Survival, Intertwined

Our hands pressed together to form a heart.

This past Monday, May 11, marked six years since Will’s sudden cardiac arrest. In the wee hours of that morning, Kristin performed 10 minutes of CPR that kept him alive. Those 10 minutes changed our lives forever.
Obviously, this is a day that brings up a lot of emotions for our family. From the relief and joy of survival; to the reckoning of lasting trauma, it’s been a rollercoaster. In this month’s essay, both of us reflect on our intertwined experiences.

How To Be A Compassionate Clinician In One Easy Step

Compassionate Clinician in One Easy Step

When we were in our late 20s, my husband, Will, got cancer.  When he was 30, he got cancer again, unrelated to the first time.  When he was 34, he died in his sleep, but I wouldn’t let him go.  After his unexplained sudden cardiac arrest, Will ended up in the ICU, where a nurse […]

10 Tips For Supporting Co-Survivors

10 Tips For Supporting Co-survivors

Understanding co-survivors’ needs is crucial for mitigating lasting trauma. We’ve compiled some quick and easy tips to help support co-survivors. Best of all, each of these tips takes less than a minute. So pick one – or more if you want bonus points  – and run with it! ?

Lockdown, Love, and Life-Saving CPR: A Mother’s Day to Remember

Two hands held together to make a heart

I will never forget May 11, 2020; my husband will never remember.  It was an out-of-body experience. Part of my brain was solely focused on what I needed to do. The other part was watching us from a third-person perspective while our life together flashed before my eyes.  Stunned, I laced my fingers together, one […]

We’re On Facebook!

The Glaucomfleckens

Check out our new Facebook page, The Glaucomfleckens! We post whatever we’re both up to over there – Dr. Glaucomflecken’s videos, Lady Glaucomflecken’s writing, our podcast clips, behind-the-scenes photos/videos, and, if you’re lucky, Jonathan’s whereabouts. Just beware that there are a lot of fake social media accounts out there pretending to be Dr. Glaucomflecken, so […]

Roger

Dr. Glaucomflecken & his ICU nurse Roger

None of this was supposed to happen. We had vowed “in sickness and health,” but no one thinks they will have to cash in on that promise for decades. We assumed we would deal with that part when our hair had grayed, our skin had sagged, and we had built an entire life. Instead, we […]

The Night Telecommunicator-CPR Saved My Husband’s Life

Cardiac Arrest Save Challenge Coin

On May 11, 2020, I woke up in the middle of the night to my 34-year-old husband dying in our bed. Of course, I didn’t know he was dying. There was no reason to assume that his perfectly healthy heart had suddenly stopped beating. I had never even heard of agonal breathing. I would never […]