Blog Post About what Happened March 3rd with Byron (Herb)

We went to bed around 3:30 AM, life was good. He did not mention anything about not feeling good.  We laughed and talked after he got home from work and made plans for his day off (Monday, march 3rd).
I had gotten up to go to the bathroom and then he woke up to go to the bathroom.
He walked into the kitchen for some water, said his mouth was dry and he was having problems breathing. I asked him what was going on?  Then it was harder for him to breath and said, I cannot get my breath .. call 911. My husband does not say this to me, so I knew he was serious. 
I called 911 and since he was just in his underwear and t-shirt I tried to get his sweat pants on for him.  then I ran in the bedroom to get dressed.
I instantly got a nervous stomach and had to run to the bathroom. I  kept asking Byron, are you okay? the ambulance is coming right away.
The police were at the front door ringing the door bell before I got off the toilet.
I hurried and ran to the door and they checked what was the best way for the ambulance to bring in a stretcher as there are sharp corners on both ends of the house. The ambulance came, they gave him oxygen and started putting wires on him. I told them I needed a ride to go with him as I could not drive and follow behind as I was blind.   I  thought I could ride in the ambulance with him.
They had to bring in a wheel chair put him in that to bring him outside to put  him in the stretcher.  I kept telling him , it will be okay honey. I love you .. 
I ran in the house to get the keys to the house and to find his wallet, which took me a few minutes.... put on my boots, looked out the window and they had him in the ambulance  Once I got my coat and everything on and made sure the key worked to open the door again. The ambulance started moving , I ran out there to catch them .. running after them.. but they did not see me or stop. 
The  neighbor was letting her dog in and I asked if she could bring me to the hospital. She had to get dressed first so I ran back home and had to go to the bathroom again..  it must have been bad nerves. The door bell rang and it was a chaplain from the fire department who said he would give me a ride if I needed one.. I said the neighbor was giving me a ride and should be waiting for me but please to go to the alley , just in case. He did and she was there, so she brought me there. When I got to the hospital, they took me to the room and said, the doctor needed to talk to me. I said what is wrong.. by the looks of their faces, I knew it was not good news.  The doctor came in and told me they were trying to revive him and for me to go in and say my goodbyes. I said, you Revive him 
and don't give up on my husband. He left and I followed and went in the room where they were working on him. They worked on him for an hour, I sang him "You are my sunshine,"  told him I loved him, I was there, don't give up babe.. all is good, you keep fighting, come back baby... I am hear.. we will lick this hon.. and sang You are my sunshine to him again.  They were going to give up a couple times and I said, NO keep doing it, don't give up.  After an hour , his heart started beating again.  They were surprised. they checked his pulse and  and starting checking him.. I talked to Byron some more.. good job hon.. I knew you could pull through it.. I love you .. 
They called helicopter and called Duluth hospital to give his stats etc..
oh yes, and during this time a chaplin came in to pray over Byron and put his hand on my shoulder while I was holding Byron's hand. I would say: Pray for him that he pulls through. 
The helicopter guys came in , and started getting him ready to go. I gave them  my phone numbers and told them I would have to arrange a ride to go to Duluth.
They asked, if it happens again in the air, what I wanted them to do.. I said, bring him back and get him there safe.  They had precious cargo.
I watched the helicopter fly away and got a ride home with my neighbor. Called some friends to see if they could watch my pets and give me a ride.
Called my sister and asked her to call around for prayers.
I noticed an hour had passed so I called the Duluth hospital, they said he was there , but a doctor had to talk to me. A chaplin came on the phone until the doctor came to talk to me. The Doctor said, that his heart had stopped again and they were working on him and when his heart starts beating again, they would bring him down to a different unit and  put a stent in where he had blockage.
I thanked him and told him, I was trying to get there as soon as i  could, but to please keep me posted. My friend was telling me who to call, that I could probably get a ride.. from the county ........  I was about to get in the car and drive myself.  the phone rang and it was the hospital telling me he had passed away that there would be no need for me to come to the hospital. Well, what he said was , is there anyone that would want to see him soon before they brought him to the morgue. something in that effect.. after he said, he had passed away, it become a fog.  he asked me what funeral home I would use ....... etc.. I said, I have no idea,, I guess the local one as there is only one in town, but  I would have to call him back.  I made phone calls and talked to my friend, Betty who recommended the funeral home in Black Duck as they were very nice and good to people. She called them to find out some details and called me back with the number etc.., the mortician was gone on a call and were were waiting for him to call us back to arrange him to pick Byron's body up.  Betty came over and stayed with me for quite a long time. For that I am thankful.  I spoke to him and he said he would go the next morning to get Byron and would bring him to me, since I could not drive down to see him. I was grateful. I posted about my loss on Facebook and a friend: Mary Helen Ferris called me from Canada, we talked for quite some time and she read me a beautiful poem, she has such a soothing voice, which calmed me down and then we said, good night and I went to bed.

Another Dear friend: Jane Porterfield had set up a fundraiser as soon as she heard the news to help with cremation and medical expenses.
http://www.gofundme.com/7a3vzo

I am truly blessed to have such a loving, caring response to me and my situation, when I had not met these people in person, but they wanted to help. I was so grateful .. and the amount of people of my friends on Facebook that gave prayers, thoughts, sympathy, hugs, sending love and light was just totally enormous.

Tuesday, Betty came over and brought food and kept me company until the mortician came  and right them, my daughter and son in law drove up too.
Curt, the mortician, wanted to back up to the garage so that I could see Byron in privacy.  The garage door was jammed, so my son in law had to fix it  quickly.
We talked about what would happen, and the cost, I signed the papers and then he got Byron ready for me to see him.  I was actually hoping it was just a bad dream and when I went out there, it would be someone else.  Well unfortunately it was my husband. I spend a good 45 minutes or so with him.  I am so grateful for this time to have to spend with him. The phone call telling me about his death was just not real.. but seeing my husband's body, I knew I had to deal with his death.
I asked for a clip of his curly hair  in the back that I loved so much. He accommodated.  I used to cut Byron's hair all the time and Byron would smile and brag when someone noticed his hair and said, Good Hair cut.. Then Byron would say: Thank You , pretty good job for a wife that is blind. Smile and laugh.

My daughter stayed with me until around 1:30 AM and  then I spoke to my son until 3:30 AM.  Went to bed.

Wednesday, March 5th
My daughter had brought care package from home on Tuesday with her and found out more things I needed and bought them for me on Wednesday.
She also told me that her two kids, my beautiful grand kids, were going to be baptized at the same church I was  56 years ago. That since I could not drive, they thought they would have a private baptism while they were in town.
They were baptized at 6 PM in the fireside room with the baptismal  stand that I was baptized over. Wow, how special is that. They had a new one in the church area, but they wanted to use this one.  I cried with Joy for the miracle and the blessings that are coming to me even during this time.

I played with the Grand Kids and watched a small movie until we got tired... but then  I came online and read facebook etc.. talked to a few friends.. and my son.. and now writing this blog post before I went to bed.
I want to document things while I remember.

The enormous love and support from all of these beautiful souls that I call my friends online has been so heartfelt. I am so grateful for their love, prayers, kind words of encouragement and support.
I love You all
I love and Miss you, Byron, who is known as Herb Westcott online. 

Closing this post for now, but going to keep posting, my dreams and my thoughts  etc...