A day off. That is what Sunday was to us expect Michael did a few things around the house. We went to the local organic market for a takeout lunch of roasted chicken and a raw kale salad. Delicious. Simple. Dinner was leftover ham steak and artichokes. Really simple. Michael also asked if I would bake a berry pie for him. It went frozen into my amazing convection oven and emerged in no time at all perfectly cooked. He loved it and I am bringing a piece to my mom this morning.
After going to the other rehab this morning, Mom and I are going to pickup my new contact lenses and other errands then we are going to the Apple Store. My sister and I are going to buy her an iPad for Christmas, if she likes them. It is important to have her actually feel it in her hands and to be given a good demonstration of what it can and can't do. She searches the net, has some photos and sends e-mails. That's it. I think it will be perfect.
It happened again. Another story of a sick person unwilling to do anything to help themselves. I feel like I am suddenly surrounded by these stories. This recent one was about a person on the liver transplant list until he was disqualified and he has refused anymore tests. My friend had been calling him to offer encouragement and she has been now cut off. No more contact. He was clinically depressed with no medication to help and was pushing people out of his life. I believe people like this have chosen to die. They are done. It must be very difficult for doctors to deal those who would have had a fairly good outcome but refused to go through the process.
Then I think about my mom and her bad diagnosis of a severe heart condition. We talked about it a bit during the car trip on Thanksgiving. We agreed that it was almost humorous that the doctors kept telling us over and over again that her condition was "severe." We realized that they thought that we were not understanding the bad news they were giving us. I guess they expected to see lots of tears from both of us. We are not the crying types, at least not in front of other people. Mom was thrilled that she had a confirmation that it was a problem with her heart. I was thrilled that the issue was going to be addressed and there was a possible treatment that could help her quality of life.
Two very ill people. Two very different outlooks of dealing with a bad diagnosis. What is it inside each of us that makes us either fight for our lives or lay down and wait to die?
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