The scoop...

For anyone who has lived in a small town knows, if you don't know what you are up to, SOMEONE does. Sometimes more than others, it can turn out to be this ugly ball of gossip that is hurled in your direction, but others, such as right now for us, it is turning out to be OK. You see, when someone needs prayers or is sick, or needs help and this "small town talk" get started, the best comes out in some people.

Take for example, our situation last week with Troy and his illness. To start from the beginning is necessary, so here goes.

Two Sundays ago, my husband Troy,Liberty (our daughter),and I were at my nephews birthday party. Troy came and sat down beside me and said his chest was really tight like his sternum needed to crack. This did not signal anything for me, as there is always something in Troys body that needs to crack, his thumbs, his back, his knees, ankles... the list goes on and on. He said he just wasn't feeling well. We left not too long after this.

Monday, he ran a fever and felt particularly crappy. I babied him and made sure Tylenol was in him at all times,and his temperature was going down. He had finally broken his fever later that night.

Tuesday, was another Fever and chills. Feeling crappy and complaining about his chest hurting but more about body aches and the fever. Fever broke again around 8 that night.

Wednesday, more fever, higher this time and more achy, and chest tightening, I suggested we go to the hospital, he refused. Just the flu or something he said, I'll be fine.

Thursday morning around 3 am, sharp stabbing pains in his chest, severe chills and fever. I am thoroughly concerned at this point and get up to get ready to go to the ER. He warms up, and tells me to get back into bed, because even though I have brushed my hair and my teeth, we are NOT going to the ER. And that's final. This causes a sour mood between the both of us all day.

Friday Morning, at 4 am, Troy sits straight up in bed, declares his arms are numb, and is having chest pains. I tell him we are going to the ER. I'm not taking no for an answer. We load Libbie up and get Troy comfortable in the car and drive to Decatur. I am wrangling Liberty while he is getting a chest X-ray and EKG. I am thinking at worst it is Pneumonia or Bronchitis, maybe he inhaled soy bean dust while farming or a bad cold... little did I know that the world was to be turned upside down in mere minutes.

My mom came to pick Liberty up, seeing as we had been there alot longer than I had expected. We were waiting on labs to come back on his blood. At that point I wasn't sure why they took his blood, but I figured they knew what they were doing,a dn who was I to question. As I sat there waiting with him and joking and playing, a nurse comes in pulls the curtain shut, throws a gown at him and says, "Put this on, I have to start an IV", we are both in shock. "Why?" Troy asks, "What's wrong?" I say as the fear starts to boil inside of my guts. "Dr. Smith will be in any second", and with that she leaves. We kinda stare at each other in disbelief. Troy looked scared for a fleeting moment, but seeing me see him that scared makes me want to vomit, because Troy doesn't get scared. Troy is my pillar of strength, and my courage when I can't muster any. So him seeing me have a moment of doubt, he snaps out of it and jokes around.

Dr. Smith tells us that Troys blood has proteins in it that shows the same levels that 70 year old men have when they are having a MASSIVE HEART ATTACK. At this point, I am looking at Dr. Smith, and his mouth is moving but no words are coming out. When I snap back to reality, I catch what he is saying "You are going to be transported to Lutheran Hospital, by Ambulance. There you will see a cardiologist, have a Heart cathetarization, an echo and an MRI. You are going to be there for a couple of days."

Riding behind the ambulance carrying my husband is the most surreal thing in the world. We are 26. This isn't supposed to happen until we are old folks. What if he dies? What if I have to see him through that window in the back of the ambulance getting revived? I cannot do my life without him in it. PLEASE GOD, HELP HIM!
I prayed the entire way to the hospital, and I don't think I had a moment that I didn't pray in the car, or in the hospital or in my bed, or in the shower for the next 4 days.

Myopericarditis: When the pericardium around the heart has a virus in it and causes inflammation.

It was not a heart attack. It was this. And this is much better than that, and he has no damage. He has a weak left ventricle, and it can be treated.

I cannot tell you how many people, close friends, family, and people I haven't talked to in AGES, came out of the woodwork and wished him well,and asked if we needed ANYTHING. People whom I have had just brief conversations with were calling and asking if I needed a babysitter, or if they could bring us a meal, or if there was ANYTHING they could do. It was beyond amazing. It really makes me appreciate this small town so much more. There are prayers being said, thoughts being thought, good karma, and air-hugs being sent our way, and I couldn't be more thankful.

God has blessed us with so much, and I cannot begin to Thank HIM for everything this week. I am a firm believer in "How can we know Joy if we do not know Sorrow", and so this week and weekend past has really opened my eyes to how important this man is tome, to my life and to our family. He is a wonderful father, a loving and devoted husband, and an all-around great guy. There is nothing he wouldn't do for us, and there is nothing we wouldn't do for him. I just want to thank God so much more now, for bringing him into my life.

In our wedding vows, Pastor Anthony said, "You may think you cannot love Troy more than you love him today. But i will tell you that you love him the least right now. As you grow in your lives together, you will see that you learn to love him more than the day before or the day before that everyday. Tomorrow you will love him more, and when you have children, you will love him more, and when you retire, you will love him more, and when you are old and grey, you will love him a million times more than today. For this is the blessing God has given you today, on your wedding day, a single promise that if you stand firm in His promise to you, he will bless this promise you made before Him today." I have never felt more strongly about that as I have writing this today. And I can tell you, God has blessed our promise.