The Beginning...

It's early. My mind is awake. What better time than now to try and collect my thoughts.

The last week has taken me on an interesting journey. A very unexpected journey, but life seems to take these unpected turns sometimes. I have felt the Lord's Hand guiding me into pathways that are absolutely incredible. I have once again been reminded that the Lord loves us, is aware of us, and will put us exactly where He needs us to be. I also have been reminded that He puts people into our lives for specific reasons. How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father.

I have been trying all week to write down the little miracles that have been occurring each day since this all began Friday night. I really want to document these many miracles......... so here is my story - what has happened, what is happening, and what will happen in the future. Let's start at the beginning......

When I was 19 years old I was diagnosed with a rare heart defect called Ebsteins Anomaly. In Ebsteins the tricuspid valve of your heart is in the wrong place causing several different heart issues. This heart defect was discovered while I was working at a summer camp - Brighton LDS Girls Camp. ( My home away from home!) That was a very hard summer for me, but in turn it really saved me. It was working there that brought my health issues to the surface, resulting in the diagnosis of my heart defect. The journey through discovering I had a heart defect, having open heart surgery to try and fix it, and then recovering from surgery is a whole other story. I will write that one down soon, but not today.

My heart health has been pretty great over the almost 10 years since I had heart surgery. I have had a few, small things pop up over the years but nothing super crazy until this past weekend. And that is where my story really begins....

It starts at Brighton, one of my favorite places in the world. Brighton holds special meaning in my heart. It truly is my home away from home. I am not sure what it is about Brighton that always tends to bring out my heart problems. I guess it not only helps save my soul but helps save my physical being as well. :) This past weekend was the Brighton Staff Reunion. I have been on a planning committee for this event and have much looked forward to it. On Friday, July 30th, when I headed up to Brighton I noticed that I was super tired. I really didn't think too much of it. It had been a busy week and I was anxious to get up to camp to reunite with my old friends.

The night was wonderful. So wonderful in fact that I didn't even get into bed until 2 a.m. As soon as I laid down I noticed that I felt off. At first I thought I had heartburn. I laid there for quite sometime hoping it would go away. Then I suddenly felt like I should get home. Right at that point my friend sleeping next to me started talking. Yeehaw a.k.a Michelle Madsen. What a life saver she is. As soon as I heard her speak I jumped into action. At first I just asked if she could take me to my car that was parked far, far away. As soon as I got up I could tell something was wrong with my heart. I had had this feeling a few times before and it is a feeling I really hate. Hate is a very strong word, but it is the best way to describe my true feelings. I knew then I needed to get down the canyon. I tried not to alarm my friends, Yeehaw and Viking, as we headed towards the car. By the time we reached the car I could tell I was in real trouble. My chest was hurting, breathing was extremely difficult, and I could tell I was going to pass out. As we got in the car I told my friends that I could tell I was passing out so please just take me to the hospital. From there it is a little fuzzy. I remember offering a very sincere prayer asking my Father in Heaven to please help me. As soon as that prayer was uttered I felt immediate help.

When we got to the base of the canyon I started to feel a bit better. I even questioned going to the hospital, but my friends immediately reinforced that we should get things checked out. That was a wise choice. As soon as I was hooked up to a heart monitor we could tell things were askew. My heart rate keep jumping from 60 to 140 in a matter of seconds. My heart rhythm was very irregular. I felt weak. The doctors seemed perplexed as to what to do. After watching me for several hours they finally released me saying that my heart was in an irregular heart rhythm, that was not good, and to get into my cardiologist first thing Monday morning. Crazy.

The next day I got a call from my good pal YeeHaw. She had made a connection and realized that it just so happened that her neighbor had the same heart defect as mine. This heart defect is really rare and I was told I would most likely never meet anyone else who had it. YeeHaw felt really strongly that it was more than just coincidence that she happened to be the person with me that Friday night, or that she should suddenly learn about my heart defect, and happen to hear a talk on Sunday from this sweet neighbor girl who has experienced similar issues as me. Some may call that coincidence, but I say not. This sweet family said they were happy to meet with me and I was very excited. It is always nice to feel you can relate to someone!

After that Keven and I spent a Sunday evening in a worrisome state. There were lots of questions on our minds - is it time for another heart surgery? are we done having children? what does the future hold?

That is part 1. Part 2 will be saved for tomorrow.