Facing Death and Making It Out Alive

WARNING: If you fear staring death in the face, this post is not for you. If you don't, read on. This can be a very vivid account of death knocking at your door and surviving it.

My father came out of the hospital very recently after being pronounced DOA there a few weeks ago. The doctors in attendance at the time managed to revive him but his brain had been without oxygen for at least 10 minutes and during the first several critical hours he was in a coma. We feared the worst and steeled ourselves for an even worse eventuality that we knew could come anytime. I watched him come and go out of a series of seizures which left me numb. I was mostly alone at the ICU unit with him and watched in the sidelines as a roomful of nurses and doctors would trek in and out of the room trying to manage the seizures as they came and went. I watched in silence as he flatlined twice in the span of a few hours. The code blue team would come rushing in, machine in tow, and they would paddle him and I would see the green line jolt back up in a sudden rush. Then everyone would wait in silence for critical seconds waiting for the green line's next move. The medical staff in the unit would visibly breathe a sigh of relief in unison when the green line would go back to its normal rhythm. I just watched the drama unfold. I was calm and collected through it all. Millions of thoughts darted through my mind but I had to be strong. I knew everyone expected it of me. I just witnessed my father die twice and come out of it fighting! Counting the time his heart just stopped at 8 a.m. earlier that day, he had actually died thrice in a span of six hours that day!!!

Finally the seizures stopped. My youngest brother and my husband were allowed to enter the ICU at this point. We conversed in hushed tones as I updated them with what I had just seen. They could only shake their heads, amazed at how a man of 75 years who had undergone a multiple bypass operation 14 years ago could die three times in six hours and come out of them mockingly shouting: IN YOUR FACE, DEATH! I can only surmise how extremely he must have wanted to go on living. Comatose or not, death was not going to beat him that day-at least not yet.

By 7 p.m. the next day, he came out of the coma. This time, I was not in the room to witness it. While he was fighting for his life, the doctors had allowed me to be with him. Now that he was no longer in critical condition, we could only come in at certain times of the day. Mostly, we just watched him through a small window. When they allowed me to come in, he was already conscious. The doctor in attendance just described to me what had transpired. Apparently, he just opened his eyes and tried to talk. But there was a tube about an inch in diameter hanging out of his mouth so he could not do so. Visibly irritated by the appendage, he pulled out the offending tube and demanded that he be allowed to go home. Family and friends began to arrive soon after because visiting hours were at 7 to 8 p.m. We had a great time talking about how he pulled out the tube and-true to form-demanded to be let out.

Now he is back home-alive, yes, but not quite the same. I don't think he will ever truly recover from his near-death experiences. He faced death squarely and beat death twice but his life will never be the same again. The effects of losing oxygen in the brain for more than 10 minutes can be truly life-changing but that is for another post.

Picking Up From Where I Left Off

I'm not sure if I have any friends left in the blogging world. I have been on a really extended leave of absence from blogging (almost two years). People were getting sick in my family and they still are, to be honest. But I just have to get away from being around sick people even if only for a few minutes so I decided to revisit my old blog. So here I am typing away. It's a welcome relief from all the sickness that seem to have been enveloping my whole world these past couple of years. Blogging again might just be the break that I need. There are times when I feel really low due to all the stress. It is really exhausting to have to be the strong one for everyone. There are times when I feel I am going to go insane. Sitting down in front of my computer and writing will help relieve me of my stress. It will provide me with a few minutes of time for myself away from all the worries. So I hope you will all welcome me back as you did a couple of years ago when I debuted in the blogging world. Heads up to all my past friends and to those who will soon be my friends.

Traffic-Maker Again

This is the easy way and the fastest way to :


1. Make your Authority Technorati explode.
2. Increase your Google Page Rank.
3. Get more traffic to your blog.
4. Makes more new friends.


Rules :
1. Start copy from “Begin Copy” until “End Copy” to your blog.
2. Put your own blog name and link.
3. Tag your friends as much as you can.

1. Picturing of Life
2. Juliana’s Site
3. Hazel-My Life, My Hope, My Future.
4. Jeanne-The Callalily Space
5. Starz in De Sky
6. My Charmed Life
7. Denz Techtronics
8. Denz Recreational
9. Life’s Simple Pleasures
10. My Blog
11. Because Life is Fun
12. In This Game of Life
13. Scribbles of my Life
14. Changing Lanes
15. This is what my heart says...
16. A mom's note
17. Tasteful Voyage
18. Jackie's Everyday Life
19. Jackie Simply Pinay
20. Gerthy's Scrapbook
21. Gerthy Sanctary
23. Aileen's Sweet Escape
24. Wifespeak
25. Your Link Here

~~End Copy~~

Extended Time Out

Hello, dear friends. I thought I could buckle down to blogging after Easter. It seems I was wrong. I have to work on a new set of cross stitch patterns for my collection. Those of you who have been my friends since I started know that I run a small craft shop in my husband's hometown. I'll pop in from time to time to say hello but for the meantime, blogging has to take a back seat. I'm missing all of you. See you soon.

Links Around the World Tag

Joy sent me this tag.


This is the Links Around The World Tag.Instruction:

1. Place your link after the list. If you have more than 1 blog, feel free to add them all here!

2. After placing your blog’s address/es, you must tag 5 or more bloggers that is not yet in the list, this is to keep the ball rolling.

3. Here is the best part: Make sure to update your list every now and then, by getting the master list here. I’ll be updating the master list every day, or as soon as I see a new blog that’s been added to the list.

1-Momhood Moments 2-Business Mars 3-Princezz 4-Princess 5-Cecil 6-Ron & Cecil 7-Pinay Mommy Online 8-OnlineBiz and Resources 9-A Simple life 10-moms…..check nyo 11-Mommy’s Little Corner 12-Random Thoughts 13-Paradigm 14-See Me For What You Will 15-Pamp’s Blog Corner 16-Pampered 17-HappyHeart 18-Qtcotzkie and Baby 19-A Sorta Fairytale 20- tragicseven 21-Listen to the Beat! 22-Just Saying 23-Tipsy Tips 24- 25-Different AnglesDelicious Corner 26-I Care 27-Blog Blag Blog 28-Daily List 29-Life’s Journey 30-Welcome to my Crib 31-A Daily Walk With Bill & Gina 32-Me,Myself + 2 33-Fun.Fierce.Fabulous 34-Mike 35-BerryScrappy 36-BloggerHappy 37-My Planet Purple 38-Our Journey to Life 39-Princess Bela 40-Kaptyurd by Howell 41-My Simple Joys 42-A Sweet Taste Of Life 43- Bits and Pieces 44. Mem's Precious Moments 45. mugshots 46. Brainymommy 47. Pioneers Band 48.Maya's Window 49. Rojoy's Daily Update 50. Buzzy Bee Mom 51. Mommy Joy Of Two 52. Rojoy's Kitchen 53. Wifespeak 54. Your Link


I am passing this tag to Liza, Marie, and a new friend, Carol.

Easter Greetings to All My Friends

Send this eCard !

Time Out

I have been unable to blog for more than a week now. My children are having their examinations and I have to prepare them. I managed to make a couple of articles to post but that is about all the time I have. I will be back in full force after Easter but I will try to squeeze in a few minutes every now and then just to take a peek. I miss you all! HAPPY EASTER!!! in advance, dear friends.