I’m going to finish out the year with my top 10 posts of 2011. Yes, I realize that is when all of you click off and run outta here cuz you’ve seen it already. Fine…be that way 

But…I’m doing it anyway…

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Psalm 73 has always been one of my favorite chapters. I see so much of myself in each line.

When I was first diagnosed with Lupus, verse 26 became my lifeline…

My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
he is mine forever.

But today, the first day of 2011 – that verse became my husbands lifeline. A verse that ran through my mind several times as I watched Brent lie in the ER today.

Let me back up. The day began like any other normal day at our house. Well, as normal as we can get. Early afternoon Brent came upstairs to tell me he wasn’t feeling well. We discussed what it could possibly be and went on with our day. However, he wasn’t feeling any better. At all.

His heart was racing, he was shaky and just had a general feeling that something wasn’t right.

We drove right away to Immediate Care. They rushed him back, ran an EKG then promptly let us know that Brent was in A-Fib.

Basically…Brents heart rate had sky-rocketed out of control. But his heart also could not fall back into a normal rhythm. He was in bad shape.

The Immediate Care Unit called an ambulance and he was rushed to the ER. Kass and I followed in the car.

Once there his heart rate continued to climb, blood pressure unstable and high, and still, its normal rhythm would not return.

The Doctor decided he needed to get shocked. He explained what that would entail and the risks involved. The hope of this helping Brents heart far outweighed any risks.

Doctor also explained to me what I would witness if I chose to remain in the room during the procedure. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to leave my husbands side.

A drug was administered that made Brent semi-sedated. His heart rate climbed to 220 beats per minute, while his blood pressure continued to rise.

With one adhesive paddle on his back and one on his chest, they shocked him. His whole body jolted as he let out a long groan. Holding our breath, we waited for the monitor to change.

There was no improvement. They had to administer more drugs and another shock.

More staff entered and waited.

And I, along with Kass who wanted to be with me and her daddy, held tightly to each others hands and watched and prayed.

They set him up for the second shock.

His entire body jolted, then he rested his head and relaxed.

We watched. We waited. Finally, his heart rate began to drop…

180…167…159….until it landed in the 90′s. And stayed.

Eventually his blood pressure leveled and a normal rhythm returned.

I tell ya…there is nothing quite like seeing your spouse helpless like that. I’m not sure how Kass managed so well. But she didn’t want to be any other place. The Doctor and nurses kept warning us that what we were about to witness would be very difficult to watch. Well, it was 100 times worse than what they described.

But here we are now…home and resting.

Nothing like this has ever happened to Brent before. He will now have to be on a Beta Blocker and will be making some life changes.

I don’t see this as “what the enemy meant for bad…”

I see this as a God send. Being aware of this we can now be proactive with his health.

You never think when you wake in the morning that this may be your, or your loved ones, last day. As that possibility crossed my mind, while watching Brent’s body jolt uncontrollably in a cold ER room, I knew that no matter what…God is still God and He is still good. And, we really need to get life insurance.

:/

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