Pssst … I want to let you in on a little secret, so here goes.
The therapists at Medical City/McKinney (Texas) Hospital prepared me thoroughly to be at my wife’s side every step on her recovery from brain surgery. She came home early this week, and I was ready, willing and oh, so very able to be there as she took her baby steps back to full speed.
The secret? She doesn’t need me to be there to the extent the therapists had prepared me.
Now, don’t misunderstand. I still flinch and get the nervous jerks when she gets up to walk from one room to another in our house. She insists that she’s doing just fine. I believe her. I do not, though, want to get complacent about it … you know?
The surgery that the doctor performed to remove part of a cancerous tumor was successful in this important regard: It restored her balance and her ability to walk without the constant fear of falling. It was the series of falls she took that prompted our son and daughter-in-law to insist that she visit the hospital ER the day after Christmas.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Now the rest of the journey is about to begin. We are seeing doctors and are getting a full rundown of what lies ahead for my bride.
She fancies herself as an independent sort, and she is all of that. What I am learning in real time is that not even the kind of surgery she endured will change that aspect of her character.
She is truly amazing.