The Phone Call

Matt and I went camping Tuesday night with some friends. Check it all out in the next post...

At about 9:30 pm Tuesday, I walked from the campfire to the truck to get something. I really didn't know why I had gone over there - I had no reason in mind. It turned out there was a major reason - as I was closing the truck door, I heard my cell phone's text message alert. When I looked at my phone, I saw that there were three missed calls - each a minute apart, two voicemails, and a text message all from my brother and sister. After reading and listening to them, I called my brother's phone. When he answered I said, "What's going on?" He told me to find a chair and sit down. "Dad had a heart attack a few hours ago. He's okay." I didn't really hear if he said anything else, because I was screaming and crying. I yelled for Matt to come over. I heard my dad's voice - he apparently took the phone from Marty - telling me he was okay. Even though I heard them telling me he was okay, I couldn't shake the shock I was in at that moment.

After a few minutes, I was able to calm down a bit to talk to my mom. She told me how it all happened. He wasn't feeling good all day Tuesday. He went on the Internet to find out what his symptoms meant and learned that he was possibly having a heart attack. My mom took him straight to Alexian Brothers Hospital at about 6:30. Luckily, he had the actual attack while he was hooked to the EKG. They immediately went in to clear the blocked artery. My family called me while he was in recovery. They moved him to the ICU after I talked to them that night and he was there all day yesterday. He should be in his own room now, and should be coming home tomorrow morning.

The initial shock of the news was of course the main reason for my emotions, but since they were all telling me he was going to be okay, I was also emotional because of how grateful I was that he was going to be okay. Ever since I realized how poor his family health and personal health history was, I have worried that this would happen. We are so blessed that he thought to check his symptoms on the Web, and that he didn't have the heart attack at home. I know that God was protecting my dad and my family that day. I am also feeling blessed because I already had tickets to fly to Chicago this Saturday to stay for a week. We don't have to scramble to get tickets for me to come see him. I'll post pictures once I'm there.