It’s December 29, 2021, and my husband, John, and I are FINALLY closing on our new home in Gainesville, FL after we had unsuccessfully tried to buy 4 other houses! Everyone was coming to Florida! But, what we didn’t know that day was that John was fighting back a pneumonia attack. I knew he was coughing a lot but he had tested negative for Covid, so we thought it was just a cold. What started out as walking pneumonia quickly morphed into what is now known as pneumonia/Covid and John was suddenly whisked away from our hotel early on the morning of January 5 and taken by ambulance to UF Shands Hospital here in Gainesville. More than 2 years of Covid experience has led this hospital to its extraordinary knowledge of how to deal with this devastating virus and its after effects.
What then became a life and death journey for John became the depths of fear of loss from his family, especially for me and his daughter, Jonnie, as we were the two family members here in Florida, with Jonnie doing an extraordinary job of being there for her dad every day and night by phone. For me, the immediate challenge was to move into this new home with a hundred unpacked boxes, not able to see my then, perhaps dying husband, and to find peace within was just more than could be asked of any human. How could I take on this all? When was the call going to come from the doctors that we would have to make a life or death decision? John was intubated which wasn’t a good sign in itself, and the medical staff were unable to wake him after a week. My adult children, Chris and Cathy, flew into Gainesville to be with me. I needed help! Thank you, Chris and Cathy and Jonnie- you saved my life.
All I can remember was how deeply scared I was with a stomach that was nauseous all the time from stress. I couldn’t eat and couldn’t sleep. I just kept telling myself, “I can’t do this!” “I just can’t!” But, as the Universe would have it, I kept hearing, “Yes, you can. You can do this. You have had many extraordinary challenges. You can do this. We have you!” After 3 near death experiences, you would think I could handle these life-crushing events, but I am more human than I thought. My fear had a firm hold on my life. I just couldn’t shake it. So, what was I to do. Finally, one night, I said to God and all my angelic guides, “please show me what to do.” And, with that, I let go! Of my negative thoughts and negative possible outcomes for John, and for, me. But, then……
The call came – The doctor: “I am so sorry, Mrs. Pighini, but we can’t wake your husband up after taking out the intubation tube. He is struggling to stay alive but it doesn’t look good. He may have 2 hours or 2 days.” I couldn’t breathe. Chris was with me and took over the phone. I was on the floor, so light-headed I couldn’t get up. We called all of our immediate family and friends. The family consensus was, if it was possible, the doctors would try to intubate John again if needed, but that would be almost a sure death sentence. I prayed. Our family prayed. Our friends prayed. All night!
It is now the following morning, January 16, and a miracle has happened – John woke up and said his name, “Hi, I am John.” Everyone was stunned! The medical staff and us! We couldn’t believe it! We still couldn’t see him for several more days but he now he had a fighting chance to stay alive.
Today is Monday, March 11 and we are now at home after a stay in a rehab hospital. John was in the hospital for 6 weeks. He is walking around, still with oxygen and plaguing thoughts of why did this happen and what am I to do with my life now. But, he is alive. We both realize that this second chance in life couldn’t have happened without the prayers of our loving family and friends, and without extraordinary divine intervention. We are NEVER alone, we just can’t see or feel the divine love because we are suffocating from the fear of the unknown.
As the saying goes, God doesn’t give us more than we can handle. I disputed that, all along the way of this experience. But, what I have come to realize is that my life’s mantra, even from childhood, was “I don’t know if I can do that”. Now, I know I can “do that” – just partner with the divine and they will do the heavy lifting.
