Oh boy. This day started out fabulously - my dad was discharged from the hospital!
But hearing of Elizabeth Edwards' passing reminded me again of just how lucky my family has been. We've not had any of the "big issues" - cancer, heart attack, car crash, and the like - strike our family. My dad's 5-way bypass was definitely a major event, but the blockage was caught before a catastrophic event. He is otherwise healthy, and has been recovering very well. Still, I got a heavy dose of what fear feels like, and a definite reminder of how fleeting life can be.
Elizabeth Edwards was a great woman. I skipped the last session at BlogHer so I could get a prime seat for her keynote at BlogHer '07. And just a few months later, I had the amazing opportunity to simply hang out with her when she visited several of us Silicon Valley Moms Blog writers.
We at SVMB had been big fans of her husband until all the "crud" came out. When I learned about what John had done, it angered me deeply. Elizabeth needed support. She needed family. She needed people to put her #1, especially while undergoing treatment for cancer.
I've had friends with cancer. I've brought "cancer-friendly" meals to them and driven them places. But, I've been lucky that nobody in my family has had cancer. Still, watching my friends and their family deal with the diagnosis definitely illustrated how all-encompassing cancer treatment is from a practical and emotional standpoint.
Back in grad school, I loved cancer. It was a fascinating series of processes to study. I did part of my research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. I also did neurosurgical planning for brain-tumor patients. And so, I saw cancer patients all the time. Every day I walked through the space which could be either the best place or the worst place on earth for a patient and his or her family. From a scientific standpoint, cancer is an amazing thing - but of course it is a terrible thing when it actually happens.
Likewise, my education in the circulatory system was fascinating. I learned all about cardiac disease and stroke. At the end of the term it was bitterly ironic when my stroke teacher died of a stroke.
But I sure wasn't laughing when my dad went under the knife. Watching someone else's heart and the amazing ways surgeons can work their magic is thrilling, but it turns into something entirely different when it is your daddy's heart they are trying to fix.
Thankfully, my family has had a lot of support through this. My brother's girlfriend is a physician and has scrubbed in during open-heart surgery. She was there in the waiting room during the surgery to answer my mom's questions, and then once the procedure was complete, exclaimed that a beating heart is "beautiful."
But Elizabeth didn't have her husband around to support her through cancer.
I've definitely been thinking a lot recently about family, health, and what it means to really "be there" for someone. Today's events - both good and bad - certainly factor into this rumination.
Comments (1)
I'm so happy to hear your dad is out of the hospital and doing well! I hope he continues to recover and is back to full health soon.
And I'm just as sad as you about Elizabeth Edwards. I didn't have a good seat for the keynote in 2007 (had Mira with me in the sling and was breastfeeding her at the time), but I do remember meeting Elizabeth at the cocktail party afterward. She was such an inspiring woman, and it was an honor to have met her and been able to share a few words with her.
I'd like to hope that the strength and grace in how she handled herself these past years will have an effect on John Edwards. But even if it doesn't I know she still touched so many lives with her bravery and her desire to fight for healthcare for everyone even when she was facing her own mortality.
She will be missed.
Posted by Christina | December 8, 2010 2:54 AM
Posted on December 8, 2010 02:54