So, here's a little story that I love to tell...and it's true...every word. I know, 'cause I was there. One day, back in late '08 ...that's 2008, not 1908 (I don't go back that far!!!) LOL Anyway, back in the fall of 2008, a man whose nickname is Wiggi, which means "Weird Grampa", went on a trip with his wife, whose nickname is Bigi, which means "Beautiful Gramma", to the awesome North Carolina mountains. While driving on a remote stretch of a highway in N. FL, as they made their way home, there was narry a facility to be found, so Bigi, who was driving, pulled off the road so Wiggi could, well, you know. But, as he reached for the door handle, he simply let go of the handle, set back in his seat and closed his eyes. What? Wiggi! Hey Wiggi! RANDY!!!! Thank GOD for cell phones and a GPS that tells you exactly where you are! As I was talking to the 911 operator, he opened his eyes, not aware that he had just "dozed off". The ambulance was readily dispatched. Wiggi and Bigi spent the night in the hospital, as he was hooked up to monitors, in that tiny town in N. FL. What did they find, you might ask? Why had he just "fallen asleep" so quickly? I mean, guys have a knack for falling asleep easily, but this is nuts!!! Anyway, he was hooked up to this monitor and that monitor, yet the docs found nothing. How could that be?!?! What Wiggi did on the side of that highway was not normal!!! Bewildered, they went on home, scratching their heads. Life went on a usual.
Now, let's jump a few months forward to the Spring of 2009...the Saturday before Easter, to be exact. Wiggi was running errands for his beautiful wife, Bigi. As he drove his pick up truck home, he called her and said he had a little headache and that his head was bleeding a little. He thought that maybe he had scratched it some how. So, she said drive safely and she'd help him when he got home. In about 20 minutes he pulled up the driveway, slowly got out of the truck and came into the house. Bigi nearly sucked all of the air out of the room when she saw what she saw!!! And, what she saw was that the back of his head was full of blood soaked, matted hair! OMGOODNESS!!!!! What in the world had he done to cut his head and bleed so much???? That question could be asked again later. No time to figure it out now. She had to get the area washed off so she could see what there was to see. So, the slow, laborious task began to gently clean the wound. It didn't look as bad as first thought. It appeared to be a superficial cut in the shape of an "L". Heads to tend to bleed a lot, don't they? They took off for the nearest walk in clinic to see if stitches were required. Before the docs could determine that, Wiggi started to get "sick". That, of course, we all know, shows signs of a concussion. But, the answer still was not known...what had Wiggi done to get hurt so badly??? He had his wallet, so they ruled out a mugging. But, what??? No time now. The ambulance was on its way to take him to the hospital for a suspected concussion. Bigi followed in the car, calling all the kids to alert them. Well, the ER did lots of test and here's the conclusion..he had a brain bleed in 3 places and a subarachnoid hemmorage. He was conscious but there would most likely be permanent brain damage. They had no way of knowing the extent of the brain damage until more time had passed. He was considered in danger and had to be monitored closely. He went to ICU for the night. The next day was Easter and the family gathered in the waiting room to visit him and find out how he was doing. During those hours of visiting, as he lay hooked up to more monitors, his heart stopped for about 7 seconds. That was troubling...certainly not normal! Then, not long after, his heart stopped for 17 seconds! Now, that was more than troubling!!! As the docs were bringing out "the paddles", his heart started up on its own. Thank God!!! But, the doc said that Wiggi was to get a pacemaker immediately. And, so he did. Here's the outcome to all of that. Unbeknownst (is that a real word?), anyway, no one had known it, but it is believed that his heart had stopped on many occasions in the past, but it was thought that he had fallen asleep while watching tv or riding in the car. The problem could only be caught if he was hooked up to the heart monitor. And, while attempting to recover from the head injury, he was hooked up. Do you see God in all of that? Though Bigi would not want to ever repeat the horror of the moments on the remote road, praying for Wiggi to wake up, or spending the sleepless night in a strange town, with no family or friends around, praying that the docs could find out what had happened. Though she would never want to find her Wiggi's head and truck blood soaked from...what??? We may never know. That injury caused him permanent short term memory loss and it seems the first memory to go was how he got hurt. Nor would she ever want him to have his heart stop for any reason or any length of time. Nevertheless, had the head injury not happened, that is exactly what might have transpired.
God knew that something drastic had to happen to get Wiggi hooked up to the monitor at just the right time. God knew. I'm just sayin' that when things don't go as you planned and things seem really bad, or you're confused, don't try to understand it all. Relax. That's easier said than done...I know!!! But, He knows what's up. Do what you are supposed to do, be still and put your trust in God. Be blessed. Bigi
P.S. And just in case you didn't get the connection, that story is about me and my Precious Wiggi.
Advice needed re: talking to my GP - any advice gratefully received
