This morning, my little brother, Johnny, nearly died. He was in his bedroom, in his bed, when he started to have sudden severe breathing problems. By the time mommy got to him (she could hear his gasping, strident breathing, which woke her up from a sound sleep; breathing problems tend to do that to a person, especially if they've dealt with them before, or if they've never heard the sounds of a person gasping for air, which is probably one of the most frightening sounds one can ever hear), Johnny's face was blue and soaked with a sheen of sweat. His blue eyes were huge with fright, and his mouth hung open like a fish craving water. He was also shaking all over, as though he were cold; he was now going into the beginnings of a full-blown grand-mal seizure.
It was a rather scary sight, in other words.
She had me call 9-1-1 for an ambulance while she tended to my little brother. It seemed to take forever before I heard the sound of the rescue truck and the ambulance arriving into our driveway, and then the loud, insistent knocking of the paramedics banging on the front door. When they came, I let them in, and showed them the way to Johnny's bedroom.
By now, Johnny was silent, and he now was no longer shaking all over. He was now limp and still. That really unnerved me. He looked..DEAD. His eyes were now closed, and he was as limp as a wet towel. His little chest didn't seem to be moving. I was so sure he was dead--or was about to die in a short period of time. The paramedics went immediately to work on Johnny, trying to revive him. They put him onto the floor, face up, and they opened his airway by tilting his head back, and they then got an airway tube and stuck it into his mouth; and they then put a tube down his throat (which promptly made me gag; it's a good thing Johnny wasn't aware of THAT!), and attached a rubber bag to the tube and started squeezing it every few seconds, trying to get oxygen to his still lungs. The one paramedic hooked Johnny up to a heart monitor, and he then stuck a needle into his arm and started an I.V. line going, where he then injected medicine into the tubing.
Through it all, my little brother remained limp and so still. And his little face remained blue; and it only seemed to get bluer as the seconds ticked by. In fact, his entire little body had a hint of blue...
They got him into the ambulance, still working on him as they did so. They then locked the rear doors, secured them, got into the front of the ambulance (there were four paramedics; two sat in the front, and the other two remained in the back, with their little patient, working on him all the while), and then, with its lights going, the ambulance took off, screaming towards Nashville Memorial Hospital. The ambulance was moving like a cheetah on super hypersonic speed.
At the hospital, Johnny was rushed into the emergency room, where he was quickly placed onto a table; and doctors and nurses soon surrounded the bed, where they immediately went to work. More tubes and lines were attached to my little brother, and his clothes were quickly cut off and then removed until he lay naked and vulnerable on the trauma table. His entire body was now an ugly shade of blue-grey, and he looked even more dead than before (if THAT'S possible, but somehow he did). The code alarm was going off full tilt, and I could hear the cry of "CODE BLUE, E.R., CODE BLUE!" "CODE BLUE, E.R., PEDIATRIC CODE BLUE, E.R., TREATMENT ROOM #5; ALL HELP TO T.R. #5, STAT!!!!" going across the p.a. system.
By now, my stomach was in knots, I was so scared. Mommy wasn't making the situation any better: she was pacing the floor, praying in tongues, asking Jesus to spare her son's life; and she was acting quite hysterical. People were looking at her with funny looks on their faces.
I don't know HOW, but Johnny then started breathing again, and his pulse returned; soon, his heart was beating normally. He did, however, remain unconscious. He was "down" for nearly 8 minutes, and there was talk of possible brain damage; but when the neurologist examined him, his vital and neuro signs appeared to be SOMEWHAT normal (although a bit on the sluggish side).
That's been at least 2 hours ago. Johnny is now in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), where he is presently in critical condition. But he IS getting better. He apparently suffered a severe seizure and choked on his phlegm and saliva during the course of the seizure.
Needless to say, Johnny will probably spend at least several days in the hospital recovering from his latest health crisis. It was a rather trying day on ALL of us; but at least Johnny is still with us.
And, most importantly, at least Johnny is STILL ALIVE!!
God be thanked!! A MAJOR miracle to be had, for sure!! :)
Isn't God GREAT?? We tend to think so, especially now....
Rovella is a beautiful woman with a cold heart whom blames herself for an unfortunate old family secret that is literally ruining her life. This secret impedes a gorgeous woman from having happiness in her childhood, and throughout her life. Dark sec
