I'm sure that on Mother's Day most people don't expect to be awoken by their father calling out: "Cindy, wake up! Your grandfather is not feeling well, they think he had another heart attack!"

What?! I just saw him before I left to a concert that night. My grandparents had just returned to my house on the street named after coffee. Things were just starting to feel back to normal.

Ugh. So, even though I had gone to sleep really late, I was wide awake at 8:15 helping my dad find phone numbers and asking questions.

It turns out that while my mom greeted people before mass started, Papa Chepe started feeling ill again. He slumped over and wouldn't even respond to my mother as she spoke to him. She freaked out. Later, when I talked to her she told me that she thought we were going to lose him right then. My family always sits near the front, so my mom went up to where the cantor sings and asked if there was anyone who could help. She was bawling at this time, thinking that she was about to lose her father.

Julio, an EMT and our neighbor, came to the rescue. He lifted up Chepe's legs and he started regaining consciousness. The paramedics quickly came and took Papa Chepe to the hospital over the hill in Whittier. My dad looked around for the medications my grandfather was taking, talked to the paramedics, and then called my aunt in San Diego. Yo got ready the quickest, so I took her over to the church where Mama Toni was waiting outside. From there we headed over to the hospital since by that time we knew where they had taken him. Danny met us there and I returned home since I was still in my pajamas.

Chepe stayed in the hospital overnight for some tests. He didn't have another heart attack and the new medication he took Saturday night didn't trigger what happened Sunday morning. From what I understand, his heart rate fell really low. He was conscious when it happened too, but couldn't form words to answer my mom when she spoke to him. The doctors at the hospital consulted with his cardiologist in San Diego and they decided to install a pacemaker tomorrow rather than perform the bypass surgery.

I talked to my mom and Lori later. I cried a little because when these sustos happen it just gives us another sign that his heart is weakening and that sooner or later his time with us will be up. My grandparents aren't immortal even if I wish they could be. I'm going to miss him so much when that time comes, and I hate to think that it's getting closer and closer.

Me siento: lighter
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