The day everything
slowed down

By Sofia Jimenez

I had it all, or at least I thought so. All the clothes and shoes I wanted, the trips I wanted, every concert I wanted to attend, the materialistic things. The “luxuries”. I was thriving in life. I was living my best life having whatever I wanted alongside my family. But one night in December of 2025 this all changed forever.

Growing up without a dad led me to look at the males in my family as father figures. But not all of them. Only my uncle, Fredy Lemus. Fredy is the closest thing I have to a dad. With him not having a family such as daughters or sons, and me not having a dad, I see him as my dad and he sees me as his daughter. I have lived under the same roof with Fredy since the day I was born. I lived my lifestyle alongside him and my mom. All the trips and shopping were with him and my family. But my family had a very rude awakening on December 1, 2025. 

That cold night of December, I was at a restaurant with my friend laughing and talking about upcoming trips and concerts. Midway of eating I received a text message from another uncle saying that Fredy was in the ER. I immediately called my mom and asked if she knew anything about it, but she was working so the answer was no. Afterward, she and I left for the hospital. I managed to stay calm knowing we didn't know the whole story yet. At the hospital, we found out he had heart attack symptoms. Soonly, the nurse came in and told us a cath lab would be done. This was to detect blockage and open blocked arteries. This was a simple procedure so I wasn't so worried about it. 

Through this my grandma Natividad, his mom, did not know about him being in the hospital. When my mom and I told her she started going into a distressed state. We all loved him very much and this news wouldn't be any easier to her as it was to us. 

Natividad: “Pues bien triste yo me quería hasta desmayar pues porque se me amaló” [Well so sad I even wanted to faint because he got sick on me.]

After the cath lab, my grandparents and I visited him. Everything was okay. He looked better.  We were all conversing and being by his side through everything. But something was off. No nurse wanted to tell us when he would get discharged. Given the cath lab was done, no nurse would even mention discharge. So I asked. 

I asked when Fredy was going to get discharged in front of my whole family which included Fredy, my mom Marisol and my grandparents. The nurse then told me he wasn't going to get discharged. He was getting transferred to another hospital for heart surgery. I felt somewhat confused. I was processing everything I felt like I wasn't there at the moment. It made me feel off and sad. Given I had to translate for my family,  I did not know how to even break this news to my family. When I told them the room got quiet. We all knew what that meant and the dangers it came with.I felt unready. I wasn't ready for this type of information. I wasn't ready for the emotions that my family was going through. I just knew I had to be strong and supportive since I was the person there at every step of the journey. 

The day of surgery came. Fredy was getting a surgery called Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery. He had 6 heart arteries blocked. I did not know this nor my family so we all learned this together. 

This meant Fredy was going to get his heart stopped and a heart lung machine would be doing the typical functions like oxygenating blood for him, while the surgeon worked on his still heart. All this information completely terrified me. I kept asking myself how this was happening? Why was it happening? Why to him? Why to the kind hearted person? I guess no one knows. It came very unexpectedly. For his mom Natividad and my mom Marisol it was very hard news.

Natividad: “Me puse bien triste también porque yo dije, ay, pues lo van a operar en tantito.” [I got very sad, too, because I said to myself, "Oh they're going to operate on him in such a short timing.]

Marisol: “No, pues él nos había dicho que estaba bien, pero nos dieron la noticia que tenían que operarlo y cambiarlo de hospital. Fue una noticia que no esperábamos y pues la verdad nos sorprendió y nos pusimos tristes y lloramos por él.” [Well, he had told us that he was doing fine, but then we received the news that he needed surgery and had to be transferred to another hospital. It was news we weren't expecting. It truly caught us off guard and we felt heartbroken and cried for him.]

The day of the surgery was a day filled with intense worry and sadness. I avoided everything, even attending school. I wasn't okay. I was afraid of receiving the worst news I could possibly receive. My mind couldn't focus on something else other than the fact that Fredy was on that operating table. I felt so helpless. I saw my whole family sad and anxious. Just waiting for the phone call. 

Natividad: “Pues yo me sentí, al mismo tiempo me daba ánimo, porque yo sabía bien que él iba a reaccionar, y yo me hice la idea que la fe era la buena, yo tenía fe en que él iba a salir bien, yo me aferré a la fe, fue lo que yo estaba pensando.” [Well, I felt and at the same time it gave me strength because I knew well that he would react. I made the idea that faith was the right path, I had faith that he would come out of it okay. I clung to that faith that was what was on my mind.]

Marisol: “No, pues estábamos tristes, estábamos esperando la noticia, estábamos en oración, orando por él, por nosotros, para que todo saliera bien y nos dieran buenas noticias.” [Well, we were sad, we were waiting for the news. We were in prayer, praying for him, and for ourselves hoping that everything would turn out well and that we would receive good news.]

Then we got the call. He was out of surgery. He was under anesthesia and there were no complications. The dangerous part was over. Now what we had to face was the post surgery. I was aware and notified by nurses that he was going to look critical after surgery. He was going to continue being in the ICU hooked up to monitors he wasn't hooked up to prior. He was going to be restrained onto the bed. He was going to be intubated. This was the hardest part for me. I didn't want to see the happy person he was in that state. I was afraid. Not only was I but my whole family was anxious. I didn't want to contact anyone for support since even texting would make me feel overwhelmed. I just wanted to be supportive and be there for Fredy and my family. 

Once getting up to the ICU. I had to mentally prepare myself. I had to know what to expect. Once inside, I completely broke down. All the materialistic things such as money were not worth it at that moment. At that moment I wanted to only see him okay.  It was hard knowing that I wasn't going to be able to converse with him. Only squeezing his hand and him squeezing mine. That's a squeeze I'll never forget. I had never imagined seeing my loved one in that state. In such a vulnerable state. That day was the hardest day I have gone through. And it will forever stay in my mind. 

Natividad: “pues me pasó por la mente, pues que yo le pedía a Dios que por qué le había pasado eso, sí yo sentía que me estaba muriendo por él.” [Well it crossed my mind that I was asking God why that had happened to him, if I felt like I was dying for him.]

Marisol: “Al verlo unos dos días antes feliz, contento y ya otros días conectado a aparatos que pues no sabemos qué reacción podía tener él” [Seeing him like two days ago happy and content, and then, days later, hooked up to machines that we just didn't know how he would react to.]

In recovery, I visited Fredy everyday after school. I would go home to change and leave to visit him. It was important for me to let him know he had my support and help. Seeing him return back to himself and being able to gain strength to walk normally was truly the best feeling. I was so happy. I was happy to see he was doing very well. He survived. He went through the hardest thing in his life and kept fighting to be better. 

I'm glad to say Fredy is doing very well being his old self just with a scar. Our bond has strengthened a lot, we rely on each other a lot. It definitely did affect me. Til this day I still think about the situation. I acknowledge his strength through it all and it motivates me. But on the other hand, I feel like I'm barely processing everything since I didn't do it at that moment. 

The whole situation altered my point of view in life. I had a life awakening. I used to be so focused on lifestyle and materialistic things. In this whole situation, all those things were left out. That made me realize what should be the center of my life. And that was living life simply for how it is. It made me realize that life is a gift and it can be taken away. I'm glad my perspective was changed for the better. And not only mine, but my family’s as well. 

Natividad: “No puedo hacerme la idea. ya no estoy tranquila yo.” [Well,I still can't... I just can't wrap my head around it. I’m just not at peace anymore.]

Marisol: “Un día estamos aquí y otro día no sabemos y que hay momentos que la vida pues nos sorprende que podía pasar cosas que no nos gustaría pero pues que si Dios asi lo quiere pues que estábamos preparados para lo que Dios nos quisiera mandar para él.“ [One day we are here, and the next who knows? There are moments when life takes us by surprise that things we don't like might happen but if that is God' s will then we are prepared for whatever He chooses to send for him.]