The Day My World Changed...

June 30th I learned several very important things. 
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First, there clearly is a God. And He puts people where He needs them... Also, you don't get to die unless He is ready for you. Second, I have hope for humanity because there are still good people willing to help strangers. Third, I don't believe in coincidences. And lastly, EVERYONE needs to learn CPR.
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So I owe a story to everyone, to explain why I feel so strongly about these beliefs. You see, it is a cool story, but when I tell it I feel like I am talking about someone else.... Maybe a patient I had last week... Because I remember very minimal from that work week, my cardiac arrest or my hospital stay.
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On June 30th, just after 5pm, I was just outside Hastings driving to Red Wing to teach an essential oil and natural health class. I called my husband, Inoke, on my wireless headphones to tell him I was having a panic attack, couldn't breathe and that I felt like my heart was racing. He told me I was calm at first and just going to the ER just to check it out, but soon was not able to tell him where I was. He knew something was wrong, so he told me to pull over, open my door and put at least one leg out of the car. Neither of us could call 911, because I didn't know where I was, so he hopped in the truck and just started driving to town to find me.... By God's grace, I actually listened to him and pulled into a parking lot. All I could tell him was I was in a parking lot with semi trucks... And that is when he heard me stop breathing...
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About the time I turned around to go to the ER, Jerry & Melanie, two complete strangers who are now my heroes, had just changed their driving route. As they drove past me, Jerry noticed something wasn't right and asked Mel if they should stop. She agreed and they pulled over, fishing boat in tow...
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Mel said she thought she was already too late when she saw me.... I was cold, blue/gray and was frothing blood from my mouth.... She said she pulled me out of the car, threw my phone headset over her shoulder and immediately started chest compressions.
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As this was transpiring, my next responder was on her way through town after taking an unexpected trip to St. Paul with her daughter. Once again, God put her in my path... Or maybe I was put in her's.... Tammy told me that her daughter gave her a hard time for wanting to stop and help, saying that she didn't need to help everyone.  Tammy saw a teachable mom moment and forced her to turn back.... I am so grateful she did because as she walked up to help, Mel threw her the cell phone with the 911 dispatcher on the line and restarted CPR. Tammy stayed on the phone and reported to 911 so we knew what time everything happened from there out.
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Mel was still doing chest compressions as EMS arrived. Once the heart monitor was on, they could see that I was in Ventricular Tachycardia and shocked with the defibrillator immediately. It took 3 shocks and the Lucas automatic CPR machine to revive me on scene.
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And this is when my husband found me. He saw two of the medics walking away from me and all he could imagine was that they had given up resuscitation efforts. He said he immediately started running for me, but Tammy stepped in front of him to slow him down. Inoke immediately told her that I was his wife... And it all clicked for Tammy... Because she knew me and just didn't recognize me because of how dead I looked--see, Tammy works in the same ER that my mom just retired from and we have known each other for a long time! God put her there to help calm Inoke and for that I am positive and appreciative.
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Inoke was able to see that I was safely loaded into the ambulance, and was reassured of my safety by yet another friend. One of the medics that day was Jamie, a high school friend of my brother's that we all knew well and had attended our wedding...
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At this point, my heart was beating on its own again and I had stabilized. I was transferred with lights and sirens to United Hospital where I still had not regained consciousness. I was put on a ventilator because I wasn't awake or breathing on my own and sent to the cath lab to make sure I didn't have a heart attack. For my nurse friends, I had diffused ST depression with elevation in aVR.
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I had no blockages in my heart vessels, so it was believed that it was an electrical problem instead. The cardiologist decided to move forward with cooling my core temp for 24 hours to maintain brain function, so I was further sedated and they cooled me to 33°c for 24 hours. As if this wasn't enough to work on, they were also having a hard time getting my oxygen levels normalized even with the ventilator. To make matters worse, my heart function was half of what it should have been.
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No one really could tell my family anything as far as my prognosis went. They had to sit and just watch for two days, having one practitioner after another say they would pray for our family--saying that I could potentially never wake up, or could have permanent brain damage and not remember anyone.
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But none of that happened. I have no permanent brain damage, no physical limitations and didn't need to go to rehab to learn how to do anything again... and for that I am blessed. I may not be as organized or driven as before, but it is slowly coming back.  Just to put this into perspective, statistically speaking, only 30% of people that have a cardiac arrest survive.  Of that, only 10% have no neurological deficits. No wonder the insurance company sent me a letter saying that they have reason to believe that my primary residence may have recently changed... but I digress... 
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And this is where I remember a snippet of things. After they woke me up and transferred me to the tele unit--like how good that first glass of liquid tasted. The brilliant nurse mixed Sprite with apple juice and it was as if someone gave me the most delicious thing ever! 
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I was able to go to the cath lab a second time, after I was more awake... but all I remember is rolling down the hallway for the procedure. This was probably good, because I was not a straight-forward patient. They found the cause of my arrest, an extra electrical pathway that is diagnosed as wolff-parkinson-white (WPW) and is usually found in kids.... Also the reason so many AED's are in elementary schools.
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But, I was complicated... The Electrophysiologist (EP) MD ended up consulting the other three EP doctors on staff and worked into the night to try and reach the pathway that needed to be removed. BASICALLY, my plumbing was good but my electrical needed some rewiring. Nine and a half hours later and lots of collaborative work, they were able to reach what they needed to without having to take a surgical approach.
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I was discharged on the 8th of July. Completely missed the 4th of July.
Ruined the celebrations that had been planned...
But I am alive and well and I will take it. 
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Because Jerry & Mel saw something out of the norm and stopped to help, I still have my life. 
Because Tammy decided to stop and help, my husband still has his wife. 
Because we have and amazing EMS team in Hastings, my kids still have their mom❤️❤️❤️
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Please learn CPR. Please stop and help.
If you don't know CPR... Still Stop.... Just push on their chest... Hard and Fast...