a new heart...

about five years ago my phone rang in the wee hours of the morning... that is never a good thing. and, it wasn't. my sister-in-law's niece, kelly, was calling to let us know that that linda (sil) had had a massive heart attack and was in intensive care. it was very iffy as to whether or not she would survive.

i packed our bags, and katherine and i travelled to go be there for linda.

linda had gone to a charlie daniels' benefit concert for the families of police officers who'd been killed in a high-speed chase. she had started feeling sick, had gone to the restroom to splash cool water onto her face, and was sitting on a table in the hallway.
when she had the heart attack, she went face first onto the concrete floor. thank goodness she was at a public event... as there were paramedics and police on hand. the paramedics had to shock her heart 3 times before they could get it beating again.
she was rushed to st. thomas hospital in nashville.
her heart situation was negatively compounded by the head injury she'd sustained when she fell from the table; hence, the doctors were unable to give her blood thinners.
linda's prognosis was grave...

thankfully, linda did pull through. she surprised all her doctors!!!
her cardiologist told her that the type of attack she'd had was called "sudden death" in the medical world. further, had there not been medics right there when she suffered the attack, she would have surely died.

though she was a trooper and pulled through the heart attack, things have not been easy for linda. because her heart was greatly compromised, as time passed, its inefficiency began to affect the rest of her health (breathing, energy, etc...) to the point that in august her cardiologist had to put her on a donor list for a heart transplant.

well, yesterday morning at 8:30 am her phone rang. it was st. thomas hospital. she was told to get to the hospital asap as her new heart was en route!!!

she promptly arrived and was prepped for surgery. the heart arrived mid-day. after a four hour surgery, linda had a new, healthy heart pumping in her chest. she was doing well last night.

THANK GOD!!!

however, stories like this are always so bittersweet... the heart linda received had been donated by the family of a 14 year old girl. so, as we are jubilating over linda's blessing, a family somewhere is mourning the loss of their beautiful daughter... for them, i ask for prayers. i just hope they find peace and comfort in the knowledge that their little girl didn't die in vain.

those of us who love our linda are so grateful!!!
there are just no words...

love and God's blessings,
dani xx