Michael Maranhas - Two Weeks in Winter: A Memoir

TWO WEEKS
IN WINTER

A Memoir

MIKE MARANHAS

Two Weeks in Winter: A Memoir

By Mike Maranhas

Copyright 2018 by Mike Maranhas. All rights reserved.

Cover Design by eLectio Publishing.

ISBN-13: 978-1-63213-510-0

Published by eLectio Publishing, LLC

Little Elm, Texas

http://www.eLectioPublishing.com

5 4 3 2 1 eLP 22 21 20 19 18

Printed in the United States.

The eLectio Publishing creative team is comprised of: Kaitlyn Hallmark, Emily Certain, Lori Draft, Court Dudek, Jim Eccles, Sheldon James, and Christine LePorte.

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Publishers Note

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

This book is a memoir; the story is true. No character or organization is a composite. However, to protect the privacy and reputation of the medical professionals and institutions depicted, I have given them fictitious names.

Mike Maranhass memoir...is sweet, grave, harrowing... moving and brave. The reader lives minute by minute through this ordeal.

Jacquelyn Mitchard, New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean

It is important for others to learn from the suffering that occurs during critical illness, especially with regard to ARDS and delirium. This work (Two Weeks in Winter) makes it real and will help others understand the dismantling aspects that humans sometimes go through in an ICU.

Dr. E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center with subspecialty training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. His research focuses on improving the care and outcome of critically ill patients with sepsis and respiratory failure, with special emphasis on the problems facing patients in the ICU (e.g., weaning from mechanical ventilation, delirium and cognitive impairment in the ICU, neuropsychological deficits post ICU care, and quality of death in the ICU). Dr. Ely has over 250 peer reviewed publications

Dear Mike, I finished your bookI read most of it in one sitting. What a story! What a great praise! You are a very good writer, and you tell a great story with much detail. I was blessed. May God use the book to give hope to hurting, suffering people.

Dr. Jeff Schreve, Senior Pastor, First Baptist Texarkana. Author. Leads From His Heart Ministries which is broadcast on TV, radio and the web around the world.

Its been a long time since I picked up a nonfiction book, read the first few pages, and then stood for 30 minutes immobile, transfixed by what I was reading. But Mike Maranhass book, Two Weeks in Winter ... is such a book. I highly recommend this riveting true story to readers of all backgrounds and beliefs. Its a page turner you wont be able to put down.

Robert J. Hutchinson, American writer and essayist known for his popular books (e.g., The Dawn of Christianity) on Christianity, Biblical Studies and the Vatican. Hutchinson has published articles in Christianity Today and U.S. Catholic. He is a regular contributor to conservative websites including TheBlaze.com, Fox News, Catholic Exchange and Mercatornet.com.

Two Weeks in Winter is a well written story that keeps you engaged with detail. Mike Maranhas shares a conversational story with clarity weaving an intriguing narrative. In the end, you will know the benefit of having hope.

Rick Tocquigny, Author, publisher and host of the popular Blog Talk Radio show, Lessons Learned.

The only people capable of describing the onslaught of lifes Winter are those who have endured it. Those are the people who can make us thankful for the glimpse of Spring that can follow. Mike Maranhas is qualified. All of us will experience some measure of winter in our life. This book will prepare you to survive and thrive.

Ken Davis, Best-selling Christian author, frequent radio and television guest, and one of the countrys most sought after inspirational and motivational speakers. His daily radio show, Lighten Up!, is heard on over 1500 stations in the US.

Mike Maranhas has written a memoir that captures you from the first intense chapter and holds you until the last page. Its literary as well as highly instructive about the complex life-and-death world of ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome). And he mines the inner landscape of his spiritual and personal challenges and growth as an ARDS caregiver. I highly recommend this book, as an ARDS survivor myself, and someone who loves well-crafted prose.

Lindsey OConnor, a public speaker and the author of The Christian's Guide to Working at Home and If Mama Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy. She has appeared on television and radio and at national conferences such as Heritage Keepers and Hearts at Home. Lindseys latest work is The Long Awakening: A Memoir.

To my wife,
Bela,
and in memory of my father-in-law,
John Moura.

First and foremost I thank my wife, Bela. This book is for her and about her and would not exist without her. She is also a master at killing my darlings with blood red ink.

One of the stranger as well as delightful occurrences during this endeavor was setting out to find a comparative title and, in doing so, also discovering the most suitable content editor on the planet. ARDS survivor and experienced memoirist, Lindsey OConnor improved my story immensely. Always willing to help, Lindsey progressed from teacher to coach to friend while guiding me to a finished product. She also understood my humor, no small feat. Thanks Lindsey.

Line editor, Kathy Groom certainly reined in my prose enough to appeaseI hope!any Chicago Manual connoisseur, but also convinced me to change the title. Thank you, Kathy. You improved this book in many ways.

While living through Two Weeks in Winter, my mind was not focused on writing. I documented only information vital to Belas well being. So, when I did begin writing this memoir, I was aided by several people keen and kind enough to answer questions. I thank Roy Moura, Kurt Maranhas, Charlene Heinmuller and Amy Whalen for their assistance.

Books cannot exist without publishers. Thus I thank Christopher Dixon and eLectio Publishing for finding value in my words and giving them life.

TWO WEEKS
IN WINTER

On March 1, 2008, I woke up tense and bewildered from what sounded like rifle shots. They came in a series of loud, metallic cracks as fast as a man can pull a trigger. My eyes sprung open as I jerked up my head, not yet knowing Bela and I were between enemy lines or that opposing trenches even existed. But they did. They had for days. We were ignorant belligerents in No Mans Land: ignorant for not knowing we faced an enemy, belligerents by our mere existence. Some might say the joke was on us, but this was no joke. Nor, as I would soon realize, did there exist a discernible exit.