Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Is my existence important to you?
Recently I had the experience of having my gall bladder removed via laparscopy. I have never experienced the amount of pain that was brought on by the multiple attacks when one of the gall stones blocked my entry/exit of bile from my gall bladder. I went to my primary care doctor after the third pain attack because I knew something was wrong and required medical attention. My primary care doctor sent me for a KAT scan which revealed I had a 3 cm stone in my gall bladder. He sent me directly to the ER where I spent 5 hours going through testing, including ultrasound, to further clarify and identify what was going on with my body. After 5 hours of emergency room review, I was told that they could handle the situation on the spot, however they would have to slice me open to get the gall bladder out if they did it there. The recommendation of the staff in the ER was to refer me to specialists who could remove the gall stone with less invasive procedures than the ER would perform on the spot while I was in their care.
Obviously, after careful consideration and consulation with my Wife, who is a Licensed Practical Nurse going to school to be a Registered Nurse, we made the decision to go with the specialist route which would be less invasive.
Well, we managed to get an appointment 7 days later with a specialist who indicated he could do an ERCP a couple of days after we met with him, and he also referred me to a surgeon who would help me with getting the gall stones removed from my body laparscopically.
I survived the ERCP on the 21st of April and then met with the surgeon on the 26th of April who indicated I needed to get this gall bladder out of me soon, so he scheduled me for surgery on the 30th of April.
My Wife went with me to the hospital for the surgery on the 30th of April. It took the doctor 3 hours to do the laparscopic surgery, so he was really worn out when he went and spoke with my Wife.
He told her that he really had his work cut out for him because I was among the top 1% of the people who get highly infected. He had to work really hard to make sure he got all of the infection out of me, because if he did not, and any of the infection spilled into my abdomen, it would have killed me.
I am very fortunate to still be alive based on what my surgeon told my Wife and I.
So my questions to all of you is, would it have made a difference to you if I had died? Would I have been missed? Do I do anything that makes my existence worthwhile?
Sometimes it is through the support of others that makes us realize our net worth.
Without people communicating to us our value to them, we never know if we would have been missed, or if it would be a blessing to them if we pass on, and they wish they never had known us to begin with.
Where do you stand? Would the world be a better place without me, or have I made an impact upon your life that you will forever remember?
Obviously, after careful consideration and consulation with my Wife, who is a Licensed Practical Nurse going to school to be a Registered Nurse, we made the decision to go with the specialist route which would be less invasive.
Well, we managed to get an appointment 7 days later with a specialist who indicated he could do an ERCP a couple of days after we met with him, and he also referred me to a surgeon who would help me with getting the gall stones removed from my body laparscopically.
I survived the ERCP on the 21st of April and then met with the surgeon on the 26th of April who indicated I needed to get this gall bladder out of me soon, so he scheduled me for surgery on the 30th of April.
My Wife went with me to the hospital for the surgery on the 30th of April. It took the doctor 3 hours to do the laparscopic surgery, so he was really worn out when he went and spoke with my Wife.
He told her that he really had his work cut out for him because I was among the top 1% of the people who get highly infected. He had to work really hard to make sure he got all of the infection out of me, because if he did not, and any of the infection spilled into my abdomen, it would have killed me.
I am very fortunate to still be alive based on what my surgeon told my Wife and I.
So my questions to all of you is, would it have made a difference to you if I had died? Would I have been missed? Do I do anything that makes my existence worthwhile?
Sometimes it is through the support of others that makes us realize our net worth.
Without people communicating to us our value to them, we never know if we would have been missed, or if it would be a blessing to them if we pass on, and they wish they never had known us to begin with.
Where do you stand? Would the world be a better place without me, or have I made an impact upon your life that you will forever remember?
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