Wrong Side of the Room
I’m sitting on the wrong side of the room today. During our 17 years of marriage, I have had 2 C-Sections, and 6 additional surgeries. Steve and I feel like we have the “In sickness and in health” part of marriage figured out. Steve is a natural caretaker and always knows how to bring a calming peace to me when I’m going through a medical storm. His faith is strong, and he truly believes we can tackle whatever happens together.
Today, I’m sitting in the plastic chair and Steve is in the hospital bed. It feels strange to be on this side. They don’t give numbing drugs to people on this side… and the waiting seems 10,000 times longer from this side of the room.
Our standard “operation” procedure is we fill the waiting room with a tribe of family & friends - they do their thing …The doctors do their thing - I wake up and we go home. (If I need to spend the night, Megan stays with me as my personal nurse). So really, we have surgeries down to a science!
There is nothing “standard” about 2020. The waiting room is quiet. I am the only person in the big waiting room…. and there is no free coffee. No one else can come to the hospital, as they only let in one visitor per patient per day. Did I mention it is quiet…. but I’m not alone. Even though a tribe is not with me in the waiting room., the tribe is with me. They are offering to entertain and feed the boys. Offering thoughts and prayers and sending fun texts that make me giggle. This isn’t standard, it feels strange, but it does not feel bad… it is not bad.
The doctor reports, the surgery went well, and I let out the first exhale in two days. Time for recovery. When I am the patient, Steve is able to physically lift me up when I need help. This feels lopsided, but we will figure it out. The boys have been lifting weights for this …. right?
I still feel like I’m still on the wrong side of the room - but this is what “In sickness and in health” does…. we hold a seat on whatever side we need to sit that day and then walk together to the next day….and the next day…. and ‘til death do us part”.