Call 911

 

My soul bear thou thy part, triumph in God above

And with a well tuned heart sing thou the songs of love!

Let all thy days, till life shall end, what e’re he send,

be filled with praise.

(Richard Baxter Hymn 625 v. 4)

 

Dear Friends

Some of you know that I took an unexpected trip to the ER a week before Thanksgiving. The trip was because I experienced what I thought was a “little cardiac episode”.  Thank God I called 911, because they ended up finding the main artery to my heart (LAD) was almost completely (95%) clogged.

Thanks to the 911 operator who told me to find and start chewing an aspirin. Thanks to the Corona firemen who offered initial care, followed by the paramedics who gave me three flavored chewable aspirin and nitroglycerin and then drove me to the hospital. And thanks to all the good folk at Corona Regional Medical Center for the next 48 hours, including the steady hands who put in a stent.

My reason for sharing is to remind us all, in any circumstance, not to hesitate to ask for help, including and especially when it is something like this. When in doubt, call 911!  

While I am writing a fuller reflection about this attention getting experience with some fun details and humor, this is enough for now. In the meantime, in light of the words quoted above, I feel my heart has had a major tune up and now, under the care of a good cardiologist I met yesterday, I am confident I am well on my way to a complete recovery.

This all happened on November 16^th. That morning, just a few hours before I called 911, I had read from a book of 365 daily meditations the one for November 16^th called “Do It Now”. Here is how the meditation ends:

“The greatest shock in my life,” said Billy Graham on a recent birthday, “has been the brevity of life. Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are only so many tomorrows”.

I am thankful beyond measure for the nearly four weeks of tomorrows since November 16^th. Thanks for your prayers and good wishes. Blessings for all of you or your family or friends who have or are going through this experience.

John