Hello everyone, it’s Lisa speaking now. I’m sorry I haven’t posted something sooner, this message has been a long time coming. I am grateful to report that I have now completed three full time weeks of work and I am doing well.  I still suffer from minor aphasia (difficulty with speaking), due to anoxic brain injury, which mostly happens when I am tired and/or stressed. I would say that I have recovered approximately 97% for which I am grateful.

Many people seem somewhat confused about what’s actually happened. I did not have a heart attack. In fact, while in the hospital I had a cardiac catheterization which determined that my heart is perfectly healthy. I suffered cardiac arrest, which is very different. Cardiac arrest is when the heart completely stops, often due to cardiac electrical issues. The cardiologists suspect that I had ventricular fibrillation or V-fib, which preceded my cardiac arrest. As Rick mentioned, I now have a defibrillator/pacemaker which should protect me in the event this occurs again.

This has been very surreal to me and I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that this even happened.  Although I physically was present, I have no memories from mid-November, 2018 to January 2, 2019 due to my brain injury.  Everything that I know about what happened on December 16th and the following days/weeks are from stories that my family have told me.  They have shared photos and videos that they took during this time in hopes that I remember something. My first memory post-experience is from January 3, 2019.

While this was a physically traumatic experience for me, for my family it was truly tragic. I cannot imagine what they went through during this time as they prayed that I would live and recover from this.  I am frequently reminded of what they went through during this time and how how difficult it was to experience. I think that my family suffers from PTSD as a result of this experience. The doctors say that this is normal and will go away in time. Rick still wakes me up some nights to see if I am awake and breathing.

My family, and I’m sure many of you, would like to know why this happened to me. While there’s no definitive answer at this time, I personally believe my lifestyle led to this event. I allowed myself to become overworked, sleep deprived, and overall exhausted. These circumstances contributed to extreme stress levels, which ultimately led to catastrophe. Many people don’t realize the impact stress can have on your health, it can be just as damaging as an unhealthy diet and lifestyle. I now realize I cannot sacrifice myself for those around me. I have to prioritize my health first, or I won’t be here for anyone at all. If there’s anything to be learned from this event, I would hope that you all learn to make your health a priority, and that includes minimizing stress and taking the time to slow down. After all, tomorrow is another day, and we all want to be here for it!

I cannot express how grateful I am to all of you for all of your help and prayers, without which I don’t think I would be doing as well as I am. Thank you all for all of your support, for monitoring my progress, and for supporting my family.

Again, thank you for being there for me and my family during this time of crisis.  I would especially like to thank my family for all of their love and support. I know I would not have survived this, or recovered from this without their love, prayers and help.  

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2019.

With love,

Lisa