Did You See "The Light?"

February 6, 2014 at 10:44pm

Once I got a little better at home, a few of my buddies finally asked me the question. Did you see "the light?" I did come very close to death in the hospital; I kind of knocked on the front door. When my liver bled out, they only thing the doctors could do was pack it and try to stop the bleeding. My liver turned to a jelly substance and couldn't be moved. They performed the mass blood transfusion, pumping the blood into my body anyway they could. I heard the blood was even at the wrong temperature, but there was no time to waste. My wife and parents told me it looked like a scene out of a CSI episode. There were a few doctors working on me at the same time. No one was talking to each other, but they all knew what each other were doing. (i wish i had a video of this.) They didn't have time to rush me into an operating room, so they turned my room into the OR. All of this was put into motion because one of my nurses noticed a puddle of blood under my bed. My liver was hemorrhaging and they had to stop it. My wife also told me she noticed the blood starting to pour out of my stomach incision. Once the doctors were able to stabilize me they spoke to my wife and parents. This is where they gave me the 10% chance to pull through. They said they did everything they could do, now they needed me to do a little. Throughout this whole process I was placed into an induced coma. To answer the question, no, I never saw a light. I did though, hear and recognize the voices of certain family members talking to me. The body and mind works in mysterious ways. I was knocked out for 3 weeks and remember a lot of the dreams I had while out. The most distinct voice I remember was my Uncle Ray's voice. The cool thing was, when I recognized a voice, I placed them into the dream I was having. Not sure why his voice stood out to me? Maybe it was the tone and command based on his military history. Maybe it was the fact that he and my Uncle Dick used to beat me up when I was a kid telling me, "YOU GOTTA BE TOUGH!" They would yell that at me as they were throwing me into my grandmothers pool. Maybe it's because I was named after him and I always looked up to my uncles. All I know is when Uncle Ray talked to me; I heard him and recognized who it was. His voice stimulated me. I still remember the dream I was having when he spoke to me. I was cruising around on dirt roads in the back country. We were in cars racing other people and when he talked to me, he joined me. I remember it like yesterday. Hearing his voice while I was out was as crystal clear as the Queensryche song playing right now. I've said this before. If you have family or friends in the hospital for any reason, please go visit and talk to them. You never know who will get through and stimulate their mind. I dreamt a lot, and remember hearing some of the voices from my visitors. I strongly believe they helped me along my recovery journey. I don't think my mind ever rested. Based on some of my dreams, I think I should cut back on the horror movies a little bit. :) So I never saw a light, but I heard the voices. Uncle Ray sent me an amazing 2 page letter detailing his experience and my reactions when he spoke to me. I will be posting that tomorrow. For all of those family members and friends that visited me, THANK YOU! You all got me through it. Don't ever think people don't want visitors in the hospital. Please visit and have dialog. Stimulate the brain and who knows, maybe you'll be the one racing on dirt roads in the back woods.

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