Jumpline magazine Q1 2023 - Flipbook - Page 28
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Jack Swerdloff, Ret.
Jumpline Editor
Survivor Stories Continued
doctor came in and said everything is bad, all organs, all vital
signs. The end is near. The friend that snuck in asked Jackie
if he may use anointing oil and if they could pray together. He
wanted to be discreet. He didn’t want the staff to see him and
expel him from the ICU.
A spiritual attempt at healing took place. As Jackie tells me the
story and cries. She recalls it seemed Godly that the floor became absolutely silent and not one soul walked by. They said
their prayers with the privacy and silence they had hoped for.
Nothing out of the ordinary, just a last heartfelt deep emotional
plea for help so a husband and father could awaken from this
nightmare.
Hope and a spectacular change in status takes place! The very
next day that same straight shooter doctor walks in and was
shocked. He was in awe when he looked at the numbers on
the ventilator machine. “This is great!”, he said. Now there was
hope. And anyone that’s lost a loved one (like on many of our
calls every single day) knows that hope is an AMAZING feeling.
same ED, and they agreed he couldn’t compensate much longer on his own. He was intubated.
On July 26th Javi went to the ED. By July 30th he was intubated.
August 19th was the first time Jackie was allowed to see her
comatose, intubated husband!
That time was filled with words none of us want to hear: Intubated. Multiple organ failures including: heart, kidneys, lungs and
gall bladder. Dialysis. Lung transplant. Coma. Extreme side effects from medicine causing comatose panic attacks and strong
violent reactions. Remdesivir. Pacemaker. A new thing called
ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) where all of
your blood is pumped out of your body on a continuous basis
and then pumped back in.
When the time came that Jackie could finally be with her husband and be his advocate in the ICU, it had already felt like an
eternity. Just a few days later, the staff
began to suggest the possibility of hospice. They said he had pneumonia again
and they were running out of options.
They asked her “What do you want to
do Mrs. Valdes? Javier’s death could be
imminent.” To which she replied, “He’s
fighting, so we’re fighting. There’s no
other option.”
By August 27th, things were clearly inching towards improvement. The staff now said we may be over the hump, and we’ve
got to get him better. They began working on getting lung transplants, and to get Javier’s organs back on track.
It was still a huge mountain to climb, but the worst was behind
them. On September 8th some ability to respond returned, but
Javi remained on a ventilator and had endless medical procedures and talk of pacemakers and transplants. On September
10th he was removed from the ECMO machine. There were still
rocky days of high fevers and massive procedures to remove
all lines and see where the infections were coming from. Javi
remained incoherent until September 21st.
So now it’s December 2022. Javier is a light duty Captain at
Logistics with a new lease on life! He says he feels his purpose
is to make people happy with his good energy. But he adds,
“That change came after the stabbing.” He is high on life and
has no regrets about the past and no real
emotion about it.
A day that stood out was August 25th. She
was told, “You will likely lose your husband soon.” Their hospital doctor asked
their friend to approach Jackie again and
find out where the wife wants to go from
here. They thought it was time.
Jackie says, “150% there is no doubt in
my mind that God intervened, and his
healing hands is why Javier Valdes is
here.” Now crying she says, “He had the
best nurses and the best prayers.” She
goes on to say she’s not fully recovered.
The bad days do not get out of her mind.
People tell her, “He’s here, you were given your miracle. Praise the happiness of
it all.” But she cannot avoid being taken
down the rabbit hole sometimes. She
may seek help.
Would a guy who loves the job leave right
now if he could retire? Nope! Even if he
was offered some magic full-retirement
disability “secret deal” right now? Nope!
He says, “One of the things that helps me
recover is hoping that I’ll be back on the
truck one day. I push on with countless
Their good friend said, “Tell everyone
they must pray right now!”. Another great
friend from a former fire department
snuck up to Javi’s room. Jackie was
there and asked him to stay. “I know bad
news is coming today,” she told him. The
February 2023 | JUMPLINE Magazine