I plan, God laughs

 “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21

My plan for this Memorial Day long weekend: New York. God’s plan: Miami. I was supposed to be in New York enjoying my grandsons. But on Thursday morning, God sent my plans flying out the window. And I’m grateful.

We reserved flights to go to New York on Thursday morning at 9 am. Unfortunately, my hubby failed to check his calendar. He had his yearly cardiologist checkup for the same morning at 7:30 am. He tried to change the appointment, but nothing was available until December. My hubby has a heart condition that requires him to be monitored by the cardiologist annually, therefore he decided, with good reason, that waiting until December was not a good option. Therefore, we changed the flight until noon, even though it cost us substantially more than the original flight.

He left for his doctor’s appointment while I finished packing. As I was heading out to the bakery, to purchase the obligatory “pastelitos and croquetas” that we must always take with us to New York, my hubby called me: “The doctor wants me to cancel our trip and head instead to the Emergency Room.” My hubby has the “bad” habit to always pull my leg, therefore, I didn’t believe him. I thought this was his typical “I’m going to get you” and then when I panic, “Got you… Just kidding,” typical joke. Unfortunately, this time, he was serious.

The electrocardiogram showed that he had a complete “blockage.” I thought it was his arteries, but apparently, they use the same term for an electrical heart blockage. In his case, it was severe: third degree. “Electrical signals do not go from your atria to your ventricles at all with this type. There is a complete failure of electrical conduction. This can result in no pulse or a very slow pulse if a back up heart rate is present” John Hopkins Medicine.

Instead of heading to the bakery, I drove to the doctor’s office to pick him up. They would not even allow him to drive for fear that he would faint. The strange thing is that he was completely asymptomatic. 

At this point, the “twilight zone” experience began. We arrived to the emergency room, where he was taken to a room immediately. They ran labs and a chest X-ray. Shortly thereafter, a doctor came. He took a look at his EKG and the monitor, and all he would say is “Interesting… the heart doesn’t seem to be acting as bad as the EKG shows.” They repeated the EKG, and it showed the same abnormalities, thus, he was transferred to ICU. At this point, they were talking about putting a pacemaker on his heart. The procedure was scheduled for the following morning.

No more than thirty minutes passed after we arrived at ICU, when his room was filled with doctors. The main doctor looked so young that he reminded me of Doogie Howser. But once he opened his mouth, I knew who was in charge. He said that he didn’t think that my hubby needed a pacemaker after all because he was asymptomatic. He was currently taking a heart med to lower his heart rate. According to the doctor, reducing the dosage to half would suffice for now. They ordered more tests, but all of them could be done outpatient. Therefore, he was free to go home. I was like: “What in the world is going on?” It took longer to discharge him from ICU than it took to actually be in ICU.

I still don’t understand what transpired to keep us from going to New York, but obviously, God didn’t want us to go. Would it have been dangerous for my hubby to travel this weekend? Possibly. And if that’s the case, then I’m forever grateful that God held us back. But I have a feeling that we will never know, at least not on this side of heaven, the real reason why He wanted to keep us in Miami this weekend. I will add it to my list of questions to ask when I arrive to Heaven (if I make it).

In the meantime, I’m at the beach, next to my hubby, who is still feeling perfectly fine, and enjoying a very hot Miami day. I spoke to my 2-year-old grandson a little while ago. He told me about his morning at the zoo. Would I have liked to be there with him? Definitely. But I trust God completely that this is where He needed me to be. And I thank Him for always looking out for us, even if I don’t fully understand His plans.

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