasn't the reason for her cardiac arrest. It showed no signs of blockage, and her arteries showed no plaque buildup. What they think might have happened is that she may have coughed or choked on her phlegm, which in turn set off a cascading event that led to her heart losing its electrical signal and being unable to reestablish it on its own. But they can't be sure. A doctor doing a follow-up with her yesterday assured her that this was a freak event and to not dwell on the thought that it may happen again. That's reassuring, but not entirely comforting. 

Her recovery has gone so well that a good friend of ours visiting with her today told me that, had he not known, he would never have known that she recently went through something so traumatic. She's made a truly miraculous recovery.

I can't express how relieved, happy, grateful, and thankful I am to have her back. She means the world to me. For some of us, we can't appreciate how much we love and care for someone until we nearly lose them. I now look at each day with Tammy as a bonus day in our lives together. 

The second chance we've been given is priceless.

That's all I've got.