In Sickness and in Health

Dealing with each other, in sickness and in health… My wife had a medical emergency early one recent morning.  The details are unimportant, but the care and response that we received were very important.  At five a.m., she called her doctor and got him on the phone.  He said we should call 911, which we did.  Within a few minutes both a paramedic vehicle and a fire truck arrived at our door. Moments later, she was getting attended to by three men in uniforms while I sat nearby feeling useless.

It was quickly determined by their efforts and in conference with the doctor that she was well enough for me to drive her to the hospital.  So, less than 30 minutes after this began we were on the road.  As it was so early, the drive was traffic-free and we entered the Emergency Room as the sun was rising.  Thankfully, it was a quiet morning there so we were quickly ushered into “Triage” and then given a bed.  In no time, a nurse had begun an IV and shortly afterward, the doctor on call did an exam.  He had already spoken with my wife’s primary doctor. read more

Can a Relationship Survive This Much Stress?

How much stress can a new relationship survive?  I am fond of quoting the cliché that most of us would rather keep our own problems vs. trade with someone else.  Yet, lately, I wonder.  Okay, I’ll keep our troubles, but it does raise the notion of enough is enough.

I just had a ski accident in which I fell so hard that I was knocked unconscious.  There were apparently no witnesses and I still don’t remember exactly what happened since the only thing I recall is waking up on the emergency toboggan, zooming down the mountain, being loaded into the ambulance, and taken to the Emergency Room.  After a bit of prodding, I knew my name and began to feel the hurt in my shoulder.  Later, all my memory returned except for the accident itself, which remains a mystery. read more