I woke up to the sound of my granddaughter coming down the stairs to where I was sleeping after a very long day before. It was about 9:00 the morning of January 1, 2013
We had been to the cardio-rehab the morning before and then had to go to another hospital about 4 hours drive for a minor procedure.
Kelsey was 3 and a half years old and she was calling my name. Papa, you need to help Myte, that is what the grand children call Patti.
I ran up stairs to find Patti, unconscious, not breathing and no heart beat.
When the emergency medical techs arrived they took over the CPR. They had to shock her back to life with the defibrillator and rushed her to the hospital.
When I arrived at the hospital the Doctors told my daughter Kara and I that Patti was on life support and in a coma. The Neurologist told us that she had been without blood, oxygen and electricity to the brain for over 10 minutes. He said that "brain damage starts after 2 minutes and is really bad after 5 minutes. Your wife will have brain damage if she survives."
We put out a prayer requests and people all over the world were praying for Patti.
Patti had been in that coma for about 26 hours when our Missions Pastor from the state office came to visit us. He tried to talk to Patti with no response,
He said, "let's Pray..." So we each took one of Patti's limp hands and prayed.
When he said the amen, we opened our eyes and Patti was looking at us with her big blue eyes. She was asked to squeeze the pastor's hand and she did. She squeezed my hand as well. The nurse asked us to leave and the Doctors did the necessary tests (that they could not do before because she was "non-responsive"). The Cardiologist sat me and Kara down to discuss the results..., then there was a knock at the door. The Neurologist entered and apologized for coming in the room. He said that the brain scan and neurological tests showed that there was NO BRAIN DAMAGE! He mentioned that the statistics he had shared with me were decades of data and "this just does not happen"... "Your wife will have a full recovery", He then excused himself and left the room. The Cardiologist said that Patti's heart was not damaged and that the heart was almost back to normal.
What happened? There were several factors in a short time frame that contributed to this health crisis and Patti had sudden-cardiac-arrest. That is when the heart stops and all the things that go to the brain all stop immediately.
Only 2% of people that have sudden cardiac arrest survive
and they usually have major problems.
Patti is starting her 10th year of new life after the heart episode.
Thanks to everyone who prayed with us through this crisis.
She has NO medicine to take.
She has no pace-maker or defibrillator implants.
OUR PATTI WAS AND IS HEALED by the hand
Of the Lord Jesus Christ.