Presidents' Day holds a special meaning for me ever since I suffered a stroke on the holiday in 2017 at the MARTA Lenox Square rail station.
I had planned to head downtown for an Atlanta Press Club function. When I attempted to update the fare on my MARTA transcard, I found myself unable to read the letters and numbers on the ticket machine.
Thanks to a quick-acting MARTA police officer, a transit system worker and the EMTs who transported me to Grady Memorial Hospital, the damage was minimal. The cause was a blood clot that sped to my brain, kicked up by atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat. A weeklong stay at Grady began a years-long battle against Afib.
After several ablations and other procedures, a succession of frightening drugs, and a nine-day stay at Piedmont Hospital suffering from afib-caused heart failure, a pacemaker was implanted into my heart in an operation at Piedmont during the height of the Covid pandemic.
The small high-tech device has given me new life, keeping my heart beating on a regular rhythm.The technicians say the battery will keep going for eight more years.
On Presidents Day, I'm thankful for that gift of time.
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