Wake up Becky

    Wake up Becky, you're having a heart attack. The voice was calm but firm. Wake up. I had been trying to find a comfortable position for sleeping but rolling from side to side did not make the pain stop. Wake up.
    I looked up the word surreal, :  marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream; also :  unbelievable, fantastic. This was not surreal at all, it was happening and I knew it. I was having a heart attack. 
    Before March 10, 2015, I had never thought about having a heart attack. I have RA so I have thought about canes, fingers that didn't work anymore and  wearing rubber soled shoes so I wouldn't fall. Both my parents have had heart attacks but I take good care of my health. I eat plenty of veggies, stopped drinking pop and walk 3 miles at least 4 times a week. I am an average sized woman. I don't smoke or use alcohol. No, I never thought about my heart health.
     That morning at 2:14 am things changed. I wasn't afraid but I knew I needed help. I did not want to suddenly wake Jim so  I found my phone on the stand next to the table and called Bryce. He answered right away and I could actually hear his voice through the wall. I simply said "come here". It seemed I blinked and he was next to me, looking down. He wasn't wearing a shirt and he still had his phone in his hand. I told him to call an ambulance, I was having a heart attack. At first he just looked at me then he told me he was going to get some aspirin . He went into the kitchen and came back with 3 bottles, none of them aspirin. Again, I told him to call an ambulance.  Bryce later told me he hesitated a second just to be sure I wasn't being dramatic. When I told him the second time he knew I was serious. I could hear him on the phone. He gave the operator his name, our address, and told them why he was calling. I could also hear the operator ask him if we lived in Crestwood or Midlothian. He told her to send Crestwood, a very good decision. 
    I had to use the bathroom and asked Bryce to walk me there. He did. Then he said he had to wake up Dad. Ok Bryce, but calmly and slowly. Don't scare him. I opened the bathroom door and Jim was standing there in jeans and a red pullover. He looked concerned but not alarmed. They held onto me while I walked back to bed. I had just laid down and I could hear the paramedics pull into the drive way. Bella was barking. I don't know how many men came that night, however I do remember a robust fireman with a blond hair and a buzz cut. He stayed with me the entire time. Someone put orange flavored aspirin in my mouth, chew, chew, chew, chew. Four aspirin. I cannot get a pulse. Try again. No pulse.Ma'am!  Ma'am! I'm having a heart attack! Can we go now. I know I didn't say this out loud but when are we going to leave? I think someone asked me if I could walk. I could if you insist. They said they were going to put me in a chair and the gurney was waiting outside. My wrists hurt and I couldn't understand why but if they would only put socks on me I would feel better. No socks, just a weird ride on a very small chair to my back door. Once outside two paramedics lifted me onto the gurney, covered me with a thin sheet and the bumpy ride to the ambulance started. It was very quick. Thank you. Oh! crash, bump crash again. I'm in the ambulance. It's like a box with a very bright light overhead. Can we please turn down the light, it's in my eyes. Where's all the equipment? Must we keep that light on? Eight minutes, Becky. We'll be there in eight minutes. Ok. When is the pain going to stop? Please turn off that light.