MY HEART WENT WEAK
Domingo Ivan Casañas
July 21, 2005
As a 46 year old man feeling like 26 and looking like 36, I felt invincible.
In February, 2004 I had been feeling some stomach heartburn and had been given Zantac for acid indigestion. I had also experienced for the first time a bit of pressure (not pain) on my chest. During the short chest pressure, I promised God that if it would happen again I would drive myself to a hospital emergency room just in case.
On Saturday February 28th, I was driving in Hayward when I experienced the pressure feeling and tightness and this time it also affected my left arm. Most men might have experienced this before and dismissed it as possible stress, anxiety or maybe even a low impact panic attack. However, I had already made a promised to God that no matter where I would be I would drive to a hospital. The closest hospital was St. Rose in Hayward.
I walked into the emergency room with the palm of my hand placed on my chest and immediately got attention. I was immediately admitted and an EKG was administered. I was asked what pain level I was at from 0 to 10 and I just kept saying it was not pain but rather it was like someone was stepping on my chest putting pressure on me. The diagnosis was quick- a mild heart attack. Immediately thereafter I was admitted into the ICU unit.
I felt strong and from the ICU unit I was still conducting my business affairs and juggling my many day-to-day activities, something that I have done pretty much the major part of my life. I had a pretty cocky attitude like “wow, this is what they call a heart attack?” On the second day at ICU, a Cardiologist conducted a sonogram on my heart which revealed blockage in two tiny vessels that could easily be taken cared of with what they call Cardiac Catheterization a procedure that would unclog any blocked arteries by means of stents and/or balloons.
Sounded like a winner to me! Consequently, I was transferred to Washington Hospital in Fremont for the procedure. Amusingly, I was still making calls from the Ambulance to friends. Upon arriving at about 7:00 p.m., I was wheeled directly from the ambulance into the room where the procedure would take place. I was fully awake as this thin tube was inserted near the groin area which felt like a bee sting and a dye was injected into the arteries to get a better view of the coronary arteries or heart chamber. I watched the monitor and within 30 minutes my Cardiologist stopped the procedure to show me on the screen what he had discovered.
The same Cardiologist but with a much serious tone spoke to me as I lay on my back, he said “Domingo, you are a very lucky man that drove yourself to the hospital for something many would have dismissed as possible heartburn. I need to show you what I have found. You have three arteries that are 95% clogged and two that are completely clogged. You are in need of a quintuple (five) By-Pass open heart surgery to take care of this problem”. As he went off to advise my 18 year old son and my sister of the new discovery, I was wheeled off to a different room. There I would wait to speak to the assigned Cardiac Surgeon.
At that point in time, I became overwhelmed with a whole bunch of emotions and various thoughts began arriving in my head. So I asked the nurse to bring me a felt pen and notepad. As I wrote special notes to my family, a new thought came into my mind, I was 18 years old when my father died from a stroke, and here I was ready to have major surgery with an 18 year old son in another room just learning of my new condition from the Cardiologist. It was an unwelcoming feeling of dejavu. Tears began to flow as I continued writing more special messages to my three children, my long distance love in Hawaii, and my sisters. I forgave several people that had hurt me in the past during this writing. I spoke to God on the importance of keeping me around for my children ages 14, 16 and 18. Now for the very first time, I was beginning to feel really scared.
As I cried and kept writing, the Cardiac Surgeon, the Cardiologist, my son, my sister and her husband came in. All I kept saying was “Everything will be okay; I’m just like this because of things I have written.” I quickly calmed down as I was introduced to my new Cardiac Surgeon a middle age New Yorker. He was so calm, so well mannered, and so professional and he spoke in simple terms. When he mentioned God in one of his many sentences, an inner peace came to me and I became confident that I was in good hands.
As he kept explaining the open heart surgery to us, I started to feel like I was getting an upset stomach. All of a sudden I said “Doctor, it is not what you are saying but I feel like…” and at that moment I began to vomit! Shockingly, it was not what I had eaten previously but instead a purple red liquid known as Blood. I could now see I was in trouble because they quickly sent my family out and a bunch of new doctors and nurses came in. When it was just about over, I had already spit out half a bucket full of blood. As a result, new blood was being administered into my system.
The Cardiac Surgeon briefly explained that I would just need to write an X on a piece of paper so that I may be sedated and have this new problem (a Bleeding Ulcer) taken care of by another specialist. He let me know that after this procedure he would continue on to do the open heart five-By-Pass surgery on me.
I was now out of it, knowing that only God would be in control. When I woke up 2 days later, I learned that all procedures had gone very well. Now it was time to start walking, take medication, try to sleep with some comfort and greet visitors. A prayer line was set up for me on a toll free pager. I heard many great well wishers and prayers for me.
Today, I am at home feeling so very blessed. I become very emotional when I reflect on how much God Loves me and how happy I am to be here for my children. God still has plans for me. I am a new man in more ways than one, my heart might have become weak but my faith is now stronger than ever. This has truly been a humbling experience. I was amazed to find out how many people were praying for me at their churches and even young ones at their schools…THANK YOU!
It is interesting to note that even though in this great nation they don’t want our children to pray at school and many Christians hide their religions from their peers, during my 10 days in the hospital, no matter from what nation, I heard people in the Cardiac and ICU floors freely speaking about God, Jesus, their Creator, Abba, Jehovah, and even Buddha.
This shows me that we can’t wait to experience turbulent times in order for us to turn to the ALL MIGHTY. Instead, let’s count our Blessings everyday without hiding from our Faith. Be proud that we serve an Awesome God that is always in control no matter how weak our heart might get…The Good News Is He really Loves Us, and He is the one in control. So don’t be embarrassed to let others know about how much Jesus loves you, and how much you love Jesus. We can’t wait for the bad and then recognize what He did for us. Let’s act now! Let others know about your relationship with your Savior Jesus Christ. Yes my heart went weak, but my Faith became stronger.
By: Domingo Ivan Casañas
In February, 2004 I had been feeling some stomach heartburn and had been given Zantac for acid indigestion. I had also experienced for the first time a bit of pressure (not pain) on my chest. During the short chest pressure, I promised God that if it would happen again I would drive myself to a hospital emergency room just in case.
On Saturday February 28th, I was driving in Hayward when I experienced the pressure feeling and tightness and this time it also affected my left arm. Most men might have experienced this before and dismissed it as possible stress, anxiety or maybe even a low impact panic attack. However, I had already made a promised to God that no matter where I would be I would drive to a hospital. The closest hospital was St. Rose in Hayward.
I walked into the emergency room with the palm of my hand placed on my chest and immediately got attention. I was immediately admitted and an EKG was administered. I was asked what pain level I was at from 0 to 10 and I just kept saying it was not pain but rather it was like someone was stepping on my chest putting pressure on me. The diagnosis was quick- a mild heart attack. Immediately thereafter I was admitted into the ICU unit.
I felt strong and from the ICU unit I was still conducting my business affairs and juggling my many day-to-day activities, something that I have done pretty much the major part of my life. I had a pretty cocky attitude like “wow, this is what they call a heart attack?” On the second day at ICU, a Cardiologist conducted a sonogram on my heart which revealed blockage in two tiny vessels that could easily be taken cared of with what they call Cardiac Catheterization a procedure that would unclog any blocked arteries by means of stents and/or balloons.
Sounded like a winner to me! Consequently, I was transferred to Washington Hospital in Fremont for the procedure. Amusingly, I was still making calls from the Ambulance to friends. Upon arriving at about 7:00 p.m., I was wheeled directly from the ambulance into the room where the procedure would take place. I was fully awake as this thin tube was inserted near the groin area which felt like a bee sting and a dye was injected into the arteries to get a better view of the coronary arteries or heart chamber. I watched the monitor and within 30 minutes my Cardiologist stopped the procedure to show me on the screen what he had discovered.
The same Cardiologist but with a much serious tone spoke to me as I lay on my back, he said “Domingo, you are a very lucky man that drove yourself to the hospital for something many would have dismissed as possible heartburn. I need to show you what I have found. You have three arteries that are 95% clogged and two that are completely clogged. You are in need of a quintuple (five) By-Pass open heart surgery to take care of this problem”. As he went off to advise my 18 year old son and my sister of the new discovery, I was wheeled off to a different room. There I would wait to speak to the assigned Cardiac Surgeon.
At that point in time, I became overwhelmed with a whole bunch of emotions and various thoughts began arriving in my head. So I asked the nurse to bring me a felt pen and notepad. As I wrote special notes to my family, a new thought came into my mind, I was 18 years old when my father died from a stroke, and here I was ready to have major surgery with an 18 year old son in another room just learning of my new condition from the Cardiologist. It was an unwelcoming feeling of dejavu. Tears began to flow as I continued writing more special messages to my three children, my long distance love in Hawaii, and my sisters. I forgave several people that had hurt me in the past during this writing. I spoke to God on the importance of keeping me around for my children ages 14, 16 and 18. Now for the very first time, I was beginning to feel really scared.
As I cried and kept writing, the Cardiac Surgeon, the Cardiologist, my son, my sister and her husband came in. All I kept saying was “Everything will be okay; I’m just like this because of things I have written.” I quickly calmed down as I was introduced to my new Cardiac Surgeon a middle age New Yorker. He was so calm, so well mannered, and so professional and he spoke in simple terms. When he mentioned God in one of his many sentences, an inner peace came to me and I became confident that I was in good hands.
As he kept explaining the open heart surgery to us, I started to feel like I was getting an upset stomach. All of a sudden I said “Doctor, it is not what you are saying but I feel like…” and at that moment I began to vomit! Shockingly, it was not what I had eaten previously but instead a purple red liquid known as Blood. I could now see I was in trouble because they quickly sent my family out and a bunch of new doctors and nurses came in. When it was just about over, I had already spit out half a bucket full of blood. As a result, new blood was being administered into my system.
The Cardiac Surgeon briefly explained that I would just need to write an X on a piece of paper so that I may be sedated and have this new problem (a Bleeding Ulcer) taken care of by another specialist. He let me know that after this procedure he would continue on to do the open heart five-By-Pass surgery on me.
I was now out of it, knowing that only God would be in control. When I woke up 2 days later, I learned that all procedures had gone very well. Now it was time to start walking, take medication, try to sleep with some comfort and greet visitors. A prayer line was set up for me on a toll free pager. I heard many great well wishers and prayers for me.
Today, I am at home feeling so very blessed. I become very emotional when I reflect on how much God Loves me and how happy I am to be here for my children. God still has plans for me. I am a new man in more ways than one, my heart might have become weak but my faith is now stronger than ever. This has truly been a humbling experience. I was amazed to find out how many people were praying for me at their churches and even young ones at their schools…THANK YOU!
It is interesting to note that even though in this great nation they don’t want our children to pray at school and many Christians hide their religions from their peers, during my 10 days in the hospital, no matter from what nation, I heard people in the Cardiac and ICU floors freely speaking about God, Jesus, their Creator, Abba, Jehovah, and even Buddha.
This shows me that we can’t wait to experience turbulent times in order for us to turn to the ALL MIGHTY. Instead, let’s count our Blessings everyday without hiding from our Faith. Be proud that we serve an Awesome God that is always in control no matter how weak our heart might get…The Good News Is He really Loves Us, and He is the one in control. So don’t be embarrassed to let others know about how much Jesus loves you, and how much you love Jesus. We can’t wait for the bad and then recognize what He did for us. Let’s act now! Let others know about your relationship with your Savior Jesus Christ. Yes my heart went weak, but my Faith became stronger.
By: Domingo Ivan Casañas
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