September 9, 2015
(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every
day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)
The
older we grow, the more surgery looms over us. Today was a surgery day for
David, five hours at Hopkins for an intestinal rearrangement. There is
always worry over all the bad things that could happen in surgery and I am not
immune to this worry.
In
the pre-op area, the doctor wanted me to leave as he gave David an epidural
(his first one), but I sensed that David would do better with me remaining
there and holding his hands. I was right. As it turns out, the epidural is
being used more frequently because it lessens the dangers of anesthesia and
might make pain management easier. I left the pre-surgery area and waited with
other families who also had loved ones in surgery. I waited and waited. I was
prepared with books, iPhone and iPad and yellow pad and pen but, for some
reason, I could not focus on anything.
One
by one, others in the waiting room were called back to the recovery area.
Finally, it was my turn. David was asleep and then woke up as I held his hand.
Then he mumbled some nonsense about an actor on stage with a cigarette and the
actor being unable to swallow what he needed to swallow. Then he said, “I guess
it’s a field trip.”
Even
though his words made no sense, it was good to hear David talking, even with a
tube down his throat. Not long after that, he told the nurse that she should be
on a Hopkins nurse calendar…not a sexist one with a bikini but one in scrubs. Then
I knew my husband would be okay.
My
gift today is a post-surgical smile from my husband.
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