I am writing today's post while I wait for my fist cardiac rehab meeting. It seems this will just be an introductory meeting, but I will tell you all about it tomorrow.

Sunday, Nov. 22 - 9:15 am

I am awake and aware as the EMT's roll me into the ER. My angel is right there beside me, Ashley beat the ambulance to the hospital and was standing there waiting. Next thing I know, there ae  people sticking stuff in me and on me; there are people pulling stuff off me and out of me. All I remember hearing at first is, "Do we have nitroglycerine ready?"

Now, what I didn't see was the conversation between the EMT and Ashley. This was the point at which she found out my heart stopped in the ambulance. Her account was this:

EMT - "Ma'am I need to talk to you. Can we go into this conference room."
Ashley - "No, we can talk RIGHT HERE."
               (Apparently she felt, "the conference room" would bring worse news)
EMT - "Your husband had a 'v-tac' seizure (for us laymen...this is 'his heart stopped')
Ashley - (Sitting on the floor now) "I need to go see my husband"
Conversation over...

Now, the next thing I remember is when Ashley FINALLY let it out. Our good friend, a Pediatric ICU doctor arrived. His face was apparently one of sadness and worry.

Now, understand that this man sees all manner of sad and disturbing medical conditions in CHILDREN. In all of this, he is a rock. He is calm and undaunted. So, when Ashley saw his face, she finally let out a cry & held him for comfort.

I tell you this not to highlight Ashley's reaction, or to add drama. I tell you this detail to highlight her absolute strength throughout this whole ordeal. It took that last straw, fear in the eyes of a professional to finally break her for a moment.

After about 20 minutes of evaluation and stabilization in the ER, it was determined that I needed to go to the catheterization lab to clear the block in my artery. At that point I was awake for about 5-10 more minutes. The last thing I remember is a nurse in the Catheterization lab telling me I would be okay, and connecting yet another IV tube to my right arm.

I guess that would be where I need to stop and invite you back tomorrow.

No lesson to learn today, other than this: you never know when you will need to be the strong person in a relationship and when you need to let your partner be the rock. Be ready, be willing and know that even a rock needs support sometimes.