Scariest day of my life!

Monday, December 20th We received word this morning that some friends of ours (Ben and Stacy’s best friends) had lost their two little boys in a car accident in Logan due to bad weather. It really hit be hard and I spent the day crying off and on. I just couldn’t believe it. Teri and Jace are such great people and I just couldn’t imagine what they were going through. They have 9 children and lost their two youngest boys Bridger 10 and M’gwire 7 years old. When they first named Bridger, I fell in love with the name and knew if I ever had a boy I would name him Bridger. My heart just ached for their family and by that night I was so tired.

When Adam came home we found our second wind and decided to install the carpet in the preschool. We were up until 2:00 am and by the time our bodies fell into bed we were exhausted.
Tuesday, December 21st
Around 3:00 am I woke up to the Adam getting out of bed and going into the bathroom. I asked him if everything was okay and he said “I don’t know” I jumped out of bed and went into the bathroom. He was just sitting there with this completely spent look on his face. I asked him what was wrong. He was holding his chest and said “I don’t know” I said “Does your chest hurt” he said “Yes.” I asked him if he was okay and he said “give me a minute” and he continued to sit there holding his chest. After a couple seconds I asked if he thought he was having a heat attack and he just looked at me. I asked him two or three times if he wanted me to call the hospital and ask if we should take him in. I knew if I just did it he would be mad so I didn’t right away. But when I asked him again, he said “Maybe” This was the scariest moment for me. Anyone that knows Adam knows that he doesn’t like hospitals, doctors or ambulances. He will avoid them at all costs. So when he said “maybe” I knew it was bad. My heart started pounding as I ran frantically looking for a phone. I was originally going to just call the hospital but ended up dialing 911. My heart was pounding through my chest as I talked to the operator. But not as bad as Adam’s. He said he’s heart felt like someone had a hammer and was trying to get out of his chest, it was racing and he couldn’t get it to slow down. He managed to get dressed and make his way downstairs to the recliner. I had 911 on the line and was answering all their questions. Everything she asked, “is he pale, is he clammy, does he have chest pain,“ I was answering yes to. I thought for sure he was having a heart attack…at 35...no way. I was instructed to give him an aspirin and to continue to keep him calm. Adam has very dark complexion, so seeing him so pale was scary, also he is such a strong man inside and out and it was strange to see him looking so fragile. The operator assured me the ambulance was on it’s way. I ran upstairs to get dressed and came back down to assure Adam they were coming, At this point he was pretty unresponsive. I rubbed his face and tried to get him to talk to me, but he just stared past me. I frantically asked where they were and she said they should be there. I ran outside and saw the ambulance shining a spotlight on the houses looking for addresses. Being in the back and off the main road I figured they couldn’t find us so I ran down the driveway in my bare feet and waved them down. They followed me home. I was comforted knowing he was in good hands, but still scared to death. The whole experience was interesting in a sense that I was scared beyond anything I have ever felt thinking I might lose him, but at the same time I felt comforted by his patriarticle blessing. He has a beautiful blessing that I have found comfort in many times throughout our marriage as he has traveled and gone on business trips and this time was no different. I felt everything was going to be okay, but just seeing him in that state was terrifying. They got him all hooked up and talked to him about going in the ambulance. By about this point his heart had slowed down and he was feeling a little better and was a little hesitant about going. As soon as I realized they were going to take him I called my mom and asked if she could come sit with the girls. She headed right over. I was so thankful that during all the commotion that the girls remained asleep and didn’t wander downstairs. The EMT’s told me it was best to follow in my car so we would have a vehicle to come home in. I agreed but really I should have gone with him because I was in no shape to drive. My mom still wasn’t here by the time they got him loaded up so I called his dad to walk over.

As soon as he got there I left and followed the ambulance. I called my mom to let her know I was on my way and that Adam’s dad was there. She talked to me all the way there, which helped keep me calm. I ended up passing her on the way. When she got to my house she was surprised to see Marilee. Dad had left to come into the hospital. The two of them spent the morning hanging out and chatting. The drive was so long. I don’t remember it ever taking that long to drive across town. Adam said that he was felling much better in the ambulance and was thinking it was just a fluke and didn’t want to go the hospital. Once we got there, they took him back to get settled and I had to wait in the ER waiting room. Having a minute to finally sit and breathe I lost it. I just sat there and cried and cried until they called me back. Adam looked good but miserable. He just wanted out of there. We hung out for a couple hours getting tests, x-rays, talking to the doctors and waiting for results. Adam’s dad and my dad showed up to give him a blessing. Adam’s dad stepped out in the waiting room allowing my dad to stay in the room for a while. After about 2 hours of being there and thinking it was just a fluke. It started again. His heart rate went from 100 to 180 beats a minute in a matter of seconds. This was the scariest moment for both of us, because at that point we knew that it wasn’t nothing. It was something. I remember thinking “I just want to get out of here; I could hardly handle the stress of it all and just wanted to go home. I was thankful that my dad was still in the room with me. The doctors came running in and got him hooked up to another machine to track it. It only lasted a couple minutes. Unlike the first one at home that lasted about an hour. After it passed we just sat and watched the heart monitor waiting and wondering if another one was coming. His heart rate never went back to under 100. It stayed at 100 and would get up to 120 and then go back down. It was very nerve racking sitting there watching this number. Sure enough about a half hour later his heart started racing again. They were able to get it recorded on the ECG machine so they could determine what was going on. They had already ruled out heart attack and also diabetes which was good, seeing that it is in the family. There is always that fear there that he could inherit his mom’s heart condition, so that was always in the back of our minds. He looked so worn out, you could tell that these were wearing him out. After they were able to track and record it they were able to give some medication to regulate his heart rate. Within a few minutes his heart rate was back to beating at 70-80 beats a minute and he was feeling pretty good. My dad headed out and Adam’s dad came back in. We hung out for another hour waiting for results. The result was that it was a short circuit in his heart electrical system. The heart has all sorts of wires that sends impulses from the upper chambers to the lower chambers which causes it to beat. But Adam’s heart was sending some of the impulses down and some of them back up. The ones that were going back up would set off a domino effect with one beat hitting another until it was racing. They gave him a prescription for some medication that would keep him regulated. But there was still a chance he could still become irregular. We finally were able to go home around 8:00am with instructions to get into a cardiologist within the next couple days. Good thing we already have a great one. Dr. Brizalaro was his mom’s doctor and is also his two brothers that have inherited the heart condition. On the way home I called Adam’s boss who is also our bishop and told him Adam wouldn’t be and all about our adventure.

We drove home to find that the girls were still asleep and that my mom had cleaned my kitchen. The girls had been frosting cookies that day and it was a mess. Thank goodness for mom’s. She hung out for a minute getting an update and then stayed while I ran to the gas station to get Adam a Gatorade. After she left, we tried to get some sleep. We were both so nervous that it would start again that neither one of us slept. Anytime we did actually drift off the phone would ring and wake us up. As word continued to get out the phone continued to ring. After about an hour the girls woke up. We told them about all the adventures they missed. They couldn’t believe they had slept through it all. Although Gentry said at one point she got up and came downstairs and saw Grandma cleaning the kitchen and went back to bed. They are such good kids and completely took care of each other and entertained themselves so we could rest. Finally we were able to get some sleep and had a good 2 hour nap. We spent the day resting, watching movies and getting phone calls and visitors. We called and got him an appointment for the following day and ran and got his prescription. He was feeling pretty good. That night I didn’t sleep a wink I just laid there and listened to him breathe, waiting for another episode. Luckily, one never came and I was grateful that the meds were doing their job. Adam got up the next morning and went into the office just for a meeting. He stayed at the office until his appointment. I dropped the girls off at my mom’s and met him at his appointment. I had never met Dr. Brizalaro but fell in love with him instantly. He is a hoot. So funny and energetic, yet so knowledgeable. The appointment went great and we were able to leave there less stressed. He confirmed that it was an electrical issue. But no one seems to know why. So he scheduled an ECO to see if it’s linked to his mom’s condition. So in a couple weeks we’ll know more on that. But in the mean time I am comforted knowing that it is not life threatening, however it can be dangerous if the episodes last a while. He also showed us some techniques on how to shock the heart to get in back on rhythm. We also learned that there is a surgery that can correct it so he doesn’t have to be on medicine for the rest of his life. In talking about the medication they said that he could actually go off of the meds to see if they would return. We left discussing the possibilities of stopping the medication. So all in all even though things are still up in the air we left there feeling good about things.

Adam left and went straight home and I swung by to get the girls. I was so grateful to come home to a nice warm dinner waiting for us that Ronda Johansen had brought. We sat down that night and talked about getting off the meds. I was so uncertain and a little scared but Adam was determined not to stay on them if he didn’t have to. They were really making him sick. So we decided to stop taking them and see what happens. It’s been a week now of being off the medications and he has had three episodes. One stopped on it’s own after a few seconds and the other two he was able to shock and stop after a minute. They are still scary and make me nervous and wear’s him out, but we are thrilled that everything is turning out okay. We are now just waiting for his ECO appointment so we can get more information there as well.

I have called 911 twice in my lifetime. Once on my daughter and now once for my husband. Both were such frightening experiences that I hope to never experience again. But I am so grateful for faith, blessings and prayers and that everything is going to be okay.