Our Christmas Miracle

I am happy to write about this, now that all is well. We had quite the scare on Christmas Eve. Ryan's Mom and Dad visited for the holidays. They had a hotel room, but were going to stay overnight with us for Christmas Eve/Morning. The kids, Grandpa and Ryan were playing on the couch and watching the Grinch when Ryan's Dad went into Sudden Cardiac Death (we now know that's what it was). He kind of seized up, then slumped over. Ryan administered CPR for a minute, then scooped him up as I was calling 911 and stuck him in the car and drove him to the hospital. So many things happened just right that night. The hospital is virtually across the street from us. And had they been at their hotel or at home in the boonies of Oklahoma, we'd have lost him for sure. The folks at the hospital shocked him 5 times to get him back. He was flown to a hospital off-post with cardiac specialists once he was stabilized. We spent the next week worrying, praying and hoping as he struggled with memory issues and some drug-induced dementia. He did get progressively better, with one setback when he went under anasthesia to have his defibrillator put in. By the time he was cleared to fly home, he seemed mentally the same. His chest hurt like heck when he coughed or moved the wrong way and he tired a little more easily, but he's now almost good as new!

His heart was healthy - the muscle is fine and there are no blockages. He's the healthiest man I know for his age! SCD is some sort of electrical short or arrythmia that is difficult, if not impossible, to predict. It may never happen to him again. If it does, his new machine will give him a shock to get things going. SCD has genetic roots, so we're investigating what we can do to have Ryan tested.

Thanks to everyone for all the prayers and best wishes! We believe in the power of prayer and are blessed to have such great family and friends!