If That Same Spirit!
// George DeTellis, Jr.
On Thursday, September 8, 2016, at 10:09 a.m., I sent a text message to my wife, “Help!” I was having a heart attack!
“As Christians we have the Word of God and His Spirit living in us.”
It felt like someone was standing on my chest. My wife Paula ran into the house and gave me three baby aspirin and called 911. I never thought I was the guy who was going to have a heart attack. I’m healthy, active, and full of energy. Through it all I kept recalling Romans 8:11. There is an old Gospel song with the same words that we would sing in church. I kept singing that song and standing on the Word of God throughout my time in the hospital.
At the hospital they did an EKG and a blood test. Both of the tests came back negative. The doctor wanted me to stay overnight for more tests. But, by then the pain was gone and I was feeling fine. I signed my discharge papers and called a taxi to take us home.
The next morning I was scheduled for my annual doctor’s check-up at 9:00 a.m. When I arrived, my doctor had the medical reports from my visit to the emergency room. Dr. Childs said, “It looks like you may have had a heart attack.” Your lab report shows your cholesterol is high. So I want to put you on a cholesterol medicine and a beta blocker (blood pressure) medication to slow down your heart. After leaving the doctor’s office, I went to run some errands. The doctor’s office called and asked me to come back for a blood test. An hour later my doctor called and told me the blood report showed that I did have a heart attack and I should go to the hospital to be checked out. I told him, “It’s Friday afternoon, I feel fine. If I go to the hospital they are going to admit me and I will be sitting all weekend waiting for something to happen. Let me just start the new pills you prescribed and let’s see how it goes.” I was still being stubborn. That night around 9:00 p.m., my doctor called my wife while she was having dinner with three of her friends from church. They came home, and along with my son Michael, surrounded me and did an intervention. My son Michael said to me, “Please, Dad, don’t be stubborn like Grampy.” So I agreed and packed a duffle bag for a long weekend. On Monday morning they performed a cardiac catheterization. First they put dye into my blood stream so they could see the blockage. Then they completed balloon angioplasty and put a platinum stent into one of the arteries in my heart that was 90% blocked. I was awake during the entire procedure and could feel them working in my heart. The operating room and the entire experience was like science fiction. I felt like I was on the Star Trek Enterprise. Thank God for all the great medical science and the privilege we have to enjoy this technology. Monday evening at 8:00 p.m. I was discharged from the hospital. Praise God! ~George DeTellis, Jr.
