Sudden Shocks

I wrote this last Thursday, I think, but it still has some merit to it for all of us.  So I'll put it up for you to read today.  Forgive the errors in the time line.  She fell last Wednesday, had surgery Thursday, and is recuperating.



We all go along figuring that this and that will continue, and we don't concern ourselves too much with the this and that.  And then something happens to this or that and we are shocked, confused, scared, upset, and worried.

Yesterday, I mentioned that my sister fell at her son's house yesterday evening.  She got a perm in the morning, called me at around 12:30 yesterday afternoon and then by 7:00 p.m. she was at the hospital with a broken hip.  Didn't see that one coming!!

My niece has worked at Fairview Hospital for 32 years.  She started out in x-ray as a technician and now she is involved in vascular support, like ports and the like.  She knows the heart doctors and just about everyone else.  Last evening at around 10:30 p.m., she was talking to the orthopedic surgeon about my sister's options for surgery today.  It seemed important to my niece to bring in the oncologist who treats my sister for a type of blood cancer, the kind of thing that Robin Roberts has.  The doctor wondered how they could do that, and my niece said no problem -- I'll call him on his cell phone.  She had his number!

And they talked for 20 minutes about all the ins and outs of what they could do.  They talked about medications and the oncologist said he would be coming to the hospital today to offer his help.  Isn't that something?

My nephew feels terrible because she fell at his house.  He feels responsible in some way, but it wasn't his fault.  It just happened.  It was an accident. 

Now he is working on a five month calendar to divvy up the various work that has to be done to keep things going -- like mowing at two houses.  My sister owns a lovely little two-bedroom cottage at Marblehead.  We were just there Saturday and did the trim work for her while she did the riding mower part.  So now we'll keep things managed.

Meanwhile, the kind of surgery they are doing for my sister involves pins and non-weight bearing recuperation.  She will be going to Lakewood Hospital's acute rehab unit (35 beds) and get the best the clinic has to offer in physical therapy.

I'm sure each and every one of you have gotten one of those calls -- a phone number that doesn't pop up too often or it pops up at an odd time.  Once you say, "hello," you find out quickly that this or that has gone wrong. 

My first thought was to pray for her.  My second thought was to get others to pray for her.  My third thought was that I wanted to talk to her.  I'm still waiting on that.  (We visited on Saturday and I spoke on the phone with her yesterday for a little bit.)

There are no guarantees in this life, are there?  There are always these surprises that come along involving this and that. 

Join me in prayer for all of the folks in our lives who are experiencing some problems with this or that.  Okay?