Well, 2013 is the year that will go down as one that, with
God’s grace, will NEVER be repeated in any way, shape or form.
Just 3 days after my last post, Andy suffered another heart
attack and ended up in hospital for a week. It was interesting because Julie’s
mother-in-law who is a nurse on the cardiac unit was his nurse part of the time
– she made sure he behaved himself.
His doctor discussed the possibility of putting in a stent.
After his heart attacks 4 years ago, they said it wasn’t possible but apparently
medicine has come a long way in the interim. Andy was really pleased that there
was hope at long last so he made sure he did his walking and he ate what he
should etc. I was really glad that he seemed to finally care about taking care
of himself.
Nathan came out on the weekend after Andy got out of
hospital and we had a good visit with him for which I was very thankful.
Unfortunately, God had other ideas. On August 8th,
while I was trying to get ready to head off to work, he said he was having
trouble breathing and would I please call the ambulance. I did so and stayed on
the line while waiting for the ambulance. I supported him down the hallway to
the living room so he could sit up in a comfortable chair but as we walked in
the living room, he collapsed on the floor. I rolled him into what I hoped was
a more comfortable position but he started to drool and I realized he was going
grey. I would say the ambulance arrived within 3 or so minutes after that but
by the time they arrived, he was gone.
The stupid things you do and think to do are enormous.
Although the 911 operator said to not leave him, I said I had to so the paramedics
could get in the house but first I had to let the dogs out or there would have
been problems getting the paramedics in the house.
The paramedics asked if he had a Personal Directive – I had
to be honest and say no. They apologized and said they had to do their job so
they performed CPR for about 20 minutes on him before they were able to say
there was nothing they could do.
Somewhere along the way, I let the dogs back in and kept
them leashed to my waist leash because their barking was so upsetting to me.
After the paramedics declared him, they left a police
officer on duty until the Medical Examiner’s office appeared. Because of my
job, I knew the ME person by name so when I told her who I was, we were able to
have a slightly different conversation than the usual because I understood what
Pat had to do.
I phoned the kids while waiting for the ME to arrive so Aaron,
Julie and Michael came over as quickly as they could and we were all able to
sit with him for a little while before his body was taken away.
Well, this is all I am up to writing today but I will
continue this saga.
