I haven't been sure what to say this week because it's been a pretty intense week for everyone with the death of TH. I wanted to share what happened with my brother-in-law this week but haven't been sure what to say.
On Wednesday morning, I was at work in a meeting with my supervisor and I relayed the story of Tyler's passing and how it was a stark reminder of the fragility of life and the importance for all of us to be aware of how others around us are doing and the need for us to say something if we see someone struggling. I told him the story about my son saving a friend of his from suicide by reporting his concerns to the school counselor (a good story in itself). We talked for a few more minutes about addiction, depression and the pressures that the world presents to all of us. I went back to work.
While I had been talking to my supervisor, I had received a text message from my wife. My brother-in-law, who had been experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath for the past couple days, had finally agreed to go to the hospital. My wife (a nurse), her sister (a nurse) and my other sister-in-law (the spouse) had been trying to get him to go to the emergency room for two days but he was playing the typical macho guy card and thinking it would just go away. He had important meetings early in the week and another on Wednesday morning. He had planned to go the emergency room after that meeting because he had a schedule to keep.
About 20 minutes later, I got a phone call from my wife saying that he was having a heart attack and had coded at the hospital and she was going there. I left for the hospital as well. When we got there, we were told that he was gone at one point but they had brought him back after performing CPR and shocking him three times The doctor was performing an emergency heart cath to see what the source of the problem was. My sister-in-law was an emotional wreck and we were all in shock and hoping he would pull through. A little over an hour later, the nurse came out and said that he had a complete blockage in one artery but it had been removed and that all the signs were positive and that the doctor would be out shortly. After a relatively short wait, the doctor came out and showed us a scan of the blocked artery and the post-procedure scan showing blood flowing properly through the artery. The doctor played a video showing a scan of his heart beating and pointing out that the area of the heart that is often dormant after a heart attack that was functioning much better than the doctor was used to seeing. He told us that if my brother-in-law had been home when the final heart attack had occurred, he would not have survived the event and would have likely been dead before the ambulance arrived.
When we talked to my brother-in-law later, he told us that his recollection of the coding event was the world going black and then a burst of images like a kaleidoscope flashing by so fast that he couldn't identify most of them but that he could tell that they were moments from his life. After a few moments, everything went black again and then he could feel his heart beat inside the darkness for a moment and then he woke up to chaos around him as the hospital staff was working to save him. Other than laying prone when we saw him and his pain from the pounding his body took when they were trying to save him, he was in good shape.
What's fascinating about my brother-in-law's survival is that his wife was even home at all to take him to the hospital. She is a fitness fanatic and competes in body building competitions and would have normally been at the gym when he needed to go to the hospital, but she woke up that Wednesday morning feeling fatigued and decided to sleep in. My brother-in-law was very fortunate that she was there. The good news for him is that he's back at home and has been told that there doesn't appear that there will be anything to keep him from living a normal life. He needs to rethink his diet and exercise habits, maybe think about his health before his job and be smarter when listening to his body, but beyond that, he's been given a second lease on life.
This story doesn't change anything about the tragic loss of Tyler and the hole it will leave in everyone associated with WSU for a time. Tyler will be missed and there will be moments in the next year where we will get stark reminders of his passing and there will be sad days. My brother-in-law's story is just a reminder that among the bad things in the world, good things happening to good people happen as well. I'm grateful that he is still here because he is a genuinely good person that enriches the life of every person that he meets. It sounds like Tyler was the same way and I wish that he would have received that same second chance.
On Wednesday morning, I was at work in a meeting with my supervisor and I relayed the story of Tyler's passing and how it was a stark reminder of the fragility of life and the importance for all of us to be aware of how others around us are doing and the need for us to say something if we see someone struggling. I told him the story about my son saving a friend of his from suicide by reporting his concerns to the school counselor (a good story in itself). We talked for a few more minutes about addiction, depression and the pressures that the world presents to all of us. I went back to work.
While I had been talking to my supervisor, I had received a text message from my wife. My brother-in-law, who had been experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath for the past couple days, had finally agreed to go to the hospital. My wife (a nurse), her sister (a nurse) and my other sister-in-law (the spouse) had been trying to get him to go to the emergency room for two days but he was playing the typical macho guy card and thinking it would just go away. He had important meetings early in the week and another on Wednesday morning. He had planned to go the emergency room after that meeting because he had a schedule to keep.
About 20 minutes later, I got a phone call from my wife saying that he was having a heart attack and had coded at the hospital and she was going there. I left for the hospital as well. When we got there, we were told that he was gone at one point but they had brought him back after performing CPR and shocking him three times The doctor was performing an emergency heart cath to see what the source of the problem was. My sister-in-law was an emotional wreck and we were all in shock and hoping he would pull through. A little over an hour later, the nurse came out and said that he had a complete blockage in one artery but it had been removed and that all the signs were positive and that the doctor would be out shortly. After a relatively short wait, the doctor came out and showed us a scan of the blocked artery and the post-procedure scan showing blood flowing properly through the artery. The doctor played a video showing a scan of his heart beating and pointing out that the area of the heart that is often dormant after a heart attack that was functioning much better than the doctor was used to seeing. He told us that if my brother-in-law had been home when the final heart attack had occurred, he would not have survived the event and would have likely been dead before the ambulance arrived.
When we talked to my brother-in-law later, he told us that his recollection of the coding event was the world going black and then a burst of images like a kaleidoscope flashing by so fast that he couldn't identify most of them but that he could tell that they were moments from his life. After a few moments, everything went black again and then he could feel his heart beat inside the darkness for a moment and then he woke up to chaos around him as the hospital staff was working to save him. Other than laying prone when we saw him and his pain from the pounding his body took when they were trying to save him, he was in good shape.
What's fascinating about my brother-in-law's survival is that his wife was even home at all to take him to the hospital. She is a fitness fanatic and competes in body building competitions and would have normally been at the gym when he needed to go to the hospital, but she woke up that Wednesday morning feeling fatigued and decided to sleep in. My brother-in-law was very fortunate that she was there. The good news for him is that he's back at home and has been told that there doesn't appear that there will be anything to keep him from living a normal life. He needs to rethink his diet and exercise habits, maybe think about his health before his job and be smarter when listening to his body, but beyond that, he's been given a second lease on life.
This story doesn't change anything about the tragic loss of Tyler and the hole it will leave in everyone associated with WSU for a time. Tyler will be missed and there will be moments in the next year where we will get stark reminders of his passing and there will be sad days. My brother-in-law's story is just a reminder that among the bad things in the world, good things happening to good people happen as well. I'm grateful that he is still here because he is a genuinely good person that enriches the life of every person that he meets. It sounds like Tyler was the same way and I wish that he would have received that same second chance.
