The Widow Maker
I now celebrate 2 birth dates, the date my mother gave birth, and the day my original life ended, and my 2nd life, after the widow maker began.
I don’t remember much about that morning, but from what others have told me, and the evidence of the moments around 11 am that morning, and the following 5 days is the story of my rebirth. Apparently, I had been trimming some limbs after the previous nights’ storm. I must’ve noticed an unfamiliar feeling, stopping my work, and placing the first call/message to the union’s business agent, informing her I wouldn’t be able make it to work. Immediately after, I called 9-1-1. At some point between the 9-1-1 call and the arrival of the EMT’s, 6-1/2 minutes later, my heart & breathing stopped. I was trying to get to the recliner in the living room, but fell into the table next to it, breaking the sun glasses I was wearing and bruising the area around my right eye. The EMT’s revived me, and transported me to the nearest hospital. The cardiologist, Dr. Gandhi [no bs], determined there was blockage of the left descending coronary artery, a condition known as ‘the widow maker’. A stent was inserted to open the artery. Since there was concern over the loss of brain function, they induced a coma state by dropping my body temperature to 91 degrees for the next 3 days, then gradually warming me to normal. I spent a total of 5 days in ICU, and another 3 days in a room, to monitor my vitals and treat the pneumonia that had developed. Before I left ICU, the ER nurses who worked on me, came for a short visit, we each expressed our happiness of the outcome of my treatment. Before I was discharged, I returned to the ICU to thank the entire staff of the ICU for their efforts in securing my 2nd birthday, which I will celebrate along with my original one.
Through everyone’s efforts, I was granted a second life, for which I shall be eternally grateful.
