I had thought long and hard about the subject of my first post here on the blog. Should it be funny? Maybe insightful? Angry? (I can throw some of that out if I find the right direction...) But as Thanksgiving got closer and closer, I said to myself, "Self...let's be cliche." Ok, it might no have gone exactly like that...but you get the idea. And though the story is well known among family and friends, I thought I would tell it one more time...so maybe everyone can get another glimpse into how very thankful I am.
Ok...first I'll start with some back story. I had decided last year that on April 30th I was going to participate in my first triathlon. It is a very short one...but I thought that it would give me an idea of how they work...and if I felt good about this one after finishing that I might move up to some longer distance races. So race day comes...and I feel nervous but prepared for the race. As I stand on the pool deck (the swim was not in open water) I hear the announcer call for my range of race numbers. Because the swim was in a pool they have everyone enter the water based on their numbers. I was number 100. I noticed that over the railing stood a woman with number 96 on her arm...so I said to her, "Hi. I don't know if you heard...but they called our numbers." The lady responded, "Yeah...I do a lot of these and I'd prefer to wait until the crowd dies down a little in the pool." I nodded, smiled and then lined up for the race.
The swim was easy. I passed a number of people in the pool...and was feeling great about that. I knew that with the bike coming up...I'd be looking good for getting a decent time. But as I went through the transition area and got to my bike...I started to feel worn down. I had some kind of cold or something and wasn't feeling 100% anyhow...but now I felt like my batteries were draining faster than normal. I start the ride...and from the beginning I feel like I can't push myself. I am much more in my head than I wanted at this point. (By that I mean I was expecting to have to fight through the run portion with will power and adrenaline...but I didn't expect to have to be fighting that battle during the ride, which for me should be the cake walk part.) And as I pass by where Allison and others are standing...I give a thumbs up to them...which is a total scam at this point. I slow me pedaling...and people who shouldn't be passing me are getting by me. I get back some will power, or maybe I was embarrassed, and I start cranking it back up again. "I'm going to fight through this..." I told myself. And not more than a minute after that...I thought, "Ooh...lightheaded." And I was gone.
There was no stopping. No slowing down, even. I was here. Then I was gone. Writing that gives me chills. (I once joked that it was "pedal, pedal, pedal...dead". I admittedly can have a dark sense of humor.) I crashed very hard (apparently) on the road. My helmet cracked and I gave myself some hefty road rash. Two cops who were near by, Sgt. Smith and an Officer Henderson, rushed over to see what was happening. They said I appeared to be seizing. Sgt. Smith disconnected my feet from my bike and began my assessment. At this time, the lady I had spoken to at the pool rides up and sees my situation. She stops. She tells the police she is a nurse and will help. Right away she determines I not seizing...but I am convulsing from a heart attack. She begins providing CPR and tells the police that they need to get an AED and call the paramedics. Also, about this time, Officer Chris Dort shows up on his motorcycle. He joins in the rescue effort. The call goes out to the St. Pete police officers for an AED. Some cars in St. Pete are equipped with AEDs now because of a donation by a local couple (Lavelle or something of the like is their name) to the police department. Officer Mark Williams responds with the AED. While the nurse prepares the AED, Officer Dort takes over doing CPR on my unresponsive self. (At this point I am not breathing, nor is there a pulse.) The nurse next applies the sticky pads of the AED and gets ready to shock me. The first shock goes...and they aren't sure it did the job. As they prepare to hit me a second time, Officer Dort notices my one hand (or fingers) twitching. They hold off on the second shock and check my pulse. I'm coming back.
Before I become aware that I am awake...my legs apparently become aware that I was riding a bike a short time ago...and they proceed to go right back into a pedaling motion even though I am laying on the ground. (That bit of information is courtesy of Sgt. Smith.)
Once I begin to come to...my eyes open and I'm confused. I can't hear, I can't really think straight...and my body will not move. Fear is beginning to grip me...and I'm terrified. But in only a couple of seconds...it is like a thunder clap...and suddenly I can hear. I can speak. And I can feel my arms. (Not sure about the legs...I was focused on the arms.) I immediately stretch my arms directly in front of me, just to have two people grab them and pull them to the ground. Everyone is asking me questions and yelling for me to remain still. I'm confused as to what is going on... but once I realize I'm not in any immediate danger...I comply. I tell the group of rescuers who I am, my wife's name and her cell phone number. And by the time the paramedics are lifting me into the ambulance I am cracking jokes with paramedics, much to the surprise of Sgt. Smith. (He specifically said to me that he was stunned by what he had witnessed...and how I looked as though I had not just been unresponsive.)
Allison and my dad reach the hospital before me...and my dad later remarked that he had zero inclination of the seriousness of my experience because I was laughing and joking with my paramedic buddies, and then joking with the ER staff. (To be honest, I still didn't know then what exactly happened to me. I joked with Allison in the ER that she needed to take my timing chip from my ankle and cross the finish line so I could get a time. I told the male ER nurse, "Boy, is my time gonna suck!". And that same nurse asked me, "Have you ever had a stress test?" I said, "No." He replied, "Well, you did today...and you failed." I got a huge kick out of that.)
Within the hour I have two stents in my right coronary artery and I'm headed to the ICU for recovery. Now I begin to learn about my brush with death...and I begin to understand that I will forever have some people in my life who I can never EVER thank enough.
So here's to you:
Teresa - (Even saying her name sometimes makes me misty-eyed.) Teresa is the nurse greatly responsible for my ability to write this blog entry without doing it from beyond the grave. She was supposed to travel to North Carolina that weekend, but decided she wanted to stay and do that race. She was racer number 96. She SHOULD have been in front of me during the entire race...but she wanted to let everyone go before her, and because of that she was in the right place to save my life. She STOPPED when she saw someone else in distress. She could have continued on...but she knew she could help those officers...and to her that was more important than a time. And finally, she did exactly what was needed to get me back. (Oh, and she called the ICU at Bayfront and checked in on me afterwards...which was awesome.)
Officer Chris Dort - He joined in to the rescue effort...and kept the CPR going while Teresa orchestrated my revival. He listened to Teresa's constant commands...and cracked at least two of my ribs in the process.
Officer Mark Williams - Brought the AED. He stayed on scene...and even took my dad and Allison to the hospital to meet me. I know that was his job...but get this: Only a short time before my event...Mark Williams' son suffered a stroke after hitting his head skateboarding. He spent time in the hospital and only recently came out of a rehab clinic. So he could see what my family was going through...and I'm sure had memories of his horrific experience. But he did his job, and was great with my family.
Sgt. Kevin Smith - He was my first responder and was integral in getting the right resources to my side to help save me. He also allowed Teresa to do her thing...and he came to visit me later in the hospital. (And he got everyone recognized for their efforts...so that is big also!)
Allison - I know that there is the "..in sickness and in health..." clause in our marriage. But not everyone is good at living up to promises. She stood with me thoughout my ordeal...and aside from a couple of understandable bouts of tears...she was the rock I needed to get through my initial recovery...and then the bypass surgery and recovery. I knew when I proposed to her that she was going to be by my side forever...and that she was the one for me. I'm just glad I'm going to have more than two years of marriage to show her how much I love her.
Bryan - What can you say about a guy who flies from Pittsburgh to sit around in Tampa for a couple of days with a friend who can hardly lift a finger to do anything fun? (And I haven't forgotten about him helping me get an iPad!) There is a time in your life when you know you have a great friend...and there are times in your life when you realize that he's so far beyond that...and you consider yourself supremely lucky that you've gotten to be his friend. (I know Allison appreciated him coming here also...as she could feel better going to work knowing that Bryan was around to keep tabs on me.)
My family and friends - The visits. The smiles. The encouragement. The cards. The food. The phone calls. When I was stuck in a hospital bed during both recoveries...I was laying there thinking to myself, "I hate that I am the reason people have to go out of their way...and change around their plans...just so they can stop in and say hi to me." But it meant the world to me to have a distraction from the pain (and the fear) I was feeling to talk to people. I may have been forced to lie to some of you, saying that I was doing better than I was feeling at the time...but I hope you can understand where I was coming. In the end, just know that the visits sometimes wore me out...but I never got tired of the visitors and the phone calls.
So as we approach this day of Thanks...I'm sure you can all understand where I stand.
To all of you who are a part of my life...I say thanks.
To Teresa, my team of first responder heroes and to Dr. Sheffield, the TGH and Bayfront staffs (including Dr. Singh, my cath procedure doc) who got me back to health...I wish I could say words of thanks that would measure up to what I'm feeling. I am only here because of your efforts.
I hope none of you ever have to go through what I have experienced this year...but if you do, I will be there as best as I can. You can count on that.
Fact.
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