On January 28, 2000, my wife Lynn and I got on a ski chairlift for our second run of the day at Mt. Rose, near Reno, Nevada. As a 66-year old cardiologist I was in pretty good shape, but nothing to compare with my 49-year-old wife who does 100-mile trail ultra-marathons. After a vigorous first ski run we jumped on the chairlift with no wait in line.  No on can say if what happened next was due to my fatigue, the altitude, dehydration, a drop in blood pressure from sitting still, falling asleep or whatever - but about 100 yards up the lift, I fainted, had seizure-like movements and fell out of the chairlift. I dropped about 30 feet and miraculously broke no bones. I did, however, hit my head, right arm and  chest with a "bruising" of my lung.

I was unconscious when a skier (who happened to be a physician-please identify yourself!) and the ski  patrol arrived.  I was transported, with a cervical collar (neck brace) in place, via toboggan to the helicopter pad. After being helicopter-lifted to Washoe Medical Center in Reno, I'm told I woke up, joked a bit and read my own ECG! (All of this story is recreated from Lynn's account and my medical  records as I have amnesia backwards to New Year's Eve and forwards to sometime in April after I was airlifted back to Seattle to Harborview Hospital.)

 

Reading ECG's must be bad for your health because the next events progressed to full-blown ARDS.  I don't know if it was bleeding in my lungs, drop in blood pressure and arterial oxygen, altitude or attitude or "whatever" but I apparently passed out again, with seizure-like movements. I was endoscoped finding liquid but no solid material aspirated. I was rapidly intubated and for the next month-plus was ventilated mechanically.

 

I won't go into detail on my 92-day hospital stay but the procedures employed to keep me alive included: tracheostomy; burr hole in head (to release fluid); 7 blood transfusions; rotating bed; dialysis; PEG feeding tube into duodenum; exploratory laparotomy; central venous lines; and medications to maintain blood pressure, and medically-induced coma & paralysis (so that I wouldn't interfere with mechanical ventilation.)

 

Lynn and all my close  family members came to Reno to be at my side as twice I was declared nearly dead or hopeless - under 5% chance of survival according to several consultants as my systolic blood pressure stayed at 70 in spite of all efforts to raise it to over 100.  I'm told that Lynn and my sister, Nancy, along with my 5 children, sister-in-law, first wife (Barbara) and others kept talking to my comatose body, giving me positive messages and challenges: "Get well--Cinco (our Golden Retriever) misses you!"

 

I'm told that a tear came to my eye (and many tears to my family) as they sang "Happy Birthday" to me on February 2, my 6th hospital day.

 

The day-to-day events of my 92-day odyssey were sent to an e-mail list of about 50 persons who, in turn, forwarded the e-mails to countless others. literally around the world. When I recovered enough to read, or be read to, I was struck that nearly every card mentioned "Love" and "Prayers" and I am convinced that there is a yet-to-be explained "Force" in Love and Prayer that made the difference, leading to my survival.  Beyond these important elements of healing, there is a healing force in Touch, Humor, Music and Pets.  Each of these has been, and continues to be, important in my healing.  In fact, I am writing a book, now titled  "ELEMENTS of HEALING" on Love, Prayer, Touch, Humor, Music and Pets.

 

After my 3-month hospitalization it took another 3 months of rehabilitation until I was able to return to my medical practice which has evolved towards Preventive Medicine, managing obesity, hypertension, LDL Cholesterol, Chest pain and general problems of "alphabet soup"- FMS, CFS, RLS, MVP, SAD and other problems that "fall between the cracks."

 

Having been a patient, and having seen what love, prayer and other elements of healing can do, I am in touch with other families and patients with an ARDS adventure.   My message is "Where there's life, there's hope.  Expect--and pray for--a miracle!"