Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Sigh of relief

The good news is that Susie is on the other side of surgery. The baby seems to be fine. The doctor declared the surgery *successful* and word on the street is that she was awake, recognized her husband Ben, asked some questions about the outcome and even made a joke. Ahhhh.... my friend is still in there! The pathology was inconclusive and we are still waiting to find out if it is cancer. They did some treatment as if it were. Prayers still welcome on that front.

It was a long day. About 7 hours in the waiting room. Tears. Prayers. A few laughs. Lots of stress. That must have been what it was like a year ago for Steve and a handful of friends. For the person in surgery it's like a nano-second. For the others its like an eternity. Then it all flips. Surgery over, relief for the others, pain for the patient.

It's going to be a long recovery. The dust will settle. The *excitement* over. Now it's my turn. To be a good friend. To be there when needed. To shed tears. To feel helpless. To cheer on. I came to grips with the fact that I must mourn yet another loss (although this one is temporary.) But a loss nonetheless. My friend, whom I text 7 times a day and see several times a week, is out of commission. Life is such an ebb and flow of role change. I'm not so good with change. But this event has reminded me of something; my cancer experience and the death of my parents were all things that deepened my friendships. Susie became like a sister as she walked through those events with me. Perhaps we would be where we are today without those sufferings, but maybe not.

As I debriefed some of this with my grief counselor today, I realized this is something to be thankful for. And at some point I will see the good in this hard thing too. Something good will come of it. I just kind of want to hit the fast forward button. For her and for me. I can't wait to see her. I can't wait to shed some happy thankful tears with her. I can't wait to hear her crack a joke. I can't wait to crack one back. Then I will really know all will be well!

1 comment:

jenny from mommin' it up said...

Still praying so hard. I was so joyful to hear that Susie came out of surgery with her personality intact! was thinking yesterday about how when you were in surgery she was posting to your blog for you. You girls are going to be thick as thieves, now, thicker than ever before. I hope it is a blessing in some way to understand how all your friends felt about YOU when you were going thru diagnosis, surgery, & treatment.