Postscript at 6:30 PM: Out of surgery and in Recovery. I am waiting to see her. She will be on the way to the Intensive Care for the weekend.
Surgery in a few hours (2 PM start)
As you probably know by now in your own lives, when a real crisis comes you hurry about, getting information, making the financial and practical arrangements, dealing with the most pressing matters as they come, correcting the little mistakes that cause problems later, comforting and reassuring those who need it, informing those who are in confusion, and doing what you feel that must be done, finding the limits of your ability and then repeatedly pushing them into resistance and the unknown. And this is how our talents become skills.
And then at last, when what can be done is done, you retire to a quiet place, and perhaps a tear or two as there is no shame in this, since after all we are wholly human, and then say ‘thy will be done.’
We do this all the time. This is what it means to be an adult, to be fully human. But it seems that only at certain times do we become aware of it, more acutely conscious of our roles in life as father and mother, husband and wife, loving child and capable professional, friends and lovers.
Always there are the angels, the unexpected people you encounter who have great hearts and helping kindness. And even in our distress, there are encounters when we too can help and comfort someone else in a similar situation. You see them in the waiting rooms, with their mothers and spouses and friends, and you in turn provide some relief and comfort for them. Suffering is a great humanizer and leveler. There is a fraternity of those who come to understand this; they see it in each other’s eyes.
This is when we are most truly human, fully aware of our dependency and vulnerability and our true place in things, of who we really are: sinners, but attempting great things, moving forward in fear and trembling, as best as our lights may lead us.
Have a pleasant weekend.
Well said, and how true! Blessings to you. I hope all goes well.
Well spoken. I hope everything goes well. But the truth is this world was never our REAL home, only a temporary one, and we all meet again. No one stands before the Light Eternal with a broken heart, ever.
UPDATE FROM JESSE:
And at 10:00 PM: Home again. My son and I visited with her in the ICU. She is exhibiting short term memory lapses and some little cognitive things but otherwise no problems that were not expected, and certainly none of the potential problems that one gets warned about when they go deeply into this area of the head. All these symptoms are normal after a brain trauma and will pass. Her face ‘lit up’ when she saw my son even through the fog of postoperative fuzziness.
And so I thank you all who expressed your thoughts and prayers and words of encouragement, and the many more who I know were thinking the same. I have to say this was an interesting two days.
Good luck to your wife, to you and to your family.
Wonderful that your wife was happy to see her son.
Best to you and your wife, Jesse. It seems that at sometime down the journey of life we all must face such trials. My wife will be going in shortly for an ablation procedure for a-fib. I hope that your wife is home with her best caretaker in a short while and all turns out well.
MA
UPDATE FROM JESSE:
Heart of the Matter Part II
Mary had some unexpected complications in the early hours. A quick CAT scan revealed a brain hemorrhage and she immediately went to the surgery. I was awakened about 7 AM by a call from the doctor saying that he was going in to take care of her.
He called back about two hours later and let me know that they were able to gently go back in and clear out the blood and a blood clot, and she is now in intensive care where she will be sedated to sleep for the day to keep her quiet, while they take measures to reduce the swelling deep in her brain and prevent a reoccurence.
He is optimistic but this obviously puts a dent in her recovery. She was scheduled to be released today to come home, so I am very grateful that this happened while she was at hospital and not at home since delays add to the seriousness.
I did the past few days updates on the charts for something to occupy my mind while I was waiting for the call back, and just now updated them as of about noon.
I will probably not do a full update until later this week if then. I am not looking at the markets very much.
I have to do a lot of mundane things to keep the household going like shopping and laundry, and to visit her and so forth. It is a good occasion for grace if you try to look on the positive side of it. And I am seriously grateful this did not happen after she had come home because that might have been unfortunate.
Thank you for your good wishes and your prayers.