Wake Up Call

I want to begin by saying that March 31st was my husband, Roger’s milestone birthday. He is the first male in his dad’s direct lineage that has lived to the age of 55. His dad died at the age of 54 by a freak accident. His granddad died at 54 of a massive heart attack. His great granddad died at twenty something of a missive heart attack and his great-great granddad died in his twenties also. Needless to say, that has been on his mind all year. Well, he made it to 55 and our family celebrated by going to the Tennessee Aquarium and out to eat.

Then, last Thursday, one week from his 55th birthday and one week ago tomorrow, Roger ate supper and went outside to weed eat and work in the yard. I made a trip to Wal-Mart. I was still at Wal-Mart when Roger called and asked if I was on my way home. Then he said, “I think you should come home. I do not feel good at all and I am hurting very badly in my chest.” I told him he needed to call 911, but he said, “Just come home.”

We only live four miles from Wal-Mart and when I got home, he was sitting on the porch waiting on me. I told him to load up (fully expecting him to argue with me, but to my surprise he got in the van.) I called our doctor and got him immediately and he talked with Roger and told him to go straight to the closest ER. We did and they begin working with him ASAP. After giving him shots, doing an EKG, getting blood, giving him Nitro pills, giving him a Nitro patch, giving him baby aspirins, and consulting with our Family Doctor, they decided to transport him by ambulance to Chattanooga.

Anyway, to summarize it, In Chattanooga, they did blood work, scans, and the next day did a cardio stress test. Roger passed EVERYTHING. The cardio enzymes in his blood were negative and he passed his stress test with flying colors. So, the doctor said with all that said, they still had to find out what was causing his pain. They suspect it is upper GI related, with possible inflammation and acid in the esophagus, which can mimic a heart attack and be just as severe in pain.

The Chattanooga Doctor told him that we would treat this as a “wake-up call” and now slow down long enough to do all of the things we know we should already be doing, like:
• eat healthier
• add cardio exercise to our daily routines
• loose the extra 10-20 lbs. that he is carrying around.

He went to his Family Doctor as a follow-up and will be doing a scan in a little over a week to check his gall bladder just to make sure, but in the meantime, they will treat the problem with diet, exercise and medication.

Everything happened so fast that we did not have time to stop and think on Thursday, but since then I have done a lot of thinking. Roger was blessed with a “wake-up call” this time, but we are never promised that. There was no warning. His pain suddenly started and was very severe. We are never promised a tomorrow and we never know when it will be “our time” so we need to stop and live each moment as if it were our last. This means to make sure that all of our ducks are in a row. Be ready. Do not leave any unfinished business such as disharmony, broken fellowships, etc. God could choose to take us home in the “twinkling of an eye” and we need to be ready.

Be Ready!!! We are not promised a “Wake-Up Call”.