Friday, November 23, 2012

My husband's alive! What are YOU thankful for? Write a Thanku for Poetry Friday!

.
Howdy Campers ~  Happy Poetry Friday!  I hope your Thanksgiving was all that you hoped for.  Mine certainly was...

But first, Franki and Mary Lee of A Year of Reading are our Poetry Friday hosts today--thank you, ladies!

And speaking of thank you: for two weeks, we TeachingAuthors are extending the celebration of Thanksgiving by giving thanks to those who've made a difference in our writing lives.  We'd love you to join us: in a Thanku or in prose, 25 words or less, due November 30th.  See Carmela's most recent post for the specifics.

I've taken a break from blogging these last few weeks; this is the most incredibly appropriate topic with which to dive back in.

In a nutshell, on the afternoon of Monday, October 29th, my best friend/husband collapsed and stopped breathing.  After 11 days in the ICU, he is fabulously, miraculously, terrifically, fine and dandy.(October 29th is also the date that Hurricane Sandy struck.  We didn't notice.)

My husband, apparently, has all sorts of angels keeping him on the grassy side of our galaxy. 
.

Angels, angels, angels.  I picture them pushing him back, denying him entrance on that October afternoon.  

Today I thank all those angels...and the humans who saved his life. I've been thinking a lot about the movie Sliding Doors, starring Gwyneth Paltrow.  The movie itself wasn't my favorite, but the premise was wonderful.  Essentially the movie splits into two stories--in one, she barely makes it onto a London train. In the other, she misses it.

There are so many to thank for putting my family on this train.  My 23-year-old son (aka my rock.)  Relatives. Friends.  Strangers. His friend and partner who started chest compressions.  The police officer. The paramedics who did that paddle thing on him.  Twice.  Everyone at Little Company of Mary hospital--wow.  Those awesome ICU nurses never sit down.  

(Everyone, except, perhaps, the cheerful man who greeted me in the ER with a form to fill out, before I knew if my husband was dead or alive.  I've had the experience of going to a hospital and being informed my father had died.  I was 22 then.  This time I knew what to ask.  I looked him in the eye and said evenly, "You are handing me a registration form.  That means he's alive, right?"  "Oh, no," he said brightly, "we register everyone.")

I want to write a Thanku to the people who invented and perfected therapeutic hypothermia, a protocol in which the patient's body is cooled and placed in a sort of medically induced coma for a few days, to let the body rest and to prevent further damage to the brain and heart.
.

I just looked up this treatment in Wikipedia and see that I owe thanks to a whole slew of folks who developed this over the ages, beginning with Hippocrates.

Here, then, is my Thanku to all of them:

A THANKU TO ALL THE
DOCTORS, SURGEONS, RESEARCHERS, NURSES, INVENTORS—
ALL THE OUT-OF-THE-BOX THINKERS THROUGH THE AGES—
FOR DEVELOPING THERAPEUTIC HYPOTHERMIA

Together, you rolled
the snowball down the hill that
saved my friend.  Thank you.
.

I especially want to thank Dr. Robert Chang, who was in charge of my husband's care.  He is accessible, caring, direct, genuine and brilliant.
.
 
                                             WRITING WORKOUT--
                                           Who would you like to thank?

Now it's your turn.  We're focusing on those who helped us in our writing life, but you can see that I've interpreted this broadly.

1) Who has helped you on the writer's road?

2) Write a Thanku or a 25-word-or-less thank you in any form, poetry or prose.

3) Share it with us.  You can do so in one of three ways:
a) a comment on one of our posts,
b) an email to us at teachingauthors [at] gmail [dot] com,
c) by writing a thank-you blog post of your own and then sharing the link with us via 1) or 2). Feel free to copy and paste the image below into your blog post. We'd love if you'd also link back to this post and invite others to participate. 

4) And don't forget to send it to the person you're thanking!

 And thank YOU, Frankie and Mary Lee of A Year of Reading, for hosting Poetry Friday today!

22 comments:

Renee LaTulippe said...

My goodness, April, I cannot imagine how terrifying that experience was for you. Cannot imagine. So thankful your husband came through "fine and dandy." Your Thanku is just right. I have a few to write, too. :)

Liz Steinglass said...

Thank goodness your husband is doing so well. I'm happy to hear you have so many angels and humans on your side.

Liz Steinglass said...

Thank goodness your husband is doing so well. I'm happy to hear you have so many angels and humans on your side.

Carol said...

What a month you have had. So glad to hear that your husband is recovering. Think I will try writing a few thanku today.

jama said...

Angels come in so many guises -- glad they came in abundance for your dear husband. And you are an angel too :). ((hugs))

Linda B said...

Oh my, April, I am so glad the right people were there, including angels, and that your husband is all right. What a very scary time for you and your family. I send blessings to you! In times like these, it is good to have the experts on your side, as you noted in the thanku!

Greg Pincus said...

Wow, April. What a few weeks! I'm so happy to hear the positive ending. Thanksgiving, indeed!

Esther Hershenhorn said...

Yay!
Hurrah!
April's Gary's in Our World!
Giving Thanks indeed.

laurasalas said...

Oh, April! So relieved that all has turned out well. What a lovely thanku. I will put this on my weekend to-do list. So MUCH to be thankful for!

Carmela Martino said...

Dear April,
Thanks for sharing this with us. Blessings to all the angels who helped you and your husband, and to the two of you!

Matt Forrest Esenwine said...

So glad to hear the good news! It may sound cliche, but this is, indeed, a Thanksgiving to remember.

GatheringBooks said...

April, there is so much miraculous wonder in your post. And so much to be grateful for. *Hugs*
Angels do come in so many forms, shapes, sizes, colors. Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Ruth said...

That "therapeutic hypothermia" sounds like the kind of thing they would do in a soap opera, not real life! So amazing. I am so happy for you that your husband survived this ordeal and that you have more time together. Happy Thanksgiving!

Irene Latham said...

April, you and Gary have been constant in my thoughts... so happy things are going well and yes, Virginia, there are miracles! xo

Anne Bromley said...

April, this post opened the door of my heart, and I wish you and your husband all the happiness you can hold. Thank you for sharing this incredible experience. Those angelic humans cannot hide their wings.

April Halprin Wayland said...

Thank you, everyone, for your loving comments. Aren't we lucky to have this cybercommunity?

I can't wait to read YOUR thank yous....or thankus--either or both!

Mary Lee said...

Wow. So many angels in your life. And probably that many in EACH of our lives, although we'd rather not have a near-death experience to have them make themselves known to us! Glad all is well.

ruthtalksfood.com said...

April, you're a rock for so many others. I'm glad that so many could return the favor in the moments and days your husband, you and your son needed help most. Happy, healthy holidays to you all!

Robyn Hood Black said...

Adding to all the grateful hearts celebrating your good news, April - what a month you all have had. Thank you for sharing, and for your own gratitude to all these angels in the world. Hugs from here.

Tabatha said...

Like the others, I am grateful for your angels, too. Very well written post, April. Hugs!

Frances Sackett said...

My eyes filled with tears reading this. I'm so glad your husband is okay. You reminded me to be thankful for the health of the people I love. Thank you for sharing!

April Halprin Wayland said...

I am grateful for all of your comments.

Life feels more fragile to me now.
But also more precious.

xxx,
a
p.s: still eager to read your Thankus or 25-words of thanks to someone. :-)