Friday 25 December 2015

A PARENT'S COURAGE WHEN FACED WITH THEIR CHILD IN ICU.

We bang on a bit, don't we? I mean she's always slipping bits into my blog about if you love someone how you must tell them and show it.. well, many months ago she was being swamped by everyone else's friends on FaceBook, so after telling them what had happened, she 'unfriended' her friends and never went back onto it.

So she didn't know what had transpired.. she sent our friend LuLu, not her real name but as she answers to it, it must be acceptable to her, an email saying "oi, has the cat got your tongue, what's amiss, no news for ages from you".. and, if you've got a sixth sense, you'll know what's coming.

She got a reply almost immediately with the following tale of horror.. saying that because she wasn't on FaceBook and because both parents were frantic with worry, she hadn't had the energy or time to write or telephone us with gruesome news.. this gruesome news.

That LuLu's and Tom's only child, a glorious creature called Nora, who had stayed with us and been the best guest ever, had returned to NYC from Bali, where she employs local Silversmiths to make her line of silver jewellery ~ PDB ~ had started to feel and then be unwell.

'Unwell' turned into being jaundiced, which progressed to being very unwell and she was admitted immediately into the ICU of a NYC hospital. OI VEY..

With acute liver failure.. this young woman who doesn't do drugs with dirty needles, neither is she a drinker but she'd contracted a life killer whilst on the idyllic island of Bali which was going to kill her unless she had a liver transplant.. asap.. gulp

Apart from the shock of reading what was happening to Nora, she suddenly had the creepiest feeling start to come over her. You know she doesn't have children but all of you who have read the post know that she was involved in an accident in 1969 which resulted in her being in a coma for six weeks.

In those days, there wasn't nearly the sophistocated medical machinery which now exists and so, for six weeks, her parents didn't know if she'd ever 'wake' up or if she did, would she be permanently brain damaged.

Then whilst working in the Algarve, Portugal in 1970, she and three other people contracted Hepatitis from bad shellfish. She went as yellow as a daffodil and had to be flown to Lisbon to be in ICU to be under the care of an Army Liver Specialist, he'd specialised in this treatment whilst serving in Angola.

And in 1975, forty years ago this year, she had renal failure and was admitted into ICU at the old St.George's Hospital at Hyde Park Corner, more 'worry' for her parents but this time, Constance, who lived in Spain, were called for by her surgeon.. gulp.

LuLu told her today "yes, she had a liver transplant, she is home, she is getting stronger, she had to have other operation and I, well, I am broken..".

She isn't broken. She's been 'wounded' and used up most of her supply of her mother's courage, which will replenish itself but we know LuLu and we understand, we understand only too well, our darling friend, for my mama has gone through this three times, three times her Guardian Angel has said "Where do you think you're going, come back here" and brought her back from taking hold of that shiny rope which reaches up into heaven.

And as LuLu described this afternoon what she and Tom have gone through with Nora, this same creepy feeling showed itself to be the realisation of what Constance and Hugo must have gone through when their daughter was in ICU three times.

SO.. back to the beginning of this post we go and so go.. Tell those that you love that you love them, don't waste energy or time on anyone who doesn't think you're the best thing in their lives. And "Go with God", this expression does not mean 'hop off this mortal land and disappear into heaven', what it means is 'travel with God', the God of your understanding, whomever he or she may be.

In Spanish we say 'Vayo con Dios' and I cannot think of a better way to end today, than to say 'God bless you Nora'.

GeeGee Parrot.
Christmas Day.
December 25th, 2015.

No comments:

Post a Comment