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In this episode of Connect’D, hosts Scott and Deb Gray welcome dedicated paramedic and leader in emergency services, Dave…
In this inspiring episode of Connect’D, hosts Scott and Deb Gray delve into Scott’s life-changing heart incident from a year ago. They share their journey of faith, resilience, and the profound lessons learned about mind, body, and spirit. As they recount the details of that fateful day, they emphasize the importance of Discernment, Discipline, and Discipleship in overcoming life’s challenges. Join them as they reflect on the power of community, prayer, and the unwavering presence of God during difficult times.
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:15) Scott’s Heart Incident
(15:30) The Role of Faith
(25:00) Physical Recovery
(35:45) Mental Health and Resilience
(45:00) Conclusion
Deb Gray: Welcome back to Connected. I am Deb Gray here with my husband Scott. And we’re so excited to be back for another episode with you. This episode is going to be a think, an inspirational one for sure. It’s going to cover Scott’s incident. We kind of mentioned it the first session. And when we talk about Connected, our word, uh, the D, which stands for when we talk about mind, body, spirit. The D for mind is discernment. Um, body is discipline. And then the spirit is discipleship. And so, you know, we’re all connected that way and through our life, of everything that’s gone on. Never thought we’d be going through what we did a year ago with Scott. Um, but no one does. Right? Uh, every day is a new day that God gives us. And if we, I think our faith, I know our faith totally helped to get us through, um, what we experienced and just so blessed that, um, he’s here today. And we thought this would be a perfect time to talk about it too. In the month of February. Because it’s Heart month. Yes. And um, yeah, so that’s why we’re going to be here to share this. So I guess as we get started here, um, before we go into more of the details, Scott, I mean, how are you feeling today?
Scott Gray: You know, uh, we, I think we uh, talked about. Right. This is my anniversary. I guess one year anniversary was on the 29th. We uh, just celebrated that pretty much over the weekend. Um, and we, uh. I’m, um, just so thankful and blessed to be here. A, uh, lot happened in 2025. Um, we’ve, uh, we talk about how it’s been a crazy year. And uh, the acronym that was given to me just to kind of, Just to clarify that and make sure. I felt kind of guilty using that because I’m m. Like, that doesn’t really truly represent what we went through until the Lord one morning revealed to me, uh, uh, just a different. An acronym for crazy of Christ revealed from A to Z as Yahweh.
Deb Gray: Mhm.
Scott Gray: And so he said, scott, don’t quit using it. That’s exactly what this is. Christ revealed from the Alpha to the Omega as Yahweh, the original God. And so that’s given me just a sense of peace, a sense of solace, of um, in processing this. Um, but like I said, at Scotty 3.0, I’m probably, you know, better than I’ve been in a long time.
Deb Gray: That’s great.
Scott Gray: And so I’m thankful for that.
Deb Gray: Yeah, for sure. And it’s great. I know you’re ready to talk about it immediately, you know, but, uh, it’s kind of a nice to wait a year, go through everything, because, I mean, everyone’s journey with a heart incident or with any type of incident is not ever the same. So. Yeah, and I think that’s what you come to find out, too. Just people that you’ve met. Um, I always say it’s not like, you know, people you’re pregnant. It’s going to be the same. Type of pregnancy or delivery is not the same. And so, you know, with you and your heart incident, um, not the same. So, um, it was pretty. And I saw a lot of different things. And we’re, you know, as we go through this hour here, we’ll be sharing, you know, look at the hard, uh, things that maybe God put in our lives during that time, too, to make things laugh, even in the hospital, when I think back on it, um, I’ll share some of those stories going through, but, um, I just am happy that you’re wanting to share and how you share, and, um, it’s a pretty powerful story.
Scott Gray: Well, as you said, baby, there’s no two pregnancies alike. Right. What I’ve learned is there’s no two heart incidents alike. They’re all unique. Uh, and we say incident, obviously, sudden cardiac failure doesn’t roll off the tongue. Um, but obviously, uh, it’s what happened to me, and I have to own that and understand that. And as we go through this, I know one of the things we talked about is what do we want the takeaway to be from this? And I think, um, as I’ve had time to process this, and like you said originally, when it first happened, I just wanted to share with everybody. And part of that was just. I think I was running on adrenaline. Adrenaline. I mean, I shouldn’t have been there. Um, and the more I shared it with individuals, just to clarify, because there was a lot of, as you know, social media can be helpful, but it could also be very confusing. What actually happened? What was it? Was it. What was it Not? Um, but I think the opportunity to share that and fill the gaps for individuals. Um, but at the same time, I noticed as
00:05:00
Scott Gray: I was sharing that with. With both men and women, they were, you know, when they start to hear the story they start to ask themselves, how am I with this? How’s. How’s my health? How’s my heart? And the one thing I guess I just want to share and that I’ve learned over the year, there’s a lot of what ifs in this scenario, and as we’re going to share, but the only answer is, but God. And I think that’s just. I want to make sure that as scary as this story is, we share it. Um, I just want people to know that we were never alone in this journey.
Deb Gray: Never alone at all. And that’s what. It’s, uh, hard to explain. It just felt like there was a peace or calmness that was around. It was scary, but we knew that we were going to be okay. Yeah, for sure. Well, we look forward to, uh, sharing. And, uh, we’re so glad that you are with us.
Scott Gray: This is connected, because real life works best when your mind, body and spirit are connected.
Deb Gray: Let’s get connected. All right. Thank you for joining us today on Connected. Our episode is about Scott’s incident that happened a year ago. And we just want to go a little bit deeper about how we definitely saw God through that. And what we keep saying is, but of God, that he was with us that whole time. I, um, guess going back to January 29th, I will never forget the date, but, uh, just, I think kind of. Sharon. And hopefully. Well, I will chime in on, uh, you know, my perspective of what I kind of went through too, and everything. But that morning, you know, what. What did that all entail? What were you getting up to do?
Scott Gray: And what was, you know, uh, it was just a day that, uh, started out like any other, uh, and was on a prayer walk, uh, for the first time in the year, uh, that with, uh, a good friend, dear friend, uh, that we had been meeting for quite some time over coffee, over lunch. We’re like, you know, let’s do something that’s actually healthy for us. And so it was kind of a New Year’s resolution. Now, some might say we probably should have started that before the end of the month, but nevertheless, at least we got one in. Um, but again, on that prayer walk, just pretty chilly, pretty, uh, crisp that morning. And about 15 or 20 minutes into the walk, um, again, it was not very, um. Uh, more of a brisk walker. It wasn’t. Wasn’t, um, intense, I guess I would say, but I just didn’t. I started not feeling right, and I wasn’t sure what was going on. And we had kind of come up to a little bit Of a crest, of a. Of a. A hill, if you will. And I’m like, yeah, I just. I think I’m just gonna sit down for a minute. And I didn’t know if I was just getting a cramp or, um, just something didn’t feel right. And as I sat down kind of on the edge of the curb, and I kind of laid back in the grass, Just kind of maybe stretch a little bit. Um, from here, it, uh. There’s two different stories, right? So, um, there’s what my buddy kind of witnessed, and more importantly, um, what I experienced. And what he witnessed was as I laid back, uh, my eyes kind of rolled back in my head for about four or five seconds. Um, and what I experienced was completely different. I mean, I was there, but I wasn’t, uh, I don’t know exactly, uh, what happened, but I know who happened. And what he witnessed, again, was my eyes rolling back in my head. Um, uh, what he saw, uh, and he was talking to me, trying to kind of keep me alert. And it sounded like he was more like 10ft away. And what I experienced, as I was laying back, I was looking up, and I saw what I thought at the time were four street lights and these streetlights. Basically. I’ve been back to that road several times now. There’s no street lights. And those four street lights just started getting brighter and brighter and brighter, and they started to come together and drove into one kind of single light and started to open up kind, uh, of a circle, if you will. And at that point, um, there’s different things that the Lord’s revealed to me about that ever since the incident. But at the time, what I saw really was, um, that big picture, if you will. And it was pictures kind of like on an iPhone. And, Deb, you and I have talked about this, uh, where the pictures are just scrolling by and pretty quickly, um, I think I might know where they got that little function on the iPhone. Um,
00:10:00
Scott Gray: but it wasn’t people, places, or things. It was relationships. It was relationships from all the different seasons of my life. And, um, some of those pictures were really, um. We talk about their active pictures, and what it really showed me was not a static. It was really the exchange of energy, whether it was positive or whether it was negative. I mean, there were some times when maybe I didn’t do the right thing. And it just showed how the energy can discourage somebody or, uh, take them down. But in the flip of that, the ability for knowing how people can be encouraged and inspired, um, by the interaction that you’re having and the representation of that relationship. And so it was, it was definitely, um, it felt like it was hours. And I, there’s no other way to explain it. Um, and as I kind of, um, as I was going through this and those pictures were flying by and I’ve now been, um, on a quest to kind of follow up with all those relationships because that’s kind of unfinished business. But then at the time I started seeing blank pages. And at that point I thought, okay, wait a minute. There was a sense of peace within that I never really panicked, I never passed out, um, which is a whole other part of the story. But the reality is I don’t know exactly what happened, but I know who and when My buddy, when Jason actually put his hand on my shoulder because he could tell I was in some distress, uh, because I wasn’t as responsive, um, when he put his hand on my shoulder, that’s when I again, I kind of got shocked back into my body and somehow, some way, by the grace of God, I actually sat up, embraced myself with my, my left hand and my left arm. And at that point Jason already called the squad. Uh, this individual’s had some challenges with heart stroke, probably more than I had at that point. Uh, so he was more alert, more aware of what needed to happen. And all these what ifs that we talked about, they were definitely. But gods as a part of that. Um, the squad arrived, uh, just at the right time. And there were some challenges of being able to get the squad into kind of a gated community where we were walking. Um, but at the same time I was still awake and alert. And when the squad got there, they’re taking my heartbeat. I was at 280, 280 beats per second. Um, which is pretty rare that we now know.
Deb Gray: Um, were you feeling any fear at that time? Confusion or do you even.
Scott Gray: That’s a great question. I mean, I think I knew something was serious, but in some ways I still just had a piece about it.
Deb Gray: Mhm.
Scott Gray: And I can’t quite explain why We’ve, you know, now after the fact, we’ve uncovered some things that may be a part of that. Aside from just knowing that, that I wasn’t alone. God was still right there with me, um, and was going to get me through whatever that was. Now the next step includes some pruning. I went through that. We’ll talk about it here in the next segment. But um, for the most part, like I said, day one, day two, completely different. Um, the ability then to have my buddy reach out to you and get a hold of you at the right time. Um, but not at a time when you saw me in such a compromised position. They’d, uh, already gotten me to the squad.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: Um, the lighter moment is when the squad pulled up.
Deb Gray: Radio.
Scott Gray: Uh, doesn’t do me justice. I’m about six foot nine.
Deb Gray: I think he’s taller. Six, ten.
Scott Gray: Well, I’ve aged.
Deb Gray: Okay. We’re all shrinking, huh?
Scott Gray: Six, nine, two, seven. Uh. And when the squad got there, the two smallest guys jumped out. And we now know why. When every squad goes out, that’s why they send the fire truck right behind it, because it took about six of those guys to get me into the end of the squad. Um, but I’m so thankful that everything happened when it needed to happen.
Deb Gray: Yeah, exactly. Um, because I kind of. You know, we’re talking about kind of this first segment two of the mind and, like, what you’re sharing and how it kind of affected you, you know, just seeing it that way. But I remember, you know, I was about ready to get up because I do start my day early. Uh, I generally.
Scott Gray: The one morning, I actually got up before you. Yeah, I don’t know how that even happened.
Deb Gray: Right.
Scott Gray: Yeah, that’s divine intervention there for sure.
Deb Gray: And I remember seeing my phone that Jason’s calling, and, you know, he’s a friend of ours, and I had actually worked with him for some point, uh, when he did go through with his stroke and rehab. But, um, he’s like, I don’t know what’s going on. He was very calm
00:15:00
Deb Gray: and just said, um, Scott’s not right. And I did call a squad, but, um, if you could get here. And I remember, I still can’t even believe that the squad had got there before I did, because I felt like I was throwing on clothes. And the joke is, I remember driving. I’m like, did I even throw on my pants? I was just like, you don’t know what’s all going on. I’m really racing through my head, what could it be? Because at first I thought, oh, he fell. You hurt your knee or your ankle or. But that wasn’t the case at all. And I remember running up, and Jason was trying to keep me away from seeing you in the squad, um, and they would not let me see you. And I said, well, can he be known that his wife is here? And they said, we’re just gonna take him right away to the er. And, uh, you know, your whole. Just as a spouse, your whole life is like, what’s going on? You know, what Do I. Do you know, I was kind of like, jason, can I take, uh, you back to your house? Can I? And he’s like, what? He was like, you just go where you need to go and you’re just not thinking clearly. And I’m calling your mom on the way, crying. And she, um, thought too, well, what he. Did he hurt something? Did he break his. You know, I’m like, no, I don’t know what it is. They kept saying just high heart rate. And, um, I remember, you know, being in that waiting room and the ambulance, I could hear it coming. And I think too, but of God, and that timing of the day that it was so early in the morning. There wasn’t rush hour traffic. They were able to get to you quickly. Um, how fast they reacted to you. And then getting you to the hospital that fast, um, was the biggest thing. I mean, did anything affect you mentally those early days or.
Scott Gray: Well, I think, I mean, in some ways, again, as we talk about all the what ifs with this, um, you know, when they picked me up, they had time to make it to one hospital. Based mhm. On, my heart rate was 280. Um, another lighter moment. Uh, they really weren’t able to lay me down completely in the ambulance where they would normally put an aed, um, shock to me, probably put my heart back into rhythm. Uh, uh, they weren’t able to do that. So he tried to give me some medication to bring my heart rate down. Um, um, unfortunately, um, and fortunately we made it to, um, to Lakeside Emergency, uh, just in time. And by the time I got to the ER, my uh, heart rate was over 300. So I’d not, not gone down and actually gone up. Uh, we now know, um, as I made it to my six month, uh, survival, um, the cardiologist shared with me that actually at that point in time, your heart’s not even beating. It’s just shuddering.
Deb Gray: Yeah. And I got to see a visual of that because when the doors opened for me to walk back to the emergency doctor, he’s holding your EKG and his hands are just shaking and he’s like, do you understand high heart rate? And I’m thinking, high heart rate. Yeah. When I work out, you know, like, if I get it up to, you know, 150. Yeah, right. And he’s like, it was at 300. I’m m. Like, I just remember looking at him. 300. I mean, there was, it was almost a solid flat line that was accelerated. That’s the best way to look at that.
Scott Gray: And that was before he even shared with you what they had to do, right? Um, he basically. And he shared with us afterwards. I’ve been here for 30 years. I haven’t. There’s two things I’ve never seen somebody coming in here that’s awake and alert with that high a heart rate and actually have to get shocked when they’re still awake.
Deb Gray: That was really fun. He did tell me that you didn’t really care for him at that time.
Scott Gray: Because he was hoping he was off the shift. He was happy about it. But we’ll go into more detail in the next segment.
Deb Gray: Yeah, but um, yeah, that event, um, I mean this is kind of a pretty deep question, but just hitting it kind of lightly with your. The mental mind of it. Did anything kind of change with you how you see yourself as a husband, father, leader or man?
Scott Gray: I mean, absolutely, yes. Uh, obviously, um, you know, from my. There was a piece there, there was. Some of the pictures that I saw were my, um, time with my kids, time with my wife, uh, with you, uh, that were so impactful, that were so, um, just kairos moments. And I think we, when we talk about the mind, sometimes it’s hard to discern is that, is that coming from our minds or is that coming from our hearts? And for me, I’ve learned since um, then those were all kairos moments when they were significant points in time that are um, 99% involved with the spirit, not just Kronos, which is the alternative, which is whatever time it is. Um, but it just brought a sense of purpose, a sense of um,
00:20:00
Scott Gray: thankfulness, just for the second chance.
Deb Gray: Mhm. For sure. Would you say, you know how you’re speaking that. Is that something you’d want people to understand, that mental side of what you went through and what recovery can be for a person?
Scott Gray: Yeah, no, I think, um, we’re kind of jumping around a little bit. But ultimately, um, I kind of went from the ER to the icu, um, but by the grace of God early on we knew, no matter what had happened to me, as scary and as challenging as it was, 5% of people survived this, 2% needed a heart transplant. But of the 3%, you have the opportunity to almost reverse everything that happened. And we’ll talk more about that in the uh, in the body segment.
Deb Gray: Yeah, I just wanted to really cover what the mental side was of your recovery like that, you know, and I think like you’re saying totally was your faith. It was God, you know, the people around you that were um, praying for you as well and um, giving you that Strength to overcome and to get stronger and healthier day by day. So, absolutely. Yeah. So we will be right back, um, to our next segment that supports part of this is the body unconnected. All right, well, thanks for coming back. Uh, we’re on Connected with Scott, uh, Gray, and I’m Deb Gray. We are talking today about Scott’s, uh, incident that he had a year ago and, um, with his heart. And, uh, this section right now is covering the body or the. The physical recovery that we had, um, I guess after having that event. What is something with the cardiac arrest? What is something that relationship that has changed with you and your body?
Scott Gray: Well, that’s a great question. Ah, this has been a, as we shared in the earlier segment, just a crazy year. And part of that is just physically how, ah, night and day difference from day one to day two. Um, I mentioned earlier that, uh, as crazy as that was and as thankful as we were that when they shocked my heart, we, um, talk about. I’ve been through a lot of pruning.
Deb Gray: Hm.
Scott Gray: And everybody goes for pruning. Uh, and I think the refreshing and renewing sense of that is pruning. When it’s done by the Lord and it’s done in the right way, it leads to new, healthy growth. And the original pruning that once, um, I. We shared. We met with the head of the er and he was sharing with you the high heart rate and 300 beats per minute. But somehow, um, by the grace of God, I was still awake and alert and I think arguing with him a little bit about, you know, hey, I’m just. They wanted to cut off my shirt and my hand, take it off, and we don’t have time. And so he slammed my body down. And there were eight individuals around me. And all I remember is one little nurse. As they. As they stepped away, one little nurse in the corner said, should he be awake for this? And literally, bam. Basically, it felt like a Mack truck and a lightning bolt simultaneously hit me. It raised me about 10 inches off the gurney and slammed me back down. Um, but it saved my life and it knocked my heart back into rhythm. Um, we now know, again, it wasn’t necessarily anything dealing with my. My, uh, uh, circulatory or my, um, uh, um, uh, function as far as, um, uh, it was more electrical than.
Deb Gray: It was the plumbing. Your plumbing wasn’t the plumbing.
Scott Gray: The plumbing was actually pretty good. So that’s why this was so just out of the blue.
Deb Gray: Well, because that was one of the steps that we had to do after the whole ERs, you went to the ICU and we had to do. Go to the cath lab and everything. And that’s. They were baffled that there was no blockages.
Scott Gray: Yeah.
Deb Gray: Um, so his plumbing was good. It was the electrical part. Yeah.
Scott Gray: But well, and the reality is that that pruning that I went through. Right. That shock, even though it saved my life, it also took me from the ER to the icu.
Deb Gray: Mhm.
Scott Gray: Um, because we knew now know that when that happened and I was still awake and alert normally, um, you, you know, we passed out and they’d be doing CPR on your chest before they put the defibrillator on the aed. Um, the fact that I was still awake and alert, um, and I had to go through that, my body responded and it basically,
00:25:00
Scott Gray: um, it tries to protect itself at that point and it basically dumped all my glucose from my liver, my organs into my, into my system. And so from a glucose standpoint, um, I think when I finally got to the ICU, my uh, blood sugar was somewhere around 500.
Deb Gray: That was in the ER because they looked at me and asked how long you’d been a diabetic. And I’m like, he is not. So yes, he’s something.
Scott Gray: He’s a diabetic.
Deb Gray: Well, you don’t come out. It’s a diabetic. Yeah, we probably maybe had some underlying that we didn’t know about. Right, true.
Scott Gray: Um, yeah, we were all pre diabetic if we really are honest with ourselves. But not enough where I had to address it prior to this. So um. Yeah, the mind sometimes is not as sharp. Now we know a little bit. Why not? Uh, everybody has a chance to go through that. But that pruning ultimately, um, required the put on an insulin drip when I got up to the icu. And by the grace of God, I’ve actually gotten off that insulin drip.
Deb Gray: Yeah, well, you’re off insulin almost the first week coming home and just controlling your.
Scott Gray: Even before I came home.
Deb Gray: Yeah, we didn’t. Yeah, well, we were having insulin injections and then that’s. Yeah, just controlling your diet and changing everything there. So that was a big change of that.
Scott Gray: Yeah.
Deb Gray: Or your body that way. But I, I still, I’ll never forget the first cardiologist when we got up to the ICU and they were doing an ultrasound of your heart just to see. And she’s like, let me understand this, you were on a walk at 5 in the morning and she’s like, that’s early. I’m a marathon runner.
Scott Gray: She is a marathon Runner. Yeah.
Deb Gray: And she’s like, your heart rate, that’s insane. How high your heart rate was. And uh, she’s like, do you know you are a living miracle? And she had her hand on you and on me and said what a miracle he is that, you know, 5% of people do survive this. That’s in the hospital and it happened outside the hospital. And I think a lot of the doctors were just amazed how many people that would come in. I think they had to come see the big guy that survived it and that. Because a lot of times medicine can’t explain things, but God can.
Scott Gray: Yeah. And yeah, I think at point, that point, you know, as she said, that was such a tender moment.
Deb Gray: Mhm.
Scott Gray: Um, everything up to that was so clinical. Right. They didn’t know exactly what it is or what it was. Uh, and unfortunately that’s what healthcare mostly is. It’s not telling you what it is, it’s ruling out what it wasn’t. M. And she was the first one to come in and say, you know what, you guys have been through a lot. You’re not done with it. There’s still going to be more pruning to come. And yeah, we can talk about that. Additional pruning I ended up having to experience. Um, but I think the opportunity to, um, just be so thankful and just understanding is okay. Whatever we need to do. Um, you know, we had so much support with family. I, uh, think that room was full for two or three days.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: And uh, I felt that love, even though I was on a lot of medication and trying to. Trying to stabilize.
Deb Gray: Yeah, yeah. And he, uh, you know, with that, you know, after the cath lab, then it was moving on to the mri because I just more diagnosing it, like, what is it? You know, and yeah, that’s when we found out that it was your electrical of your heart. So then we have to be transported to another hospital that’s more specializing in that. So another fun ambulance ride for Scotty.
Scott Gray: Because I fit so well.
Deb Gray: I know it’s just a comfort ride. Right. Actually, what was even more funny now that, I mean when you look at it is the beds. Like, I kept asking for an extended bed. I was like makeshifting. Putting things under your feet to make things comfortable for you.
Scott Gray: I think you had a rolling chair.
Deb Gray: I had a rolling chair support my.
Scott Gray: Feet in the bottom.
Deb Gray: And nurses are like, oh my goodness, this is. Yeah.
Scott Gray: But I, uh, thought it was pretty ingenious though that you had.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: Created that.
Deb Gray: But I, I remember like, we’re still going to share about this whole journey in the hospital and throughout. But I remember after how you. It almost seemed like you had been given, like, new life and you were waking up early, you were, like, wanting to go to the gym, you’re wanting to do. You could actually walk. And, um, maybe there were some things that you overdid. Right.
Scott Gray: Yeah. Yeah. I think that that’s probably appropriate in the body conversation. I think there was such adrenaline coming out of that.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: And, um, you know, the. The challenge of the. What I went through in the surgery, uh, to have the. The ICD implanted in my chest, because, again, they didn’t know, you know, if this happens again. I now have an insurance policy, but not a guarantee. And.
Deb Gray: But that was almost comical, too, having to deal with that. It was like we were buying a car. They come in, and they’re showing us these brochures about different ones and bottom lines.
Scott Gray: Yeah.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
00:30:00
Deb Gray: Well, no, I just was like, what is the best for my husband? Or if it was your spouse, what would you suggest for them? Because we don’t know anything about that, you know, and. Yeah, um, it was, you know, he found the right thing and all was good. But I remember after the surgery, um, that I came in and we’d always try, between your mom and I, we tried to get there before the doctors, you know, because. Catch them in the morning.
Scott Gray: Yeah.
Deb Gray: And you’re on all kinds of fun meds. Right. And I said, how are you feeling? He’s like, oh, not too bad. He’s like, yeah. They said they’re. I’m going to have an app, um, for my device. We’ll turn it on on Monday, and I’ll be able to track everything. And I’m thinking, what? Like, isn’t this thing even working? Um, yeah. And, uh, the doctor came in and he’s. What do you call it? I would say, like, dry sense of humor and the type of doctor that you need at that point, you know, like, just to kind of calm you down and make you feel okay. But he said, yeah, we’ll give you a brochure. We can read about it, and it’ll be activated, and if you have any questions about it, you can Google it. And I was like, what? And he is like, I am just kidding. Do you know that that thing was turned on in surgery and, um, you know, working at that time and activated so.
Scott Gray: Well, there was a lot going on in that surgery that we found out after the fact.
Deb Gray: Yep.
Scott Gray: Um, I mean, just to circle back, even that device rep was trying to sell us Convince us. Oh, this isn’t that big of a deal. This is a simple 45 minute procedure. Um, it’s all done laparoscopically. So I mean, the good news didn’t have to crack my chest open. Um, but as he said that, um, you know, the reality of it was the surgery itself was there was a four and a five in it. Um, but it was actually four hours and almost 50 minutes.
Deb Gray: Mhm.
Scott Gray: And part of that reason why, uh, I was informed after the fact, or we were informed after the fact that my heart crashed twice. So, um, again, going from the ER to the ICU and the pruning continued. Yeah, but, but they were able to get it, uh, up and functional. Obviously I was asleep for that one. Those two.
Deb Gray: Right, right.
Scott Gray: But it just shows, ah, again, um, just the amazing, um, the blessing of, of the skills of the surgeons, uh, that were in there.
Deb Gray: Wonderful.
Scott Gray: I mean, another example of what if, what if we had somebody else in there? What if there wasn’t the right person? What if the, the prep, uh, um, nurse. And we had a chance to pray with her before we went into. For that surgery.
Deb Gray: Yep.
Scott Gray: I’ll never forget that.
Deb Gray: Yeah, that was great. Because we were supposed to be, um, actually the day before, but they kept thinking you had, you started having this cough and they thought it was Covid. And your nurse was like, there’s no way he has Covid. And I kept saying this is the cough that he would have for. You’ve had it for almost going on 10 years. And so it kind of got your surgery delayed. But there’s a reason, right, that, you know, we had to trust the process. Um, that surgical nurse was wonderful. Our youngest daughter was able to come back from college and be there in time for that and come in and pray with you too.
Scott Gray: That was a total God thing and.
Deb Gray: That was, uh, pretty powerful there. But I guess, um, yeah, I remember.
Scott Gray: When she arrived and the surgery was moved up to some degree. They took me down, but then it was delayed. And uh, Skyler had a chance just to get into the room and she didn’t know exactly what had happened and all the facts. And you know, she came in saying, well, what about this? And what about that? What about this? And we just had a chance to say, you know, sky, we just need. There’s a lot of what ifs here and we’ll share everything. We just need to focus on now. The only answer is, but God.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: And the fact we were to share that with her, with you, have that, uh, chance to pray together. Thank God. We were able to do that. When you guys are sitting there for over four hours thinking it might have been a 45 minute surgery.
Deb Gray: Yeah, for sure.
Scott Gray: That’s a blessing.
Deb Gray: It is, yeah. Yeah. Well, how would you define your health now differently than you did before this incident?
Scott Gray: You know, it’s crazy. Um, I would say, honestly, I probably felt better than I felt in a long time. Um, what we ultimately uncovered was, you know, I had, was using half my heart for probably 10 plus years and had really no idea. You know, there were some challenges, there were some things that. Signs leading uh, up to that. Um, but I had scar tissue developing in the bottom ventricles of my heart and it was blocking my ejection refraction, which is basically how hard your heart pumps blood. Um, and normally it’s a, um, you’ve got 30% coming in, you got around 70% going out, out to your, uh, your, um, your limbs and your, um, the rest of your body. And unfortunately because
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Scott Gray: of that, and who knew exactly what caused it, but it was basically blocking my chance to, or my ability to circulate blood. And that was, um. How many things do we approach in our lives half, uh, heartedly? Sometimes we talk about, we joke about it.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: And turns out I was trying to operate half heartedly for a certain amount of time, um, and wasn’t exactly sure what it was. I mean, there was some brain fog with it. There was some workouts were a little tougher. Um, but you know, more supplements, more vitamins, Uh, a lot of times we address the symptoms and not the problem. I know I’m not alone in that.
Deb Gray: Yeah. Yeah. So I guess if people are, um, frustrated after they’ve had a health scare, trying to get back, um, what’s something that you could encourage them about?
Scott Gray: I think the only thing is you’ve got to be obedient. I think, uh, the one thing that as I came out of the surgery and I was laying there feeling my body and knowing, obviously I’ve got a long way to go. But I also had this sense of urgency. I’m like, lord, let’s go. Let’s get me. You brought me back for a reason. Let’s go. I was trying to jump out of bed and probably all the meds I was on gave me a little courage there. Um, but what he, uh, had revealed, one of the things he revealed to me was I realized that. But I want you to move at a sacred pace. We’ve got to do this the right way. And I’ll share in the m. In the mindset segment how we define that. But that was, um, that was the answer for me to make sure that I am obedient to whatever is being prescribed. And that’s baby steps. It’s cardiac rehab three times a week for six months. Um, and walking in there and being just so thankful and humbled by. Other folks have been through something similar, um, and they’re in much more compromised position with me. They’re coming into walkers, they’re coming. They’re coming in wheelchairs.
Deb Gray: Right.
Scott Gray: Um, so it was definitely humbling, um, but it gave me a chance to really appreciate, um, the temple that God has given me. Yeah.
Deb Gray: Ah, well, thank you for sharing that and that’s a great way to kind of lead us into our next segment. That’ll be on the spirit and how faith, meaning and purpose are all a part of that for you. So thank you.
Scott Gray: Thanks, baby.
Deb Gray: Well, thank you so much for joining us today on Connected. I’m Deb Gray here with my husband Scott. And the subject matter that we’re covering today is about Scott’s, um, cardiac arrest or his incident that happened a year ago. We’ve already covered about the, uh, mind, the body, and now, not least important, most important, the spirit is what we’re going to talk about. So most important, yes, I guess How. How did this affect your, um, overall health and, uh, as far as with your faith journey?
Scott Gray: Yeah, um, it’s a great question and it’s been a, ah, it’s been, uh, baby steps, to be honest with you. Not that I wasn’t strong on my faith before, um, but this has given me really a whole new perspective. Um, and in some ways, you know, just kind of processing through this. We all go through challenges and we talked about pruning. Right. Um, the source of that was some devotional moments I had, even right after the surgery and all the challenges I went through. And when I said, I want to go, let’s go, you brought me back for a reason. You know, I. There was such a. Just a sense of probably a little regret, um, but the opportunity of, hey, you brought me back. Give, um, me that guidance. What does that look like? And one of the questions or one of the answers to my question, um, in kind of a prayer devotional period that I experienced, he revealed to me, uh, the week before all of this, I was actually at a men’s Bible study, uh, breakfast, and there was a visiting pastor, and he was sharing a story, um, about pruning John 15, um, several verses in there, verse five and beyond. Um, he was sharing at the Point in time. Just a struggle he was having just with that verse. As we all know, it’s for those, uh, God is the vine and we’re the branches. He prunes the branches that don’t produce fruit, but he also prunes the branches that do produce fruit. He was sharing just
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Scott Gray: his frustration with that, going through seminary. And he was working through his own challenges, his own wounds, if you will, unresolved issues. And he always, like, why would we waste the fruit? It’s so hard to get the fruit. And at the end of the day, um, he shared the story that he was at a pastor’s conference out in California. And the location, uh, was across from a vineyard. And he actually was, uh, woken up one morning about 6:33 in the morning, which obviously an angel number, um, which would have been 733. Right. Anyway, um, but the Lord told me to go out to the field. And so he went out to the field, uh, and there was a worker out there. And he was taking a hatchet to this vine and taking it down chop by chop by chop by chop. And he walked up and he said, and help me understand, is this. This disease? Are you trying to remove this vine completely? And the worker turned to him and said, sir, absolutely not. You don’t understand. This is our best potential producer. I’m not trying to take it out. I’m actually trying to take it down to its root. And when they do that, then they attach it to a trellis. And the trellis is the structure, the support. And what allows that vine then to grow is bigger, stronger, taller, and produce even more fruit. M. As scripture says, seven times amount of fruit. And so it just, at that moment, it just gave me a sense of peace. Uh, because when you’re in a hospital bed, it’s just so dark in so many ways. It’s so clinical. It’s so the smells, the senses.
Deb Gray: Um.
Scott Gray: That just gave me a sense of light, a sense of, uh, his presence. Um, and it’s been something that I’ve chosen to look at it this way. There are a lot of folks have been through this, and it’s easy to say, why me? What does this look like? And there’s a lot of those what ifs can be negative what ifs. Um, but the. The fact that he revealed that when he revealed it to me, just, uh, gave me a sense of, okay, I can see that. And I needed to go through this to get to where I am now. And he was with me the entire journey.
Deb Gray: He was, yeah. And I would even Say the people that he placed along this journey too with you. So, um, from the first person that we talk about is Jason, uh, for his reaction, his um, timely reaction and that he never has his phone with him. That he had a phone with him, uh, to the amazing care that you received from the first responders that showed up and then to see how much you could see God working through so many. And even the doctors and nurses and they, even a lot of them did share that this is definitely because of God, that there’s some things that they can’t explain. But many of them just uh, were unbelievable. The care, you know, that that’s why they chose that vocation. They care ah, for people, want to help people.
Scott Gray: They were using their gifts, your gifts.
Deb Gray: And I know you had so many people praying for you from um, just the team around you to your family. I know there was many times that I was literally placing my hands on um, the incisions and healing and it’s amazing to see how they healed. Yeah. Pretty powerful there.
Scott Gray: So powerful.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: Um, you know, it’s interesting when we talk about the darkness and the challenge when you’re in that hospital, um, room, one of the things that was so um, enlightening and encouraging was just all the social media posts. Right. I think one time we looked at it was 777, just people checking in, sending prayers, um, not just for me, but for you, uh, for our girls, for our family, um, our extended family, our church family, our faith family, um, people we haven’t hadn’t talked to for a while for different reasons. Um, that was just so, um, encouraging. Um, and it gave me a sense of, just a sense of purpose and, and you know, social media can be used for good.
Deb Gray: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott Gray: Sometimes we just get so discouraged by it.
Deb Gray: But yeah, well, with all like you’re saying, the pruning and everything and just how you’re feeling that way, I mean, how has that shifted your sense of purpose? I mean where do you feel that is now? I mean you’re.
Scott Gray: Yeah, honestly, I think it’s um, it’s. It’s been something that has, has allowed me to kind of share my story, but more importantly
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Scott Gray: asked others for their story. And folks have just shared again either their cardiac incident or their near death experience. Um, there’s a little bit of both here. Um, again there’s no two alike.
Deb Gray: No.
Scott Gray: But the one common element of that, especially no matter where they are on their faith, but especially if they’re in a strong position there, the board that keeps coming up is peace there’s still a piece. And um, we have a unique connection. Um, and it’s redefined everything that I’m trying to do and doing with, um, with his heart. I mean, uh, you know, the challenge of, of improving my heart knowing that I will always have that heart failure.
Deb Gray: Mhm.
Scott Gray: I can’t change that, but I can continue to grow. The heart’s a muscle.
Deb Gray: Yep.
Scott Gray: And it can continue to grow, just like our faith can continue to grow.
Deb Gray: Yep. It’s a spiritual muscle.
Scott Gray: It’s a spiritual muscle.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: That’s exactly it.
Deb Gray: Yeah. And I think that’s what’s so amazing is what’s happened to you is that you can see improvements in that with your heart as well as controlling your blood sugars. So, uh, not many people have been given that gift. So that’s what I definitely know. God knows that you are his disciple of being able to disciple others out there. And uh, I remember, I thought right after it happened, someone saw us and they were like, what are you, Scott Lazarus? And uh, it’s um, you know, we can kind of laugh about some of the things that we saw, but it was sure a scary time. But again, I feel like there was just that piece that, um. Boy, if we didn’t have our faith, if we didn’t have God in our lives, didn’t have, um, others that are faithful too.
Scott Gray: Yeah.
Deb Gray: I really don’t know how people do make it through this.
Scott Gray: It definitely a whole lot more challenging. I, um, think it also just in general has just made the preciousness of relationships. Debbie, you and I have talked about this. Not that we didn’t have a good marriage, but going through this and having a chance to truly, um, just pure love and being able to continue to reconnect and we married 25 years at that point, but in some ways we were just married. I think we went to a marriage encounter and as we were sitting there, we were coming to this realization that, you know, it’s been three months.
Deb Gray: Mhm. When we just hear a message about God’s love. Agape love.
Scott Gray: Agape. That’s it.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: I would say that’s a good way to put it.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: We kind of rediscovered that agape love.
Deb Gray: Mm.
Scott Gray: And that’s, you know, our love for each other, our love for our family, um, just the intimacy of supporting each other. Um, so thankful for that.
Deb Gray: Yeah. Um, I guess with your, you know, putting this all in alignment, what was the hardest, hardest moments of like having, you know, having that whole connection with the mind, body, spirit, where, you know.
Scott Gray: It’S a Good question. I think um, I mentioned this in the earlier segment but when I asked, I just truly asked the Lord what do you want me to do and how do you want me to do it?
Deb Gray: Mhm.
Scott Gray: I just asked that question almost every single day. And what he revealed to me at that point was two words. He revealed a, ah, sacred pace. And the sacred pace was um, not ignoring, not uh, hurried but intentional. And it reminded me of a reference um, to a book that was um, I had been exposed to with some of my clients that basically talk about an individual that had a similar scenario, similar health event. Um, as he was building his business and unfortunately as he built a successful business he put his marriage at risk, he put his health at risk, he put his relationship with his kids at risk and the Lord gave um, him a pruning uh, in a sense. And through that discernment process the Lord revealed to him kind of a four step process. And when he defined it it was with sacred pace. And it’s basically similar as, or um, simple as when you’re praying to God, pray to. Pray with him.
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Scott Gray: Don’t pray to him, pray with him like he’s your best friend.
Deb Gray: Mhm.
Scott Gray: He’s right there with you. And that’s how I felt going through all of this. I wasn’t looking up, I was looking right next to me.
Deb Gray: That’s great. I mean because there’s maybe some people that are out there that they’re just happen to pop onto the show for some reason. Maybe they don’t know God or Jesus or anything like that and it can be scary. Right. And they feel alone. Um, but I think our biggest thing is to let you know that you are never alone with any of that. And I think that’s um, prominent that we saw through this whole process of uh, we were not alone ever in any of it.
Scott Gray: On the other three steps for that is exactly that. It’s look for just the facts. Right. As you’re having those conversations and you’re having those observations, just look for the facts. Not the opinions, not the judgments, not the social media posts. But then the third thing is just make sure to look for circumstances, opportunities, uh, where you can make a difference. Um, and the last but most important one is get neutral in every decision you make. And he defined it neutral as um, make sure this is God’s will and not just your will or our will.
Deb Gray: Mhm. Because a lot of times we get in the way so much of it. Trying to control everything. Yeah. And like have it, have it for sure be him.
Scott Gray: And there’s an amazing, you know, end of that story. And he ended up writing a book about it. And he travels all over the world, um, built a successful company and gave half of the way to charity.
Deb Gray: Yeah.
Scott Gray: So that’s partly my journey now.
Deb Gray: Yeah. Well, if we can, uh, someone listening again right now that has some fear right now or doubt about whether it’s their health or future, what would you want them to hear?
Scott Gray: I would say, you know what’s helped me is realize my favorite acronym for fear.
Deb Gray: Here’s the acronym. People we know. We got to have more of it.
Scott Gray: False evidence appearing real.
Deb Gray: Mhm.
Scott Gray: And that ties perfectly into, again, a lot of what ifs, but the only answer is but God.
Deb Gray: Awesome. Thank you.
Scott Gray: Thank you, sweetie.
Deb Gray: Thank you for joining us. Uh, today on Connected. We look forward to our next week where we will be having Pastor Ronnie Rothi from Relevant Community Church.
Scott Gray: So I just want to once, uh, again, just thank you. Thank everyone for joining us. Uh, it’s been a pleasure and an honor just to share this, um, story, this journey. I hope it is encouraging and empowering to others. See you next week. Some of you might fall.