Written by Ann, posted by Chris
March 18, 2006
Fell in NYC; broken tibia, fibula, heel bones
March 19, 2006
Flight home from NYC to Phoenix
March 20, 2006
Find an orthopedic Dr. who can do the surgery soon!
(**Always go straight to the ER after a long flight and broken bones.)
March 21, 2006
First surgery: 7″ steel plate, 8 screws in tibia
1 ½” screw (into length) in tibia
2 screws (2″ and 1 ½” in fibula
1 pin across ankle (rocker bones)
April 8, 2006
Called EMT; blood clots in both lungs, hardly breathing
Ambulance moved me to Scottsdale Osborn, ER…then to ICU
April 15, 2006
Home from hospital in afternoon
Back to ER for breathing difficulties and pain in lungs again.
April 25, 2006
Second surgery: remove pin in ankle to allow movement
May 2, 2006
Remove stitches.
July 27, 2007
Third surgery: remove 2 screws (2″ and 1 ½”) from fibula.
During this time: physical therapy from April until September.
Blood draws every two weeks to check coumedin levels.
HOW DID I FEEL?
PAIN: At first, the pain was all in my left leg, but as the blood pooled in my lungs, I felt it across the width of my back in the lung area when trying to breathe. It became harder and harder to get oxygen in and out/ to inhale and exhale. The greatest pain was in my back across the lung area.
TEMPERATURE: I remember only being cold at times. I asked the attending nurses for “another warm blanket”. They would bring blankets from some kind of warming drawer;–It felt wonderful!
AWARENESS: I couldn’t focus my mind on anything by the pain (lungs) and not getting enough air. I kept crying out to God for help. It felt like when you’ve swam underwater for (say the length of the pool / 50 meters or so) and you’re lungs are bursting for air. You know you need air but you’re not at the end of the pool yet, so you keep going. When you do come up out of the water, you gasp and inhale as much air as you possibly can-even making a loud vocal noise of gasping. Well, you’re mind tells you to do that, but when you try to get air, hardly any air is taken in. It’s a panicky feeling!!! You’re afraid to exhale for fear that no fresh air will come in. I kept asking God to help me.
I was aware of the cubicle that I was in inside the ICU. I was aware of the respirator to help me breathe, (at first) the IV in my right arm, the heart monitor on my left, the catheter, that my left leg was still bandaged. I was aware that the nurses drew blood every four hours to check the heparin level, etc. After a few days, they switched out the IV and inserted a PIC in my right arm so they could continue to draw blood every four hours and also inject morphine as needed.
I was aware of the “beep-beep” of the heart monitor and the sounds of the machinery around me. There is no television, radio, or loud talking…only the voices of the nurses occasionally.
I was aware that my husband and family came to the ICU. Robyn drew a heart on the China board and wrote “I love you.”
SPIRITUALLY: I think I was crying out to God from the moment I first fell in the street in NYC. I felt HE was nearby, in spite of the pain. Sometime during the Apr. 8-14 ICU experience; probably about Apr. 10 or 11, 2006 this happened:
I watched the person die in the cubicle next to me. I watched the nurses remove the body. I saw the family members crying outside the doorway to my right. I knew death was hovering there.
I prayed, “God, if it’s my time to come home to you, I am ready…and that’s where I want to be. But, if it’s NOT my time to come home to you, would you please take away this pain? I don’t think I can take any more pain.”
My next awareness was a man’s beautiful singing voice accompanied by the most melodious music. I can’t sing the melody, but I memorized the words because HE sang them over and over (I don’t know how long this went on.) It seems like he must have sung these words a thousand times. These are the words:
I AM GOD when you fall.
I AM GOD when you stand.
I AM GOD who holds you in my hands.
I I AM I AM GOD
I can’t say how long it took me to feel “normal”…but I felt like I wasn’t going to die; that I was going to live. Since I was unaware of time or clocks, this may have been anywhere from minutes…to hours…to over the course of a few days. I don’t know, but I am alive and breathing on my own. Praise the Lord!!
I HEARD this and stand behind my experience…even if no one ever believes me. It is real and true; this really happened. I didn’t SEE any angels. I think my eyes were closed most of the time. I HEARD God…Jesus…the Holy Spirit sing to me.
Zephaniah 4:17 says:
The Lord your God is with you…. (He made himself known to me. He identified
Himself “I AM”.
He definitely was there with me in ICU)
He is mighty to save. (I knew He could save me, I knew He could take
Me to be with Him in heaven.)
He will take great delight in you, (His delight in me is due completely to the salvation
afforded to me in Jesus, my Savior. His grace has
made this possible…not by anything I’ve done.)
He will quiet you with his love, (His singing brought peace into my trouble. He
brought calm and quiet into my battle for life.
I think His singing physically brought the healing
into my lungs and bones. I became restful,
peaceful, untroubled, tranquil……….)
He will rejoice over you with singing.
(His singing brought my rejoicing, my healing)
*** It is now August 2008.
I am walking, not fast nor far at a time, but I am walking PTL!
I am breathing well. PTL!
There is no feeling on my left foot between the big toe and little toe, from above my ankle, BUT….I’m continuing to pray for healing and am believing that Jesus, the Great Physician, will continue to heal completely! I write this as testimony and reference so I will not forget what God has done for me.
Tags: blood clots in both lungs, broken tibia, fibula, heel bones, NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE
