Hello I'm Back!

This is truely an awesome story about never giving up.

Hello Joe,

I was reminded that I promised to write down my story for you. Well from what I was told it happened in the early spring of 2004. This is when I suffered a lung failure due to a pulmonary embolism. This is what happens, blood clots form in the legs, usually, and when they break apart tiny particles will flow through the blood stream. It is at this point that they become dangerous. If large enough they can lodge themselves into an artery and cause a flow stoppage, almost like stopping up a drain with grease. Our lungs have tiny little veins that act as pumps as they feed blood into the tissue; this action is what allows the lungs to remain inflated.

It was this break down of clots that caused my lungs to collapse. I was found in my pick-up truck in a parking lot. Little was really known as to how long I was there it was assumed that I may have been there for more than 20 hours as some people were aware of my truck and me sitting there. The police called E.M.S as they managed to gain entry to my truck by forcible means as it was locked. It was assumed that I had passed away as they were unsuccessful in their attempts to revive me. They did not really know what had happened or what actually caused my heart to stop. The EKG machine had malfunctioned and they unable to determine a heart rhythm. With they’re stethoscopes could not hear any beating so they drew the only conclusion they could and that was that I had pass on.

They brought me to the hospital in Vernon and dropped me for the coroner to do an autopsy. While I was laying on a bed in the hall waiting for someone to take me to the morgue, a doctor passing by felt that something was not right and reached down and lifted the sheet off my face, this is when I sat up right and blood came pouring and spraying out of my mouth. There was panic as they tried to understand what was happening to me. It was my good fortune that the doctor that felt there was something wrong. She happened to be a respiratory specialist.

She stated that after several minutes and listening to the blood gurgling in my lungs that she was able to guess that something was wrong with my lungs. She cut me with a knife into my side just below my armpit and stuck a tube in to drain away the fluids that had built up in the cavity where my lungs once were. They were then able to attempt treatments; this proved to be a great challenge for them as I was so weakened by the whole ordeal that I fell into a coma.

While in a coma my heart succumb 8 different times and I had to be defibrillated back. There was deep concern that I had suffered massive brain damage due to the lack of oxygen they felt that if I survived I would in a vegetated state the rest of my life. After 9 months in the coma I came back to reality, I knew nothing of what had happened or where I was or who I was. I had no knowledge at all. I slipped away again as fluid started to fill around my lungs once again the battle to survive was on me, and an army of doctors’ bent on saving my life.

They finally succeeded in keeping me alive long enough for the treatments to start having a positive effect on me. Several days later I awoke into a strange world of things I did not understand, like basic speech, walking, what I was looking at. I still remember these moments, as this is when my world started. It did not take to long before I was able to understand what people were saying to me I was then able to start reading. There were plenty of nurses and doctors to help me with my new life. They were very surprised to learn the only damage caused by my ordeal was the loss of memories up to the point I woke up. It was around the ninth week of my recovery that I was rushed into intensive care again. What had happened was that in the night my heart stopped again and this time there was little chance of coming back. They worked on me with defibrillators and needles in the heart. They shoved tubes down into my lungs to force air in. They finally had to perform a surgical technique that enabled them draw out the fluids from my lung cavity allowing the lungs to re-inflate.

I woke up a couple of days later unaware of what had happened. I spent the better part 2005 in the hospital recovering and relearning life. My sister was a great inspiration and help to my recovery, as I did not know anyone from my past; she came and claimed me. It was with her protection that I was able to start re-gaining what was once my life. I think that it is very strange to follow a conversation with people who are remembering they’re past as a child and the only memory of my past is that of someone leaning over me and asking me if I knew where I was or who I am. At the time I really did not understand what it was they were saying me.

Once I had gained enough strength I discovered that I was a good driver so I chanced a job driving a truck, this was all right as long as I stay away from to much stress, because along with loss of memory I also suffered from loosing 2/3rds of my lung capacity, in other words, I lost 1 lung and almost half of the other. So it does not take to much effort to cause me to start hyperventilating and choking. I find that I have a lot of trouble around smoke, cold air and stressful events.

I don’t complain; as I am just very happy to have a second chance to live and perhaps help others in some way have a better life.

I believe that I am the luckiest man on earth.

Here I am in 2008, I have been able to stay out of the hospitals for more that a year and I have a great job that is designed to work with me and everyone else employed there. I have a home and another chance at discovery as learn what it is like to own and operate a small business, but most of all I have a girlfriend that will stand by me and help me as I continue to recover.

I guess if could share just one piece of thinking, I would have to say that everyone should feel that, they too, are the luckiest people on earth, as there are those who don’t stand a chance to recover from their ailments.

We’ve got it good