(Letter from Jase to Janika)
Dear
Sister Jensen,
I haven’t written you in a while because I have been at math camp and I just
got home on the 27th. In case you want to know, math camp was
extremely boring. It was pretty fun at first but soon it ended up being just
like school except there was only a couple of classes. By the last day, day 12,
I was so ready to leave and be free. Well I am so glad it’s over now and I did
learn lots of new things while I was there. Also I guess mom and dad told you
about grandpa’s heart attack. This is what I typed up that night in my
Journal.
Well, today has been a really scary day for me. Everything
started out normal. I've been staying at grandma and grandpa Westras for a few
weeks to attend a math camp for college credit at University of Utah. Well I
woke up, got ready, and headed on the bus to go over. When I got back I played
a little bit of video games and then ate some dinner. After that, Grandpa and I
went to play Tennis. A couple days ago I actually beat him and won a hundred
dollars but I still like to keep playing with him.
Well everything was normal.
He won the first game and the second and I won the third. Then he won the
fourth and I won the fifth. I think we were halfway through the sixth game when
grandpa just collapsed on the ground. He fell sort of slowly almost like he was
lying down to take a nap. At first I just stood there scared out of my mind
wondering what just happened then I ran over to him and flipped him over with
his head tilted up. He was hardly breathing. A gasp every 30 seconds maybe and
his heart was beating really fast. I didn't know what to do so I kept trying to
talk to him to see if he would respond but his face started turning purplish.
I
wasn’t sure if I should start CPR because I’ve always heard it’s dangerous to
do it if a person’s heart is still beating. So I just sort of waited and tried
to give him a few breaths of mouth to mouth. When I checked his pulse again his
heart had stopped but luckily a lady next door was running by and so she called
her husband and then 911. Her husband was a doctor and he got there right about
when his heart stopped. He began CPR which the doctors later said probably
saved his life. He broke a few ribs in the process so he must have been doing a
really good job. About 2 minutes later the doctors arrived and that’s when I
went to get grandma. When we got back the doctors had him hooked up to some
pretty great equipment that pumped the heart and gave breaths for them. They
then loaded him into the car and took him to the hospital with grandma
following. She told me to stay and watch the house and call all of the kids and
let them know so that they could meet her there. Well now I’m just writing this
and waiting to hear the news and just waiting for Corin to get back from efy so
yeah. Pretty strange day.
So that’s about it. Grandma said sometimes this is how the lord prepares us for
the future and that’s when it hit me. It totally says that I will perform
miracles of healing in my patriarchal blessing and I bet this is one experience
that will lead up to the future. By the way Grandpa is doing fine. At first he
couldn’t remember like anything but now he’s got it all back. Also I asked the nurse
and I guess you can start CPR even if the heart is still beating as long as you
know it’s a heart attack so that’s good to know. So that’s how my stay at
grandmas was. Thanks for your letter as well. I did think about the atonement
in this situation from my perspective as well as from grandpas and I am so
grateful that I always will have something to rely on in all of my struggles.
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Sat. 27 (Note to Janika from Janelle) Janika, (Sister Jensen)
Love you too! we were out of town for a while because of
father's day flee. Did you hear that Grandpa had a heart attack? He is okay
now, but his ribs hurt because he broke them during CPR. Father's day flee was
so fun! each of us had to be paired up and assigned to one of the parents so we
could teach them like they were investigators and we were parents. Guess what!
Dad invited missionaries to come be investigators too! me and Jase had to teach
them.
We got to visit the homestead crater, which was so cool. We didn’t swim
in it, but we got to touch it and it was actually warm. Grandpa got back from
the hospital on father's day, how funny is that? We got to spend Friday with
Gerilyn. First we went to Del Taco and ate lunch, and then we went to a splash
pad. It was a really good splash pad and park, but it was so hot that it was
super crowded.
Then we went to Wheeler Farm, and got to go on a wagon ride and
see animals. There were huge pigs, horses and baby horses, cows, sheep,
roosters, ducks, (they were huge) and goats. It was so cool to see the ponds
and animals! Most of the ducks weren’t even in the pond… they were just in the
middle a yard! They didn’t even leave it even with the huge opening! We got to
take pictures with them. It was so hot that we had to bring a spray-bottle for
our faces every once in a while. But overall, it was so fun!
We got home today from Salt Lake. Right when we left this
morning though, we realized that the air conditioning was broken and only blew
hot air so we were baking for five hours! It was terrible. I miss you so much
and love you!
-Janelle
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Well, this was a week with a lot of emotions! My Dad's heart attack/cardiac arrest was so scary for all of us! It must have been pretty traumatizing for Jase, but he handled it really well. He turned him over and checked his pulse and gave one or two breaths before the neighbor doctor took over. I worried that the tennis might have caused the heart attack but the doctors said that it would have happened anywhere -- even if he was just sitting on the couch.
My mom said she was grateful it happened out in the open with lots of people around so he could get help right away. She said if it had happened at home she probably would have thought it was just low blood sugar and might have just waited for him to wake up or called a neighbor and it might have been too late. The neighbor did CPR and saved his life and the ambulance responded quickly. They had to do the defibrillators at the scene.Wednesday I was so worried and stressed because of my dad and also because we were leaving the next day for Father's Day Flee and then EFY which requires so much planning and packing and I felt so unprepared. Thursday we left in the morning and dropped the kids off at Grandma's and then met Grandma at the hospital to see Grandpa. It was disconcerting to see him confused and not remembering things.We went grocery shopping for Father's Day Flee and then headed up to Heber Canyon. The cabins were nicer than I expected. They were little but Dad and I had a king bed and the kids had bunk beds. They sleep four and so we had two and Shane and Alicia's family had one.FDF was fun. We were able to relax and enjoy each other without stressing too much over Grandpa since he was doing better each day. Dad did a great job on his lessons. We went hiking and the kids had a blast playing together with the water guns dad brought and at the little rec center playing pool, foosball, and ping pong. Rick had invited the missionaries to come up for dinner and to be the investigators. It was really fun. Jenna and Rella were my teachers and I was the investigator and they were so funny! I asked what they believe and Jenna quoted the fourth article of faith. I asked what remission of sins meant Rella explained that you could be forgiven of things you had done wrong. I said I would love to be forgiven of the things I had done wrong, and Jenna nodded knowingly and proclaimed, "Yeah, like yelling at your kids!" Ha Ha Ha!
Saturday we stopped at the homestead to see the crater there and had the girls' song and testimony meeting at Grandma's house. It was really neat and the spirit was there. Rick took all of the kids swimming while Shane and Alicia and I went to visit Grandpa. He was doing a lot better, but still confused about a lot of things. Rick and I went to the open house for Janika's new mission president and his wife -- the Gardners! It was so impressive. We said her name and he said, "She is with Sister Riggs, right?" He said, "Now Janika Jensen, she was the Seminary President of Tuacahn." I was impressed that he could remember all of that! I wish we had taken a picture with them.So the miracle for today was that the doctor called this morning and said that my dad could come home today!! We were so excited that he could come home on Father's Day and be there for the party tonight! He seems SO MUCH better now that he is home and back to a familiar environment. I know he still can't remember things from this past week, and still has a lot of healing to do, but today he seemed just like the Dad/Grandpa we all know and love! You couldn't even tell that he had just had a heart attack or broken ribs or memory loss. He was just regular old Grandpa and I loved it! I am feeling so happy and grateful!! Just a few days ago we didn't even know if he would live. We have seen so many tender mercies this week! The party tonight was awesome! Dad couldn't come because he had to come do the EFY Counselor fireside. Now we are at BYU for EFY for the rest of the week. I don't feel ready at all, but if Rick is then that is what is important. I am excited that Jared is doing his juggling act.Alicia is taking the three youngest and Janelle is staying to help grandma and grandpa and Jase has another week of Math Camp. I think he will be glad to finish it up. Well it is almost 11:30 and we have to get up early, and Rick and Jared are complaining that the computer light is keeping them awake and so I have to go.
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