Healing
It has been just over two years now that Mark had his heart surgery. I would like to say that everything turned out great and we never looked back. Overall we are doing ok. Funny life likes to throw a curve ball when you least expect it.
Mark made it through the rehab process and even started back part-time at his old job. We worked hard to “get back to normal”. Looking back we most likely tried too hard, everything was a discussion, “can you handle that”, “do you need a break”. For his part Mark would remain closed mouthed and try to do more than he really could. Over and over he would curse that half a life was no real life. He fell into a deep depression and had to go through counseling to help him come to terms with his new life.
It took well over a year and half to come to grips with some of the other aspects. One of the most frequent issues was taking his medications. Up until the surgery he had almost never taken any medications beyond an occasional aspirin or anti-biotic. Now he had 12 pills every day. Even worse many had unpleasant side effects. Some made him tired, others kept him from sleeping, and the anti-coagulants meant that even a tiny cut or scratch bled for hours. Through it all, I had to remind him that it was still better than being dead. He would argue this sometimes but never really meaning it. In time he adapted and now has learned to re-appreciate many things that he would or did take for granted. One of the biggest was seeing his daughter off on her first date. He gloated for days about making sure “his little girl” was treated right. When he feels down I like to bring up these sorts of things to lift his spirits.
Mark made it through the rehab process and even started back part-time at his old job. We worked hard to “get back to normal”. Looking back we most likely tried too hard, everything was a discussion, “can you handle that”, “do you need a break”. For his part Mark would remain closed mouthed and try to do more than he really could. Over and over he would curse that half a life was no real life. He fell into a deep depression and had to go through counseling to help him come to terms with his new life.
It took well over a year and half to come to grips with some of the other aspects. One of the most frequent issues was taking his medications. Up until the surgery he had almost never taken any medications beyond an occasional aspirin or anti-biotic. Now he had 12 pills every day. Even worse many had unpleasant side effects. Some made him tired, others kept him from sleeping, and the anti-coagulants meant that even a tiny cut or scratch bled for hours. Through it all, I had to remind him that it was still better than being dead. He would argue this sometimes but never really meaning it. In time he adapted and now has learned to re-appreciate many things that he would or did take for granted. One of the biggest was seeing his daughter off on her first date. He gloated for days about making sure “his little girl” was treated right. When he feels down I like to bring up these sorts of things to lift his spirits.