Steve Wiley’s Near Death Experience

The Joi de Vivre of life in south Louisiana sometimes comes at a price.

We have delicious food! Much of it's high in fat & cholesterol. A lifetime of enjoying all this deliciousness caught up with me.

An angiogram revealed two severely blocked arteries, one 90%, another 75%. A stent was placed in the more severely blocked of the two in late August. My cardiologist has impeccable reputation and credentials. Everything went smoothly.I was conscious through the procedure, and experienced no pain.

When I recently returned to have the second one "fixed," things went differently.

Four stents had to be placed in the second artery & something went wrong. I began experiencing chest pain. It spread down both arms to my hands. Someone yelled, "cough!" I did, then lost consciousness.

When I came to, someone was holding an oxygen mask on my face & I was struggling to breathe. I'm told I went into atrial fibrilation, followed by cardiac arrest. They performed CPR, followed by electric shock. It was pretty scary.

The doctor asked if I saw a bright white light. Not that I remember. My fiancee, Ruthie, already being a widow, was totally freaked out. Her son in law, an RN, says this type of occurrence is more common than people realize.

I'm still "on top of the dirt." I guess it's true. Only the good die young!