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Health Update!By Paul Hayden April 27, 2026I'm still alive - and for that I am thankful! Now, a week later, I am feeling much better than I did the previous weekend. On April 16, I had my third heart ablation, an attempt to remedy A-fib (Atrial Fibrillation). For a day, I felt great. But then something happened. I am pretty sure I had some increasing fluid retention in the weeks before this procedure, with a heightened pressure or tightness in my chest and torso. So the ablation, though successful, triggered something, and my body jammed up! I couldn't breathe! I could only take about one-tenth of a breath, and my oxygen levels were dipping as low as the mid to low 80s. Any reading lower than 90, and you need to be alarmed and get help. Sunday morning, 4/19, we went into the ER, where they examined and admitted me, with a touch of pneumonia (but no symptoms except shortness of breath), and excessive fluid build-up. I was cared for and tested in the hospital care until Wednesday, after a 3-day stay. Some hard/bad parts of this. The pricks and pokes of blood tests and intravenous applications are awful. Some nurses are better than others in performing this! Necessary, but ouch! And the hospital food! They try hard and mean well, but… There is some good news in all this. Another wake-up call for my life. And confirmation that this life is short, with nothing promised, and indescribably precious! We take life so much for granted. Just to breathe in deeply, and experience all the sensations that life affords us - GIVE THANKS TO GOD FOR ALL HE HAS PROVIDED FOR US! I lost about 8-10 pounds! I slept very well for three nights straight IN THE HOSPITAL! In the past this has been one of the worst parts of the whole experience, with sleeping almost an impossibility. Overall, with all the testing done, I am quite encouraged. My blood tests and metabolic charts are quite good. I've got a very good foundation and "constitution" to work with in recovery and beyond! It's a good thing, especially at age 73. That doesn't even sound real to say that I am that “old!” But last weekend when I couldn't breathe, it felt quite different. I felt like I was anticipating hospice! Today, I feel I can continue planning for an upcoming drywall finishing job I have waiting for me to do! Thanks be to God, and much thanks to the HSHS hospital system, and St. John's Hospital in Springfield, IL.
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 Paul Hayden is a Christian believer, and an American patriot, necessarily in that order. He is a student of the Bible, and is avidly interested in our role in the context of history, as understood through the heart and eyes of faith. Paul has lived and traveled somewhat widely, and now lives in the heartland of the U.S. (central Illinois), with his wife Donna - they have five grown children. Since December of 2016, he serves as the Editor-in-Chief of www.ConservativeTruth.org."I was raised by a Christian minister, Kenneth Hayden, until his death when I was 10. Then my mom Bonnalee Hunt Hayden married a farmer. So I was raised in a very down-to-earth home. My faith has grown through the years, but both in conjunction with the institutional church and through small groups and individuals, including books as well as group settings, where deep, sincere faith is shared that aligns with Biblical truth."
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