After I shared the story of my pregnancy, many people asked me about my father’s health. So I thought about sharing some details on what happened and how. So here is the second chapter of my story.
I was eagerly waiting at the airport for my parents to arrive, afterall they were visiting me for the first time. My dad looked handsome and my mom was looking beautiful as always, except for them being jetlagged nothing was of a concern health wise. Both of them got their thorough health examination done before travelling overseas, and the doctor raised no concerns about my dad’s cholesterol level. After reaching home we ate lunch, then my parents took shower and got ready for a nap. While my mom slept like a baby, my dad was too tired to sleep. He complained of feeling too full of the food. I gave him Tums and coca cola thinking that airplane food gave him acidity. Couple of hours later he mentioned that his left shoulder is hurting as if he pulled a nerve. We all thought that it must have happened from handling the luggage during the journey. Not once he mentioned any heart pain or shortness of breath, the typical symptoms of heart attack, and not once did it occurre to us that it could be a heart attack, while he was in a heart attack, we just didn’t know. It was next to impossible for us the imagine my dad with any kind of heart condition, he has always maintained a super healthy, clean and active lifestyle. I have seen him practice yoga for 90 minutes everyday without fail since my childhood. That night was not a comfortable one for him, but he managed to sleep. Next morning he tried to ignore his discomfort thinking that it will go away if he stopped thinking about it. But nothing was working, he started to grow a little restless, that’s when we decided to take him to the ER. As I was pregnant, I stayed home with my mom, and my husband drove him to the hospital. At the ER the moment my dad explained his condition, they immediately took him in, and put him on ECG. There it was, they told him that he is having a heart attack and they will perform an emergency surgery on him.
While outside in the waiting area my husband was completely oblivious of what was going on inside. Few minutes later he saw a doctor rushing into the hallway, her hair was soaking wet, she was in her house pajamas and bathroom slippers, apparently, she had just finished her shift, and left for home. She was in the shower when she was paged to immediately report as there was an emergency case of heart attack back at the hospital. She didn’t get to finish her shower, or eat dinner, her priority was to save that person’s life. That person was my dad.
After waiting for a considerable amount of time my husband realized that dad hasn’t come out yet, it was just gas or maybe a pulled nerve, it shouldn’t take that long. When he inquired about my dad, the receptionist then told him that he is in surgery. While me and my mom at home were starting to grow impatient, I called my husband to check when is he coming back home with daddy. To avoid giving a shock to his pregnant wife, my husband came up with the most creative excuses regarding why dad cant come home tonight which actually made me more nervous. Somehow me and mom got over with that night, while my husband stayed back in the ICU waiting area, because he just didn’t know what and how to tell my mom. Next morning, I drove my mom to the hospital. My husband took me on the side and told me what happened to dad. I thought he was joking, but that was the truth. We made my mom sit down before breaking the new to her. She didn’t believe us either. It pained to see her trying to fathom the news. We then walked inside the ICU to see my dad, he was stable and completely out of danger. In all this, all I could think of was, what if….what if this had happened a day before while he was at the Delhi airport, away from his hometown, or at Germany airport while he was in transit to US, or worst while he was in the flight. But none of that happened, he was with us and he was safe. Yes, it was shocking, yes, it was heartbreaking, yes it was painful, but if it wasn’t for that doctor, we wouldn’t have managed to get out of it. She played God for us that day, no forms were asked to be filled, no one asked for his name, or passport, no one even verified if he was an American citizen or had insurance or had the ability to pay for the treatment. All they saw was a human being struggling for life which is precious for his family and it needs to be saved. My dad survived that heart attack for 16 hours before he got surgery. His surgery was successful, my dad survived the biggest nightmare of our lives. Its been 11 years now, he is happy, healthy, and living life with utmost enthusiasm.
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