| Monday, August 29, 2005 | |||
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Okay, here's another instance. And I really know the person this time, because it happened to my Dad. He was just 29 years old at the time, and an overworked surgical resident. She and my mom had been married for only two years. I was just 1 year old, and my brother hadn't even born. He had attended--and emceed--a big party the night before. Before the party was through, his throat was extremely sore, and not just from shouting on the microphone. The next day, he woke up with a high temperature. Mom kept trying to convince him not to go on duty that day, but Dad refused. It was 7 in the morning, and he was just in the process of bending down to put on his socks when he suddenly went rigid. Mom says that he then collapsed bonelessly back on the bed and started convulsing. His eyes had rolled back on their sockets, and he was foaming at the mouth. Mom barely had time to react before he abruptly quit breathing. Mom was already a licensed nurse at the time, but the sight of Dad lying there lifelessly made her go into hysterics. Fortunately, her sister and dad's brother were staying with them at the time, so they heard her and ran to help. My uncle helped my Mom start CPR, while my aunt hollered for the neighbors. Two came, a woman dressed in a negligee and a man dressed in boxer shorts and a towel. Mom herself was dressed in pajama bottoms and an inside-out shirt. Between themselves, they managed to carry my dad from the second-floor apartment down to the street, where they miraculously flagged down a taxi within seconds. It was extremely fortunate that the hospital where Dad trained as a resident at the time was only about 10 minutes away, and that it specialized in cases like his. However, 10 minutes is still a long time for the brain to go without air. After 4 minutes, neurons already start to die. Mom said that she saw Dad's feet turning blue from lack of oxygen as they sped to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital, Mom realized that she'd forgotten to bring money to pay for the cab. But her neighbors shooed her off and said they'd take care of it. How they managed it without carrying anything and wearing nightclothes, Mom never found out, but she is extremely grateful to them up to this day. The residents and consultants at the hospital were flabbergasted when they recognized the patient. Immediately, they started CPR and did everything imaginable they could think of. In fact, they continued pumping way past the time that they usually stop with other patients. When they finally revived him, the older consultants shook their heads and predicted catastrophic brain damage. They pitied my Mom, a young mother with a baby who was just starting her life with her husband. Yet, my Dad was awake, alert, extubated, and talking within 48 hours. He was released from the hospital within a few days. And he topped the GS national boards with 2 months. Everyone hailed his recovery a miracle. What's the point of this story? At the point when he was supposedly clinically dead (which was about thirty minutes) Dad said that he felt himself going down a tunnel with a light at the end (sounds familiar?). And then, he spent the time floating among beautiful fluffy clouds, feeling very blissful and content. Was all that just a dream? Just a figment of his imagination? Yet, he was clinically dead at the time, which means that his heart wasn't pumping, his blood wasn't flowing, and his brain certainly wasn't working. For thirty minutes. I think that would be harder to explain with nothing more than Science and Medicine.
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ABOUT ME:
 Just trying to:  Visit my other pages  
 
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