Dodged Death - Faking Sick Saved My Life In Junior Highschool
Very inspirational for respecting the life we are given. At any point, it could all go disappear. His story inspired me to reveal my eye opening experience as well. Your Life IS Awesome! Embrace Every Minute Of It!
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I was a very small, but active 14 year old teen with male hormones flaring. Being small and picked on in previous years I wanted to be the strongest, wanted to be fastest,,, you get the idea.
Sports was my way of achieving this. While lifting weights at home and eating very healthy, I was building tone and beginning to see results. Being small meant nothing and I wanted to prove that. I joined the volley ball team, and the basketball team, and was very competitive towards others. Not in the games, but in the warm ups, and push ups, and so on. Honestly, on the court I was a bit,,, egh,,, whatever... I was beating everyone in Push ups and Laps!!! YEAH!!! Right? That's cool to yeah? okay, I wasn't horrible, just not first line.:p
Our first volley ball tournament was success winning 1st for our Zone and had shown us that our school finally had a great team that will continue to Regionals and possibly even Provincials. We dominated every team and it was only 2 months into the school year. It was the first time for our school, so you can only imagine how pumped we were.
Our coach was very competitive with us in October after this win. With The Regional tournament just around the corner, new skills and moves were being pounded into us.
When the Final practice before the Regional was about to happen, I decided that without me being at practice, the coach could focus more on the key players and there spiking techniques.. I was too short.. I served good though .. SO, I told the coach I had a bad headache and leg was hurting and went to where my mother was babysitting the nurses son. Ironically... Probably luckily... Not really sure.. I told the same story to my mother, and she told me to suck it up and GO!........ she walked in the living room.... I really didn't want to go at this point so I pretended I fell asleep on the stairs.. Mom came back and seen me.
"Get up" ,,, I looked up at here pretending to be woken up startled..
"If your that sick, your going to the Doctor,.. No excuses, its next door."
Yes, it was next door, near same parking lot. VERY VERY Small town where hardly any patients ever in this small 1 doctor clinic. Funny, but true. I couldn't avoid it, so I had it in my mind to "Fake Sick To The Doctor"
Too the doctor I went, and told him the exact same story. "My head is pounding, and my leg is hurting and tired."
COMPLETELY UNTRUE
He checked my temperature, it was fine..
He checked my pulse,, it was fine..
He checked my arm blood pressure,, Not So Fine.. It was rather high for his liking.
He checked my leg blood pressure,, Low,,,, actually, no real pressure to be noticed.... What???
He checked the pulse in my feet.. NOTHING.. In my thigh area.. NOTHING..
Not saying much to me but he knew something was VERY wrong. Contacting my mother he needed to talk to her right away, and requested me to be sent directly to a hospital for EKG and Echo-cardiogram.
4 Hours later at the hospital, EVERYTHING escalated. My Temperature was 104.5 and my memory faint of what was happening. Immediate dosage of blood pressure medication was given to me after first examination of my Scan results.
They Feared The Worst in what looked to be a severe Coarctation of the Aorta. (A narrowing of the Aortic artery, which is the main supply of blood to the body.) My narrowing was to the body causing high blood pressure to the upper body and a major "Swelling" of the artery.
Escalation continued after an MRI was performed.. I needed surgery IMMEDIATELY...
I was flown to Ottawa, Ontario for the best surgeon my dad could grab. For a surgery that was horrifying more for my parents who had to watch there son fall asleep and the thought that things might not work out. I did not know this, but my parents were advised by doctors to brace for the bad. Hours, and Hours ticked by ..
Dr. Cornell was Successful! Taking out the ready to burst portion of my Aorta, and the narrow section, while discovering and repairing a valve problem the same time.
Great relief for the family to know I would be okay now. With Blood pressure medication and relaxed lifestyle I would recover fine.
The Severity - Dr. Cornell explained that the case was SO Sever, that if I was to partake in physical activity of any kind, the pressure would have ruptured my Aorta causing instant........... Death....
I was already doing so... It could have been that "Last" Volley Ball practice......
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Love Life, its your "One Almighty"
Damien Parsons - Now 14 Years later. I Doubled My Age!
Cheers, Laurence.
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