Yea, I literally almost died this past week. I had been feeling rough, breathing, for a little over a week. I had a foot care appointment with the Veteran's Administration where as a 100% Service Connected Vet, I get all my treatment. I wasn't breathing well so just prior to leaving for my Appointment I told the wife we'd stop off at Urgent Care on the way out to make sure I wasn't coming down with Pneumonia.
I was looking and feeling quite bad, they gave me a breathing treatment, then two, and told me they better put me in the Hospital and in fact did have Pneumonia. Before the evening was over I was on Oxygen and my kidneys were not working as they were supposed to. Next day my kidneys were worse instead of better and my breathing much worse.
Things really got bad after a wrong turn trying to urge my kidneys to function. Lasix didn't work so they tried hydrating my body. Trouble was my body from the chest down was already saturated and more fluids made my breathing even worse. I was scared, then I had a full blown panic attack.
A Doctor and 2 Nurses came in and I told them I simply could not breath. They called the Paramedics to transfer me to the nearest place for emergency Dialysis. One of the nurses , a social worker, was trying to help me breath properly.
She tried to tell me something about a quiet, still lagoon and it was the very last thing I wanted to hear. I was as irritated as I was scared, and man was I scared, but this woman wasn't helping much and the main problem was that I didn't know if she had enough Faith to Pray with me and for me. Surprisingly at the very time I feared death the most I was worried about this stranger's Salvation. I sat forward with all the strength I could muster, and took what I thought might me the final gasp of my life, and some how said: "Heavenly Father unto you and your Holy Spirit, I commit my Soul." Later she told my wife, "don't worry about your husband, he has great faith."
Suddenly they were putting some kind of a BPAC mask over my head that sounded like a vacuum cleaner on steroids. Cool Oxygen-filled was gushing in, and whether you opened your mouth or relaxed your nose the slightest, air was forced in, then sucked out and immediately the process was repeated. I was seeing double, and it seemed like there were about 50 paramedics. I had calmed down but was still hallucinating when they got me inside a transport.
I thought I was going through some sort of warehouse but it was intensive care dialysis. Then there stood what looked like a Muslim Doctor with a scalpel in his hand about to place dialysis ports in my jugular. If you are familiar with my posts on Islam you know that was not my most comfortable situation, but God was in control, and I turned my head to allow his access to my throat, and heard his first word: "Oops! I'll have to put a stich in that."
Now after three days of dialysis there in intensive care and two days back home here in a much more modern dialysis clinic, I am getting stronger slowly, today is the first time I really felt like blogging and facing the twitter sphere. God is Good.
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