Over the past few years, there’s been much discussion about how city traffic lights aren’t synchronized. If memory serves me correctly, a year or so ago, the Arizona DOT made a valid attempt to get them all adjusted.
After traffic engineers tweaked things a bit, I still couldn’t tell, and it was a big joke with my wife and me that we were destined to catch each and every one. Our lives were seemingly wilting away, sitting at red lights. I believe we’ve observed more red-light runners in this town than anywhere else, with others undoubtedly thinking the same as us.
Joleen and I would cringe about one light in particular — the one at Highway 95 and Mulberry. That red light is the one we dread most, as it seems to take a lifetime for things to change green. I attempted to time it one morning, finding that at least four minutes had passed after rolling to a stop. I can shave, brush my teeth, and floss in four minutes.
Being retired, there’s no real hurry to life like there was in the past, at least I thought there wasn’t. Having unsynchronized traffic lights should be no big deal to retirees. My car brakes tell a different story. Constantly having to stop while using them makes for heated and quickly worn-out brake pads.
The Monday after Father’s Day, late that afternoon, alone, I was sitting in my chair attempting to watch a movie when things started to feel quite weird. My heart started to race with the beats seemingly off kilter.
Taking blood pressure, I saw that it was extremely high, with my heart rate up to 191 beats per minute. Believing that I was having an episode of AFIB, or atrial fibrillation, an irregular arrhythmia of the heart, I calmly got in my vehicle and started driving to the ER. Perhaps I should’ve called an ambulance, but I didn’t.
Miraculously, six intersection lights all stayed green during my trip. A block away from the ER entrance, red and blue lights suddenly appeared in my rearview mirror. Seeing that it was a police car, I continued on until I parked.
Slowly climbing out of the Jeep, I told the officer that I was having some type of heart episode. He offered assistance, but I was on a mission at that point. The policeman did inform me that the reason he’d lit me up was because I didn’t have my headlights on. I thought it was a bit dark while driving that night, believing it had something to do with my eyes.
Thankfully, the emergency room staff got me quickly into a room. Dr. Eduardo Lam performed a successful cardioversion, and my heart was soon back in sync. The medical term for such is called sinus rhythm. A big thanks to Dr. Lam, Chuck, and others on the cardiac team. I was out of it during the procedure and don’t recall many of their names.
Driving back home sometime around 3 in the morning, I caught each and every red light as was the norm. While sitting at Mulberry and 95, things suddenly came into perspective.
I was more than glad to be headed home, with another measly four minutes wait not going to spoil my return. Pulling into the garage, I softly said with tears in my eyes, “Thank you, Jesus.”
Without question, I knew that things could’ve turned out much worse than they did. It’s great to still be alive and kicking in beautiful Lake Havasu City.
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