Dr. Eugene Decker, D.O. shared “My Story: A Faith Journey” on April 22 at his parish, St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Easton. Decker works as a family physician within St. Luke’s University Health Network, and as the medical director at DeSales University, Center Valley.
Decker spoke openly about his recent health crises and his ability to overcome them with trust in the Lord, to a full room at the parish center. He explained how he had tried to eat healthy and had been a runner for over 52 years. In fact, Decker kept a running streak alive for 35 years, 11 months, and 10 days. That was until May 10, 2023.
However, his story of health-related issues started 17 days earlier on April 23, 2023, during the St. Luke’s Half Marathon. “At the end of this race, I felt lightheaded and dizzy, which I attributed to being dehydrated. I had to immediately sit down and drink three bottles of water before my symptoms passed. I was sitting for such a long time that the race official came over to ask me if I was OK. There were signs of a bigger problem that I had missed.”
Decker went on to describe events over the next two and a half weeks. From feeling tired to issues with shortness of breath to spells of severe dizziness that would force him to lie down wherever he was, he said he had always found excuses or justifications for the way he was feeling.
On May 3 he went for his morning run again, and again had a dizzy spell that caused him to fall to his knees. After a recovery period, he went to work. At the end of his 13-hour shift, he did an EKG, or an electrocardiogram, on himself. After seeing an abnormality on the test, he called his cardiologist.
Despite the cardiologist insisting he go to the hospital, Decker assured the doctor he was fine and scheduled an appointment with him the next morning. After the appointment, the cardiologist advised Decker to rest and refrain from running until he could undergo a comprehensive cardiac examination. “I told him I would not run in the morning, but I lied, and I still ran each day until May 10, when my running streak ended.”
On May 10, his test results were in. It was estimated that Decker had at least three major blockages in his heart, and he would need surgeries. “[When in the ER] I don’t remember too much what I was thinking at the time. I do remember saying a prayer that everything would be fine and God would take care of me,” he said. After a five-hour surgery, he was sent to the ICU. “The rest of the day was a blur.”
That evening, after a routine check-in with his medical team, one of the nurses left the call bell on the windowsill in his room, out of Decker’s reach. “I asked her to close the door on the way out so that it would be quieter and it would let me sleep,” he recalled.
Shortly after the nurse left, Decker’s heart rate more than doubled, and he began to experience excruciating chest pains. “I couldn’t reach [the call bell]. I started to yell out for the nurses, but no one came. I don’t think they could hear me because the door was closed.”
Over the next 15 minutes, the pain intensified. “I really thought I was going to die at that point and die alone. I called out to Jesus to help me and called out to Him, stating I didn’t want to die alone,” Decker said emotionally.
“The next thing that happened was His voice filling my room. Gene, you are not alone. I am here,” said Decker. Within the next few minutes, Decker was able to reach his family via phone, and they called the unit he was staying in. “Much later in my hospital stay, I thought about the poem ‘Footprints in the Sand,’ and I pictured myself and Jesus at that moment that night in the hospital,” he said.
Upon his release from the hospital, despite not being able to run, Decker found himself going for walks and praying the Rosary. “Within two days of starting my Rosary walks, my panic and fear of death [following the surgery] disappeared. God was with me again.”
More than a year after his surgery, Decker found himself on his way to the ER again after another serious bout of dizziness, this time in an ambulance. While in the ambulance, his heart had to be restarted three times. A day later, Decker was again in the operating room, to get a pacemaker.
“Was God with me all these times? You bet and I believe it … I do not live my life in fear because of my cardiac history. I continue to live because I believe God has given me a gift. I have a reminder about my gift because I have lasting scars from my surgeries.”
Photo by Jennifer Russell.
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