Putting Things Into Perspective

~My sister & me ~

This morning I will get up and carry on with my usual routine ...

Shower, coffee & breakfast, let the dog out and be off to work. I never knew how much I took these normal everyday things for granted. Never realized that I am truly very lucky to be able to get up and live a "normal life".

For while I am carrying on with my morning my sister will be undergoing surgery. Many of you know that my sister had a massive stroke 3 months ago. She went from being a perfectly healthy woman to becoming paralyzed and unable to speak in an instant. She spent 2 months in the hospital receiving physical, occupational & speech therapy six days per week. It is very hard work and the progress is very slow. She was moved to a sub-acute care facility one month ago to continue therapy.
She is now able to say more words, but is a long way from being able to communicate well. She can now move herself from bed to her wheelchair by herself, but is still a long way from being able to walk. Today her surgery will be to replace the portion of her skull that was removed 3 months ago to allow room for her brain to swell. The doctors feel that the swelling has gone down enough that it is safe to replace the skull.

Every morning when I wake up, my sister is the first thing on my mind. I wonder what she really thinks about all of this, I wonder if she is in pain. I think of how hard life has become for her. I think of her waking up in a strange bed with a 91 year old roommate. I think of how it must feel to have to count on somebody else to give you a shower, drive you where you need to be and make your decisions for you. I wonder what it must be like to go through this and not be able to tell anybody what you are feeling or what your needs really are. I think of how hard this would be for anybody, but especially someone as independent and smart as my sister.

I can't really know what life is like for her right now, but I feel pretty sure that the small things I so often take for granted would be pure bliss to her.

When she last came to visit my mom & I it was in March. When she saw that my mom is now wheelchair bound, it was hard for her at first. In my wildest dreams I never would have imagined that the next time I saw her she too would be in a wheelchair.

I guess the point of my post is that as often as I have heard it said that we should treasure each day because we really don't know what tomorrow may hold ~ I now believe it!! And if I ever start to forget I just think about how quickly everything changed for my sister and it puts things in perspective real quick.

So, this morning as I stood by the window gazing into the beautiful blue sky & breathing in the cool, fresh air... I gave thanks for so many things in my life and I said a prayer that my sister's surgery would go smoothly and that she will make a full recovery and someday soon be able to have the freedom to experience a "normal day" once again.