PENnED

I have a daily routine. Part of it is taking my blood pressure before making coffee.

After I pushed the blood pressure monitor’s start button in the morning of the 20th of March 2024, Ruth caught me leaning towards my left side with my tongue sticking out on one side of my mouth.

“What’s happening to you?”

“I’m sleepy.”

I passed out.

When I snapped out of it, I was being carried in a stretcher by paramedics.

One of them instructed me to raise a particular limb after another. I did for each one.

In the ambulance, I was conscious all the way to the hospital. I even recognized the road we were on as I’d driven there countless times on the way to and back from Costco Businesses Center.

When we were entering the hospital’s Emergency Room, I asked, “Are we at UMC?”

“Yes,” the paramedic replied.

I felt good about myself.

Ruth, however, had not been feeling good about what was happening to me. She believed I had a stroke. She observed that I had all the symptoms of a stroke. And that’s why she instructed our youngest son to call 911.

What could have triggered this health crisis? I try to eat a healthy balanced diet and exercise regularly. In fact, just a couple of days before, I went hiking near Red Rock Canyon!

My sister-in-law who came with her whole family from the Philippines for a surprise visit jokingly said it was caused by my shock for unexpectedly seeing them after so many years.

We all had a good laugh. But the question remains.

After a barrage of tests, the young ER doctor (probably in his mid 30s) said, “The good news is we don’t find anything wrong with you. The bad news, you have COVID.” Then he went on to explain that he believed the virus infection triggered my blood pressure* levels to go up (163/81) and that’s why I got dizzy and passed out.

I visit hospice patients and am too familiar with death and dying. Some of the patients I’ve seen were younger than me. One was almost two decades younger. Yet despite the fact that I’m now in my late 60s I still feel young and healthy. I never really felt threatened by death until now. Neither was my family worried about my health until now.

Death is a fact of life. We have to deal with it sooner—indeed now—than later.

Recently, Ruth and I talked about certain things that we have to set up before it’s too late (like a trust) to get ourselves and our family ready.

For now, despite being aware that death can come anytime, I have to make a commitment to continue to take care of myself. I want to be there for my loved ones, friends, and the rest of the people who need my support and care for as long as possible.

So help me, God.

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*https://newsroom.heart.org/news/covid-19-may-trigger-new-onset-high-blood-pressure