Hi Guys! hope you had a nice Holiday. I was thinking about my goals for the year to start writing 1000 words a day to finish up various projects. I thought about how happy I am to be in that writing flow again which lead me --as thoughts of happiness always do--to the extreme gratitude to God that I am here at all.
You see, back in January 10 2012, I had emergency open heart surgery to replace a defective valve and put a stent on a 5.3 aneurysm. This surgery was supposed to be 4 hours--hour 12 they were still working. At one point a major artery broke as they were trying to connect it back to my heart and they had to take one from my leg. They opened and closed me up three times because of a bleed at the aortic root. Then I had a cardiac arrest on the table and my brain was deprived of oxygen for 10 minutes--10 whole minutes. The surgeon told my family IF I woke up I would be brain dead or severely brain damaged. Six hours later I woke up. I could recognize everyone. I could write a message--I could make a joke. The doctors --all the doctors were stunned! I even got a bedside visit from the anesthesiologist who simply couldn't believe it and had to see for himself. He said, "You're supposed to be dead." My eyes smiled and I wrote, "Yeah, go figure."
Two things I attribute to my miracle-- one is prayer of course--I got prayers from all my family and my Baha'i friends all over the world--So God gave this old gal just one more chance--yea me!
The second thing I believe that protected my brain from 10 minutes without oxygen was fish oil.
Four years before my surgery I started taking 8 grams of fish oil every day--for my heart and for my brain. Every day, four tablets in the morning and four tablets in the evening. So by the time I had this event--my brain was well lubed--so to speak. Most folks don't know that our brain is made up primarily of fat and water.
Post Op I have continued to take my fish oil every single day and I urge all my new buddies on this board to do the same--it's good for heart, brain, depression and MACULAR DEGENERATION among other things:
Omega-3 fatty acids | University of Maryland Medical Center
Okay, I'm climbing down off my fish oil soap box--I got laundry to do.
Warmly, Christine
You see, back in January 10 2012, I had emergency open heart surgery to replace a defective valve and put a stent on a 5.3 aneurysm. This surgery was supposed to be 4 hours--hour 12 they were still working. At one point a major artery broke as they were trying to connect it back to my heart and they had to take one from my leg. They opened and closed me up three times because of a bleed at the aortic root. Then I had a cardiac arrest on the table and my brain was deprived of oxygen for 10 minutes--10 whole minutes. The surgeon told my family IF I woke up I would be brain dead or severely brain damaged. Six hours later I woke up. I could recognize everyone. I could write a message--I could make a joke. The doctors --all the doctors were stunned! I even got a bedside visit from the anesthesiologist who simply couldn't believe it and had to see for himself. He said, "You're supposed to be dead." My eyes smiled and I wrote, "Yeah, go figure."
Two things I attribute to my miracle-- one is prayer of course--I got prayers from all my family and my Baha'i friends all over the world--So God gave this old gal just one more chance--yea me!
The second thing I believe that protected my brain from 10 minutes without oxygen was fish oil.
Four years before my surgery I started taking 8 grams of fish oil every day--for my heart and for my brain. Every day, four tablets in the morning and four tablets in the evening. So by the time I had this event--my brain was well lubed--so to speak. Most folks don't know that our brain is made up primarily of fat and water.
Post Op I have continued to take my fish oil every single day and I urge all my new buddies on this board to do the same--it's good for heart, brain, depression and MACULAR DEGENERATION among other things:
Omega-3 fatty acids | University of Maryland Medical Center
Okay, I'm climbing down off my fish oil soap box--I got laundry to do.
Warmly, Christine
