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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Gratitude and a little bit of Bewillderment

Okay my  GGG friends and family. I have to keep this short and sweet as I am typing this with a cast on my left hand. I'm not supposed to be using it, period, let alone typing with the 4 exposed fingers, but I will be regretting it shortly. Big brother (literally) may be watching me (hi Ray), but I did want to say that I am incredibly grateful that I am here and typing this at all. You see, I fell exactly a month ago tomorrow and hit my head, very hard on the concrete sidewalk out front. The back of my head had a lump the size of my hand on it and because of the impact I developed a hemorrhage in the front of my brain two days later. I was feeling incredibly ill and managed to call 911 myself that day and ended up in the neuro-surgery unit of the hospital for almost a week.

Immediately after falling I thought of Natasha Richardson, the beautiful actress that died so young (from what she thought was an innocuous bump on the head) a few years ago. I had also heard of someone that had completed the NYC marathon that had fallen and hit her head; she died that night because she never went to the ER. Both of them had what they call the "talk and die syndrome." When I fell, running to church on Sunday, (after slipping on black ice) my first thought was of them both and getting myself to the ER a.s.a.p. That day my cat scan was clean and they discharged me but as I got sicker and sicker in the following day or two I knew it was imperative to go back to the hospital after almost losing consciousness 3 times in the morning. In the 2 days since the fall I developed a delayed bleeding in the brain. It is because of Natasha that I first heard about the syndrome and got myself to the hospital the first time and the second. She saved my life. Her beautiful boys and her devoted husband will never know the affect she has had on me, nor, I am sure, others that have also sought medical attention after a fall. Every time I see her face from now on I will be eternally grateful for saving my life. I am more than a little bewildered at why such a beautiful, talented, young woman with everything to live for died and why this wreck of a body continues to live. I guess her job here was done and I still have things to do.

I implore you - if you hit your head please seek medical attention immediately. If you got a clean bill of health and start to feel ill, please return to the hospital. You just may be saving your own life by doing that.

Thank you Natasha. May you find eternal rest and peace in heaven.

Peace,

Mare

BTW - I broke my hand in the same fall. May God bless all of the doctors, nurses, nurse aids, dietary staff and cleaning crew that kept me  comfortable in the hospital.

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