Sometimes wisdom comes in unwanted ways. The learning curve gets painfully steep during medical crises. There is trauma mixed with desperate love for a heart-breaking combination.

I am adding some things here that I have learned while my father was in the hospital with cancer. These were hard lessons. These situations may arise with your family as you navigate serious medical decisions. Let’s hope you never get to this point.

The first difficult situation is when all decision makers do not agree on the next course of action. Different personalities handle emergencies differently. This can cause friction within your frazzled family. A hospital social worker may need to get involved to get a clear idea of what the patient wants and what the doctors advise. Sometimes it is only a matter of miscommunication. Sometimes one person’s expectations are unrealistic. Other times fear blurs logic and makes a loved one afraid…

Rose had many sore throats and ear infections from the time she was a baby. To help with these issues, she had a tonsillectomy and a tube placed in her left eardrum for drainage in December. She was five years old and in her second year of prekindergarten preschool. The surgery went as planned. We went home feeling like we were eliminating several health issues. We were relieved to have these two surgeries behind us.
Around 4:00 AM the night after the outpatient surgery Rose started vomiting. We hoped this was due to the post-surgery pain medications. Her vomit consisted of applesauce and white flecks. We wondered if the white flecks were pieces of drug 2D. The vomiting continued. We tried to intervene with a gel applied to her arm. The anti-nausea gel was our safety net for nausea. We kept syringes of it in the refrigerator.
The first seizure…

Your beauty is seen.

Your pure heart is known and loved.

You’re valued and cherished by way more people than you will ever know, or could even imagine.

If only you knew just how many other people have been touched and encouraged by your words and by your life, you would be astounded. You’d be utterly amazed.

How I wish you were aware of how many hearts you lighten. How much happiness you shed. The encouragement you bring.

How many talk about you. About how kind you are. Your gentleness and laughter. The way you understand …

You’d think they must be talking about someone else instead.

But the truth is you are precious. Way more precious than you think. Your life’s an inspiration. It’s the truth. Take it to heart.

You leave behind an imprint. You touch others’ lives for good.

You mean so much to others.