calmloki
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
So there I am having a burrito for lunch Friday and I wake up a day or so later to find I went into full code. Here's a heart healthy tip: going purple, rigid, and non-responsive is not a pleasant experience for one's honey. Pisses them off. She dragged me to the floor, dialed 911 with one hand while doing chest compressions with the other, went to both hands while talking hands free to the 911 operator, and we had medics walking in the door inside of 6 minutes.
I was intubated and given a shot of some stimulant while the medics took over CPR. They shocked me with the paddles at least twice while here but I arrived at the hospital in full code and they re-booted me there. Kept me knocked out for a day 'cause I kept trying to pull out the tubes down my throat and nose. Sunday a defibrillator was installed, so now I have a hardbody pect.. Just one. Came home yesterday.
So here are some observations:
From my side of the eyelids it was all good. No pain, no long lost relatives beckoning me home, no lighted tunnels. I felt like I was having a real good conversation with friends.
That being the case, it made me pause when the surgeon asked about installing the defibrillator unit. My understanding is that people primarily die of heart disease or cancer. My experience with my heart stopping was very positive (except for the whole dying thing). Cancer, OTOH, doesn't seem like a real nice way to go. Opting for the defibrillator felt like opting for a protracted death experience. Kind of felt that my gal had put a fair amount of effort into keeping me and that I should do my part. Or maybe I just wanted to put off the whole potential death thing to some future point. In any case, I opted for the defibrillator almost immediately. Maybe I'll get hit by a bus.
I must have been a heck of a good whatever in a prior life, because it kinda feels like I had an amazing amount of good fortune: a highly effective honey, an amazingly fast response time from fire and ambulance, and a stunning lack of consequences. Life is good.
I was intubated and given a shot of some stimulant while the medics took over CPR. They shocked me with the paddles at least twice while here but I arrived at the hospital in full code and they re-booted me there. Kept me knocked out for a day 'cause I kept trying to pull out the tubes down my throat and nose. Sunday a defibrillator was installed, so now I have a hardbody pect.. Just one. Came home yesterday.
So here are some observations:
From my side of the eyelids it was all good. No pain, no long lost relatives beckoning me home, no lighted tunnels. I felt like I was having a real good conversation with friends.
That being the case, it made me pause when the surgeon asked about installing the defibrillator unit. My understanding is that people primarily die of heart disease or cancer. My experience with my heart stopping was very positive (except for the whole dying thing). Cancer, OTOH, doesn't seem like a real nice way to go. Opting for the defibrillator felt like opting for a protracted death experience. Kind of felt that my gal had put a fair amount of effort into keeping me and that I should do my part. Or maybe I just wanted to put off the whole potential death thing to some future point. In any case, I opted for the defibrillator almost immediately. Maybe I'll get hit by a bus.
I must have been a heck of a good whatever in a prior life, because it kinda feels like I had an amazing amount of good fortune: a highly effective honey, an amazingly fast response time from fire and ambulance, and a stunning lack of consequences. Life is good.
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