#2 of the Matrix

#2 of the matrix…..Humor

Just a few days before my attack, I was shopping in one of the big box stores when I noticed in the sale bin, a stack of paper bags with different Christmas scenes on them. They were priced under 50 cents, so I thought what a great idea to get one for each person to take their gift’s home in! As part of the decorations, I set the bags all over our sun room, where the tree was, and that room has two doors in it. The “front door to the house with steps, and the door at the other end with a small step that leads into the courtyard. It was my plan that when everyone came in the front door, they would see all of the empty bags sitting all over the room and could pick out the one they wanted and it would be their’s….. Great idea, cute touch to the decorating, and very practical…. Or so I thought. Little did I know the part they would play in the events to come….

December 23^rd….Ok, so here comes the paramedics…. They came in the front door and I’m sure they had to have wondered what in the hell was going on with all the bags, but regardless, they rushed back to the bedroom to attend to me. As they assessed the situation and decided they needed to get me out to the ambulance, they brought the gurney through the front door, folded up, into the bedroom and I was lifted on it. (This scene was described to me later, as I’m unconscious and have no idea what’s happening) I am flanked by several medical personnel on each side, working on me, carrying IV’s and other equipment….In the meantime, my son was standing close to me, and my son in law was further back in the hallway, so as they rolled me down the hall, he suggested it would be easier to get me out if he opened both French doors at the other end of the room. As he ran ahead to open them, he later exclaimed, “I was kicking bags everywhere, cussing them every step of the way, with the paramedics following closely behind….

The Christmas bags brought more smiles as I begin to come out of the induced coma several days later. My daughter and her family had been planning to fly to Alabama the evening of the attack, so they were not going to be at our Christmas eve celebration and I had not bought bags for them….. As hubby was standing by the hospital bed talking to me, trying to get me to wake up, I whispered to him that he needed to go back to the store…. I couldn’t speak very well since they had just removed the vent tube, but as he leaned closer he understood me to say that if my daughter and family were going to be here, he needed to go buy more bags so they would each have one. He said at that point they all cracked up laughing as Mom was still entertaining, and giving orders……

There were other humorous moments throughout the event…..the firemen were the first to arrive and I remember seeing his hatchet attached to his belt and thinking how funny it was that he brought that with him… I wondered what the heck he thought he’d have to use it on! We’ve all laughed many times about the family bringing food into the ICU waiting room and feeding my prepared Christmas goodies to everyone else in there. Not to mention my antics with “Bob the nurse”, and some of the other nurses and doctors.

Humor is a very necessary element in our lives….. no matter how rough it gets, you can find humor in everything and it’s great medicine. It has really been a strong positive for me, and especially as I listened to some of the stories that went on when I was out of it and as I was coming back…. It’s when you’re at your lowest that laughter rings the loudest……