I Thought I'd Died

This story is from my new book titled, W.A.R. Stories! What I learned at the United States Air Force Academy without ever graduating.

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Not long after I started serving at the Air Force Academy, as I was finishing up my yoga workout, I felt a little pinch in my back. I’ve had back issues most of my life. Created by an old sports injury. But he didn’t score!

??Anyway, as I was getting ready for work that pinch begins to hurt more. Deb headed off to her work. I wasn’t going in until a little later, hoping that the pain would go away. It didn’t. It got worse. I, eventually, laid down on the couch trying to stretch my back. That made it worse. It got so bad that I couldn’t get up. And I had to go pee! I was almost paralyzed with the pain. I called Deb and told her how bad the pain was and that I, literally, could not move off the couch. She called 9-1-1.

??I’m sure there’s some method in their madness, but five or six vehicles arrived to our home. Deb left work to come take care of me and arrived just in time to let the paramedics, the cops, the firemen, the game warden, and I don’t know who else into the house to see me. They immediately shot me with some pain relievers , raised me off the couch, and led me to the bathroom where I immediately relieved myself. You know, when ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

??They strapped me onto a gurney and told Deb that they were taking me to the hospital. To St Francis Hospital downtown. Neither Deb nor I had ever heard of that hospital, but I had to get help quickly. I was still in mega-pain and couldn’t stand or sit up. I’d never been in an ambulance before in my life. I wish I could say that it was fun, but the meds started kicking in and I wasn’t really very coherent during the ride.?

??We arrived at St Francis, and they took me in through the Emergency Entrance. I didn’t know it at the time, but I figured that out later. I remember the ride down the hallway as they took me to a treatment area. It was just like the movies. I could see the ceiling lights flash past me, or me past them, as they wheeled me into the ER. My mind went dead after that. Not, literally, of course.

??Sometime later, I don’t know how much later, I started to come to. I heard voices, but I hadn’t opened my eyes. I was working in the Center for Character Development at the time. My colleagues were a very diverse group of professionals. We even had three chaplains as part of our cadre. So, there I was, coming out of being drugged for who-knows-how-long. As I open my eyes, what I see scares the crap out of me. It’s the face of one of our chaplains, looking at me eye-to-eye. My first thought was that I’d died, and she was administering my last rights. I can still see Chaplain Cheri Wheeler’s face looking straight down at me!?Luckily, it wasn’t the inevitable. She was just checking on me. Whew….!

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INSIGHT: I learned A LOT from that experience. Since then, almost two decades since, I always make sure to do my yoga workout deliberately, ensuring that I’m not twisting as I shouldn’t and taking my time. Rushing through yoga goes against its purpose. I learned not to lie down, hoping for pain to subside, if I DO get those pinches. By the way, it was a pinched nerve that brought me down. I spent three days in the hospital, pretty much drugged up the entire time, until I was able to move normally again.?

??I learned the truth about what the great philosopher, Dirty Harry, once said, “ A man’s gotta know his limitations.”

??I?learned that I don’t want to go through that 911 experience again. I now know how that feels and it was not good. I DID admonish My Chaplain, whom I do love and respect to this day, not to EVER do that to me again! We both laughed when I shared the memory with her not too long ago. It wasn’t funny when it happened, though.

??What I never learned, though, is why so many First Responders showed up at my home. Maybe it’s because I AM special?