You Just Never Know...

You wake up in the morning & look outside to see what the day looks like. I tend to judge my day by the quality of sunlight or lack there of. Sunny days make me look forward to the coming day with joy. Overcast days tend to nudge me back under the warm duvet.

Wednesday, I woke to a bright sunny morning. It was early. The sun was just rising over the Coachella Valley: a beautiful day. My husband was already up, reading the morning paper with his cup of tea. I made another pot of tea and checked my e-mail & Twitter as Doc headed off to shower and get ready for his daily clinic.

I looked at the clock. Doc, if anything, is routine bound and controlled by that damned clock. Doc should have been in to say goodbye already. Something was amiss. The phone hadn’t rung so I knew he wasn’t tied up with hospital issues.

The car was still in the carport. He’d not left. I headed to the bedroom where I found him flat on his back passed out. I had a difficult time rousing him and knew I needed to get him to the ER. While getting him dressed, I realized I could not drive him there. I could not possibly get him into my vehicle.

I’ve worked in hospitals since 1975 and I’m married to a physician. We dealt with emergencies every day. I had no clue what to do! I knew I was in panic mode. I called my neighbor, @TheDeeView and asked her, “Can I call 911 for a medical emergency or is it only for police or fire related issues?” “@TheDeeView yelled, “Hang up this phone and call 911. NOW!!!” In retrospect, that was a really dumb question. I called 911.

By the time I finished giving 911 the information, @TheDeeView was running through my front gate barking orders. “Open the car gate.” “Collect Doc's medications for the EMT Techs.” “Get the medical insurance information.” “Breathe, dammit!”

“Breathe, dammit!” was her best order. I called the clinic to say he wasn’t to be in today and please reschedule his patients. No other explanation. I hung up and called our Neurologist friend to see what I should do. Sy is the epitome of calm & cool in an emergency. Most physicians are, actually. I followed his advice. “Breathe, dammit!"

EMT Techs arrived, examined Doc, packed him up on that transformer stretcher and off he went to ER. @The DeeView gave me a big hug, told me she loved me and sent me off to the ER. Two hours later we were tremendously relieved to learn that Doc was OK, no damage, no harm done. No diagnosis, either, but that can be worked on via testing now that Doc’s stable.

What I learned from this harrowing experience is that I have a wealth of friends: friends who dropped everything to assist Doc & me in our emergency. Without my knowing it, @Taxes007 has contacted many of our dearest friends to let them know what had happened. While Doc was in the ER, I was kept company by our friends. I felt truly supported. I didn’t’ even KNOW I needed their love & support until they were there. How does one thank them???

Oh! And I learned that we need lists of our medications readily available... just in case. We need our health insurance information readily available. Just in case. And breathe!

All’s well now. Doc is back home after one night in hospital and is now back in the clinic. He’s scheduled for further testing to figure out what happened but he’s back to his “normal self.”

All that day the sun shone brightly on a warm lovely day. You just never know.

Thanks for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson