 On
January 21, 1995 at a minute or so after 10 P.M., I died. Though
I’m known as a funny actress, this is no joke. I have proof: on
the Seattle Fire Department Medical Incident Report, Question
24—Patient Condition on Arrival. Two answer options are
provided: (1) Alive, or (2) Dead. My report has a big circle
around number two. So it’s official.
The evening began quite normally, or so I’ve been told. I have
no memory of the events of that night, or most of that following
week. We had just completed a live audience taping of our
television show, Almost Live! Standing among the other actors
onstage, I murmured, “I don’t feel too…,” then collapsed. More
than a hundred people laughed. It was a comedy sketch spoofing
ER, after all! They didn’t know I was experiencing sudden
cardiac arrest. They assumed it was simply an actor’s pratfall.
No one dreamed a vibrant and healthy woman in her thirties would
literally drop dead in front of them.
Fellow cast members knew my nose-dive wasn’t planned. Following
the initial flurry of fear and confusion, they propelled into
action the Chain of Survival: a 9-1-1 call, CPR from a volunteer
firefighter who happened to be in the audience, a swift response
from EMS/Medic One, and ultimately, defibrillation. In the
movies, the process of shocking a patient back to life is
accomplished in about 30 seconds. In real life, it’s a bit
longer. I lay on the studio floor, clinically dead, for at least
15 minutes. At 10:19 P.M., after more CPR, intravenous cardiac
drugs, and six defibrillator shocks from an automated external
defibrillator (AED), they restored a viable heartbeat to me. I
joined the elite club of those who “come back.”
Next came eight days of exceptional hospital and surgical care.
With the love and support of my family, friends and health care
professionals, I was released, equipped with my own lifesaving
equipment: an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD),
embedded firmly in my chest, monitoring every beat of my heart.
Eight years later, I have a smaller, more technologically
advanced ICD, programmed to deliver a lifesaving shock should I
again experience ventricular fibrillation, one of the most fatal
of all heart arrhythmias. |
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Viewing my sudden cardiac arrest in terms of my acting
profession, I’d have to say that it was truly the biggest
“comeback” of my career! For many years I had known about my
arrhythmic heart as I’d been initially diagnosed in 1982. I
thought I was doing everything I could do keep my risks down
with medication. Following my 1995 episode of ventricular
fibrillation and recovery people often ask how I cope, facing a
future with a life-threatening condition.
Much of what has changed is my appreciation of life’s
priorities, the necessity to partner with my health care
providers in my treatment and my responsibility to honor my
thoughts and feelings, not to squelch them simply to avoid
conflict or uncomfortable situations. I believe stress induced
adrenaline was definitely a factor in my heart’s “short
circuiting.”
Of course, humor has been a large part of my healing. It’s more
than my job. It’s my legacy. Humor is a family trait and is how
I connect best, with shared laughter, smiles, irony, a
well-placed self-deprecating joke. For me, it’s the shortcut to
intimacy, warmth and safety. When people laugh they relax, and
when they relax they listen. And once they are listening. . .
BAM! You got ’em. And how perfect was it that I literally
dropped dead on a comedy show in front of a packed house? What
could be more ironic, more ridiculous, more of a scene-stealer
than that!?
You’ve no doubt heard the expression, “I thought I’d die
laughing!” Well, that’s my goal, later, much later – there’s too
much of the Divine Comedy we call life I haven’t chuckled my way
through yet.
I died on January 21, 1995, but I’m very much alive and kicking
and laughing today, thanks to an AED. |
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Note:
LIFEPAK AEDs are prescription devices. AED users should be
trained in CPR and use of the AED. Please consult your
physician. Although not everyone can be saved from sudden
cardiac arrest, studies show that survival rates can be
dramatically improved with early defibrillation. For more
information, please call 1.800.442.1142 or visit
www.medtronic-ers.com.
Medtronic Emergency Response Systems • 11811
Willows Road NE • Redmond, WA 98052 • 1.800.442.1142 •
www.medtronic-ers.com
LIFEPAK is a registered trademark of Medtronic
Emergency Response Systems Inc. Medtronic is a registered
trademark of Medtronic, Inc. ©2005 Medtronic Emergency Response
Systems, Inc. MIN 3205902-000 / CAT. 26500-001988 |
