Life is Fragile

*Note: Here is the true story about what happened to me over the weekend, and the blog post I promised.

Life is fragile. One moment you are out socializing with friends, and the next your health is in dire straits on the brink.

Along the way, the lines between your normal life activities and an unforeseen much darker reality become blurred.

For those harrowing 5 hours in the ER last night, this is where I lived

Dedication

Dedication is doing what no one else would be doing if they were where you were doing it.

Last night dedication was my friend, and will always remind me just how closely we live near the edge at any moment and how fragile life truly is.

We can never forget this.

There has been relative little activity from me on Wealthy Affiliate the last 2 days. You may have noticed.

Well, on Saturday we were out enjoying the night with friends when I was suddenly greeted with an unexpected scare.

My vision became blurry, there was pressure near the base of my neck, and I was feeling discomfort in my esophagus, and it was simultaneously radiating to my chest.

But other than the neck pressure, this was nothing I hadn't experienced before.

Checked into the Hospital

By 2:30 am, I had checked into NYU Langone Hospital after having dizziness and chest discomfort by making a routine emergency walk-in visit which I thought would only lead to a precautionary checkup.

"Nothing to worry", I thought to myself. "Astute medical evaluation will soon reveal that acid reflux due to my GERD symptoms is the only cause, as had been revealed on at least 15 other occasions during the past when such emergency visits were necessary."

However, this visit was like no other.

Following an immediate electrocardiogram (EKG), 6 nurses and 3 PA' s began hastily hooking me up to electrical wiring and heart monitors like I was the Frankenstein monster himself and started sticking me every which way with IV' s in places I can't mention.

I said," Can you use a butterfly needle please?

The PA replied, "No absolutely not, my friend. You are going to be staying here for a while. We will be carefully watching you."

What I hadn't realized was that my heart rate was rapidly falling - and quickly fell into the very dangerous 33 - 40 bmp zone by the time I reached the ER.

More concerning, the EKG showed an unnatural arrhythmia of the heart. I was approaching seriously uncharted territory.

Inexplicable. There is no medical explanation.

I'd always been heart healthy, very active, don't have a family history of heart disease, don't smoke, and only drink sparingly. Also I was seen by a cardiologist and passed a stress test only 3 months ago with flying colors.

In between the din of background noise, I could hear there was quickly talk amongst the hospital staff that I may need a pacemaker.

For five hours I remained on pins and needles while frequently staring at the heart monitor.

All the while, the monitor’s heart rate reading was showing 33-38 bpm’s and I was feeling quite light-headed and woozy.

From the corner of my eye, I could see 3 of the PA’s carefully watching me with very concerned and ashen looks on their faces.

Very disconcerting and frankly I was now concerned for my life.

Was this Karma?

So how did I pass this time?

How did I distract myself from the inevitable?

Well, while lying in the ER, I started by answering comments on my phone on Wealthy Affiliate.

Then a miracle happened.

It was now 7:45 am.

By the time I finished answering some more comments, within 2-3 minutes my heart monitor reading climbed into the low 60's. Although I first passed this off as an anomaly, I continued answering some more comments.

Another hour passed, and my heart rate held steady in the 60s. I was then told I would be admitted overnight for precautionary observation.

Thank God, from that moment on my heart rate stabilized over a period of 24 hours to a sinus rhythm and back to a normal rate between 58-68 bpm.

So I ended up staying overnight in this NYU Langone hospital room, and wrote this blog post. The next afternoon at 1:00 pm, I was released.

Strange and Inexplicable

When pressed, none of the special doctors in the ER or the cardiology unit I implored could answer how this could have happened, how my heart rate climbed from the low 30s to the high 60s without any medical intervention in a matter of only a few minutes.

Here is proof. Take a close look at the heart monitor on the near left and on the top left. The bottom monitor reads a heart rate of 37, and the top reads 38.

You can see here I already started answering comments on Wealthy Affiliate.

Now here is the NEW heart rate after answering my first wave of comments. The monitor reads a heart rate of 70.

This photo was taken around 5 minutes after I completed the first wave of Wealthy Affiliate comments.

And my heart rate maintained at this 60-70 level.

There simply is no medical explanation. Strange and inexplicable.

NOW "The Twilight Zone!"

Never mind that, this next event will blow your mind - and what I am about to tell you next is something that totally freaked me out - this is truly from "The Twilight Zone."

Even more inexplicably creepy, take a look at the next "Date of Maintenance" sticker on the bottom of my bed in the ER reading date "Jan 18."

January 18 is my birthday.

Creating Good Karma

I can only relate this all to creating good karma.

This should remind us all that life is fragile, and as long as we are breathing and awake we should keep helping others.

Good things come to those that focus on doing good deeds unto others without expectation of a reward, and eerily at times such good deeds DO manifest themselves in auspicious blessings that can be lifesaving.

And life changing.

Whatever happened, whatever the reason, I feel truly blessed and grateful to be alive and well by way of a Higher Order, and to tell this remarkable tale to my Wealthy Affiliate friends.

I hope my close call brush with the afterlife offers a valuable lesson in creating good karma or at least further intriguing debates.

Please feel free to share your comments.

Cheers,

Kaju