Smudger Snippets: Medical Reasons
Created | Updated Sep 16, 2009
I suppose it's because I have so much time on my hands these days, that all these memories come flooding back to me.
Medical Reasons
It's been a busy summer, and I haven't had much time for writing: the reason for this is that my wife has been in hospital and it has been a hectic schedule for me running back and forth to visit her. On top of that I have had to pick up and drop off her children as they do not have cars and the cost of public transport was too expensive for them. It has been a very bad time for us all, as we were close to losing her altogether, but the doctors and staff worked miracles and brought her through!
It appears that because they lost control of her blood thickness while treating her with Warfarin, her blood got far too thin which caused a cerebral haemorrhage, followed by a slight stroke! Yet, having gone through all that, I am very pleased to say that she is now home again, all be it just for convalescing until another scan is done in a few weeks to check that there has been no fresh bleeding. The whole experience has brought home to me just how fragile life can be. I had dealt with similar instances while working in the ambulance service, yet there is something different that happens when the patient is someone really close to you— I cant really explain it, yet I know it's there, as I felt it strike home as soon as the ambulance arrived to take her to hospital. We had called the doctor to come and check my wife as she was suffering severe headaches and had been for the ten previous months!
We all tend to slip into a routine over the years where we start taking our partner for granted, and it takes something like this to give us a sharp wake-up call. I know that is very true in my case, in fact it did the same for all her brothers and sisters, and she comes from a large family of fourteen. Well that's not quite true as two of them have been deceased for a few years now, but it did bring the remaining members closer together. Over the years they all got on with their own lives and families, and some visits became fewer. Yet they all got together at weddings, and anniversaries, which can be really entertaining, as they are good singers and a karaoke always brings them together. My wife has even got me up to sing a few times, which I was a bit apprehensive about at first, but with all their encouragement I managed it. Having said that we have not managed to attend so many gatherings recently as neither of us has been in the best of health, and my mobility is not quite what it used to be.
It really touched me when I saw all her family rallying to visit her in hospital and at home over the past few days, as having lost my family after the divorce some 17 years ago, they have all accepted me as one of their own, and that is a comforting feeling for me. One thing for sure, I will never take my wife or life itself for granted in the future, as back in 2002 when we were told that she had emphysema and given just a two or three years to live! We made a pledge back then to make the most of that time, which we have been doing to the best of our ability, and these extra years we have considered as a bonus. We have four grandchildren now aged from six to nine years old. They keep us active and young, and my wife is determined to attend all their weddings, which with the love and support from everyone, I think she will actually do.
