My husband of 32 years was 59 years old and died on 9/5/15. On the night of August 28 he had a massive heart attack and his heart stopped. They worked on him for 45 minutes before they got his heart started again. He never woke up and four days later it was diagnosed that he was brain dead from lack of oxygen during the down time and I had to make the decision to remove him from life support and it was three more days before his heart stopped again. This is the worst emotional pain and the hardest journey I have ever had to deal with.

My wife passed away unexpectedly some time during the night on September 17th, 2015. She was only 48 at the time of her passing. The cause of her passing was never medically determined, however the Coroner listed it as a Seizure Disorder, caused by a motor vehicle accident she had been in 10 years prior, that left her disabled.

My hubby died 12/17/14 after an 18 month battle with leukemia. We thought he was cured after a stem cell transplant. He was just 46 and in amazing health before diagnosis. We have 3 daughters 16, 13, & 11. It is a struggle every day for us.

My husband Cliff died Veterans Day 2007. He complained the night before of indigestion, but that was all. We had been talking about all of our future plans the night before, we were on the verge of many dreams and plans about to come to fruition. Then the next morning, I woke to him gasping, and at first I thought he was having another apnea attack and tried to get him to breathe. Then I realized that it wasn't apnea. I ran down the hall and banged on my older son's door and hollered to call 911, ran back to our bedroom and started doing CPR. My sons were half asleep and stumbled into our room just in time to see their father die in my arms with me screaming, begging him not to leave me. The paramedics finally arrived, and 8 of them worked on him while I got dressed thinking we would go to the hospital as soon as they got his heart beating again. But they couldn't get it beating again. They "called it" at 5:11 a.m. Cause of death was a massive heart attack - his first, last, and only. The captain of the paramedics told me it was so massive that no one could have brought him back. But I and my sons all struggled with survivor's guilt because we couldn't save him. We were supposed to spend the day together, instead they carried my world out in a body bag.

Because he was only 55, and because our regular doctor would not sign off on the death certificate because it had been over 12 months since he'd seen Cliff, a limited autopsy was done by the Medical Examiner. Until a cause of death had been determined, I had to leave everything as it was when he died. So for a week, it remained as it was that horrible morning, complete with the paramedics' discarded stuff all over the room. It was horrible. The cause of death on the certificate was heart attack secondary to high blood pressure, COPD, and high cholesterol. I had no warning. We had been together 30 years. I became a widow and a single parent at 50.

Two years later, while trying to straighten out our taxes, I found Cliff's diagnosis and lab request from his last doctor's appointment 14 months before he died. He was diagnosed then with high blood pressure, and the doctor wanted to do more tests and treat him. Cliff never told me a thing. It was like losing him all over again, and this time knowing there was a good chance his death could have been prevented. It was terrible and still haunts me.

I joined DS shortly after Cliff died. I have rebuilt my life. It wasn't easy. Being here helped a lot. I also met a widower here, we became penpals, and we have since married. My life looks nothing at all like it did before that terrible November morning, but I am okay now. I stayed on as a volunteer Community Leader here to help those new to this. That's why you will see a blue "CL" badge on my photo, just as you will for Sharon's and Marsha's. We are old-timers now.

I am sorry you or anyone else ever needs this group, but wanted to say 'welcome.'

Love and Hugs,
Martha

My husband Mike died a year ago. He was at work. He suddenly collapsed and fell 12ft. He died of "sudden Cardiac Death". This is NOT a heart attack it is a malfunction in the natural heart rhythm. He was 44 years old. I can remember that day so well. I had spoken to him by phone as he was driving to the jobsite where he would spend the day. We talked about our plans for the day and our kids. We only talked 7 mins. I didn't take the time to tell him I loved him. I was rushing around trying to get everything I needed done before I went to work. I simply said "bye" on the phone because we spoke many times a day just to check up on each other. That is my deepest regret and haunts me every minute of every day since. As I was sitting at work having lunch with a co worker I received a call from my family saying I needed to come home. Confused and worried I went home. Waiting for me was my sister (our husbands worked together) she told me of his collapse and that the EMS couldn't get a correct rhythm on him. We were 2.5 yours away from where he was working. I gathered my children and told them as we were driven to the hospital. When we arrived I was told of how they tried to revive him but they couldn't..... He was gone. As I sit beside his bed holding his hand I kept apologizing for not being able to help him or "fix" things as a wife I always tried to do. I am so lost with out him.

I lost my wife Donna on September 19, 2012. She was 63. We were married for 40 years. She was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in late April and had a successful lumpectomy in early May. She started chemotherapy in June and after the second treatment began to have reactions to the chemo with a severe rash on her hands and feet. They seemed to have controlled it but after the 4th treatment the rash came back along with a shortness of breath. She was hospitalized on August 16th, 2012 and spent the first week on the regular hospital floor while they tried to diagnose the problem. They performed a bronchoscopy and because of that was put on a ventilator with a breathing tube in her throat. She was in the ICU for 27 days and during this time was sedated heavily and was unable to speak. In the end her kidneys failed and she started bleeding from her stomach. They were unable to do anything for her. The Doctors believe the cancer may have spread to her lungs. My sons and I made the hardest decision in our lives to make her comfortable and fulfill our promise to her and get her off the breathing tube. After removing the tube she passed away peacefully with her family at her side....

I lost my partner Mike of a sudden massive heart attack February 11, 2014. Still feeling the shock. I just keep putting one foot ahead of the other...

My husband died of a massive heart attack on August 16, 2015, he was 64 years old. We had been together for 38 years. It was a sunny Sunday morning and every thing was fine. He did some trimming around the fence when he finished I walked out he sat down at our picnic table. We talked, he was thinking about were we should go for lunch. I turned to walk in the house and for some reason looked back just as he fell to the ground. Our wonderful, normal life changed in minutes. I love him and will always cherish the memories of our life together.

my bestfriend and husband passed away march 1st of 2015, we had only been married a year in a half. He was crushed under his truck, they said he was possibly checking something underneath when the jacks sunk, and the truck shifted, as he turned over as a way to protect himself, they said he died instantly. He was only 52. left behind two daughters. Im sorry your husband passed away, and your going through such loss. My life will never be the same without him it it. hugs carla

My Tim passed during the night, his alarm woke me up and he was gone. He was 54 years old and it was 8 days after our 36th wedding anniversary.
There was no warning, he was not sick. They said he had a heart attack.
Hugs, Sandi

Saturday night Feb 2 2013, it snowed about an inch. Pat wanted to go to Church Sunday morning so I went out to the highway and checked the road condition. It looked like a piece of cake for her 4 wheel drive Chevy Tracker. While she was in church the sun came out and made the road extremely slick. She lost control of her car on a curve and ended up upside down in the only water filled ditch between our house and church. Any other place to run off the road would have been easily survivable. When she was late I went to look for her. As I crested a hill I saw her car upside down in the water with Firemen on top waiting for a wrecker. I knew she was gone and stayed at the scene an hour until they pulled her from the water. I can't imagine what went through her mind upside down in that icy water. I hope her faith helped her through her last moments. We were married 45 years.

I lost the love of my life Larry on May 23 2014. He was 68yrs old & we were married 38 wonderful years.

He had battled prostate cancer that went to his lung & then to his spine
and Agent Orange was the big factor in his battle with cancer.

Thanks for asking JoAnn

My Don died 2/5/13. We were together 13 years. He had liver and throat cancer.

My husband of 31 years passed away at the age of 62 after aortic valve replacement surgery. He looked good after his surgery, but was sedated because he was having trouble breathing. The surgeon said he thought my husband was still bleeding a little too much and wanted to check his work to make sure a vessel wasn't leaking. I should have told the doc to wait, but I was stuck on stupid and didn't. After the second surgery, he came back worse, his organs then began failing, but they did yet another surgery because he was running a fever and they thought maybe his bowels were becoming necrotic, they found this also wasn't true. Early the next morning the phone rings, and it's a nurse saying I should come to the hospital immediately because he was maxed out on the medications they were giving him, and his blood pressure continued to drop. As we were getting ready to leave, the phone rings again. It's the nurse again saying they are doing CPR on him and do I want them to continue. I told them to let him go. He had been put through more than anyone should have had to endure already. I feel guilt over the whole mess and doubt I will ever recover from that completely. February 20th will be 3 years since that awful day, but those years passed in the blink of an eye, and it still feels like the whole thing happened yesterday. I am doing OK, but I am still not healed inside. Because grief has been a given on my side of the family for as long as I have known, I understand that you never get over it, you just learn to live with it. That is what I believe I am doing. I was taught to enjoy the little things in life, and that joy and peace are rare jewels that should be treasured when found. I know that sounds sappy and preachy, but it really is what keeps me going.

Thanks for asking. My husband Rick died six months ago today, very suddenly of a heart attack on April 27, 2015, only 6 weeks after moving from the US to Ecuador. I was completely unprepared to lose him so suddenly and so soon after moving abroad. We enjoyed 24 years together but it wasn't nearly enough. He had just turned 61. This was also his first, only and last heart attack. He was very active and didnt even have high blood pressure. We went through complete health checks with our doctors the month before moving abroad. That day he said he wasnt feeling good and we were just deciding to go see a doctor when he fainted and he was gone that fast. I didnt even get a chance to say goodbye. Paramedics tried to revive him, to no avail. On top of losing my husband, everything had to happen in spanish and Im a beginner. The paramedics, the police, the autopsy required by Ecuador, the cremation, and all the paperwork regarding a death abroad. With our 15 year age difference he always worried Id be a young widow, and I never really thought I would be. Oh how I miss him terribly, it's like my whole world got ripped out from underneath me. I love you, Rick. --Jennifer