Our son, Glenn, lives near Syracuse, NY. A healthy, strong 54 year old with athletic abilities, he loves winter skiing. On Sunday, February 19, he was at the Tug Hill Plateau area, where their 16 year old daughter was in a ski race. As usual Glenn stood at the top of the mountain with other friends and parents of young skiers to see them off. Grace started off. Then suddenly Glenn started speaking with garbled words...and then he lost his balance and fell in the snow. Immediately friends gathered around him realizing something was terribly wrong.....Glenn was having a stroke! Glenn?....a stroke?....why, he's too healthy!... how could this be?
Immediately, someone called over to the Ski Patrol, who 'just happened' to be at that site on top of the mountain. Those guys recognized stroke symptoms and took over administering oxygen with a tank slung over Glenn's chest. Ambulance was called. Quickly Glenn was transported to a nearby heliport for the helicopter ride to Utica, NY, St Luke's hospital where (it just so happened) a vacant "stroke bed' was awaiting him. Within the hour, the stroke med, TPA, was administered. TPA is like a miracle and in most cases, if given within 3-4 hours of stroke symptoms, can eradicate any stroke damage. Glenn had the med in less than an hour! God was in control!
Within 24 hours Glenn was showing signs of improvement. From inability to talk....(he had just mumbled), unable to move his right arm and leg, he began speaking slowly and slightly moving his right side. Amazing!
After EEG, EKG, MRI, diagnosis was made.......atrial fibrillation 'afib'. A tiny clot had traveled from his heart to his brain and caused the stroke. Families and friends were shocked. Glenn?... a stroke? A guy who worked out, watched what he ate, constantly in an active sport whether skiing, golf, canoeing, swimming.....never any indication of irregular heartbeat... ever......yes, unbelievable.
God is amazing. Glenn usually spends hours alone on the road in his job leasing shopping centers. The blood clot could have spun off from his heart when he was driving and then he would have ended in a deadly crash. But, God has a plan for each one of us. With Glenn, God has given him more opportunity to serve Him. Also, God wanted to remind Glenn's friends and family that He is all powerful, that He is Omnipotent, that He has a plan for our lives and He is in complete control.
It is now one week since the stroke. Glenn is out of ICU, preparing to be transferred to Upstate Hospital in Syracuse on Monday (15 minutes from their house) for 2 weeks of intensive PT. The neurologist predicts a "TOTAL RECOVERY"!
Last Sunday evening, upon hearing the unbelievable news of Glenn's stroke, I sobbed and cried for several hours, praying to Almighty God to spare our son's life. I couldn't help but think of the Old Testament story of Hannah who prayed unceasingly for a son and God granted her request with the birth of Samuel. Our prayers, our passionate heartfelt prayers are heard by Almighty God. I am convinced of that. They are always heard and answered but not always what we want. This time, saving Glenn's life was in God's plan and that causes us to be eternally grateful. No matter what age, we love our children with unconditional, deep abiding love. And the thought that death would take them before us is excruciatingly painful. Parents who have experienced the death of a child know that. But when your child is saved from death, the joy is overwhelming! Oh Lord, I further pray that in my weak, sinful humanness, I may never forget this time of witnessing Your boundless love and healing mercies.
We now have songs of joy, praising God for advances in modern medicine to produce TPA, and for His healing compassion and wisdom in extending our son's life. PRAISE THE LORD!
