Friday Update: The ER Edition

Hey friends. I had a long, typical Happy Things Friday post all ready to go live this morning and then life threw me a bit of a curveball.

One of my parents recently had a medical procedure and unfortunately there were some unexpected complications this week. I wasn’t aware of the issues until I showed up at their house late yesterday.

I did some online research last night—the range of symptoms was seemingly unrelated at first, but apparently they are quite common after the particular surgery that was done—and strongly encouraged a timely reassessment first thing in the morning.

So… I’m writing this post from an unfamiliar ER waiting room with both my parents. (Remember my recent Never I Have I Ever about hotel rooms and flights with my parents? Well, this is the first time I’ve been sitting in a waiting room with both of them in my life. I went to outpatients three times as a kid with: a broken bone in my foot, an ear infection, and a split chin… and each time I was there with just one parent.

While this most certainly wasn’t something I wanted to cross off my Never Have I Ever list, I am so thankful to be here. It’s helpful/important to have an extra set of eyes and ears.

We’ve been triaged, but wait times at hospitals in their region are pretty dire right now and the wait is likely to be significant.

While it didn’t feel appropriate to publish a Happy Things Friday post with fun pictures (you may get treated to my original HTF post next week—there’s no expiration date on gratitude stories, right?), I also want to practice what I preach, which is that, as much as I’m able, I choose joy.

In this moment I’m thankful:

• For John, who sent me off with love and encouragement and then took the kids mini-golfing to distract them from the unexpected change to plans.
• That I’m available to help. The rest of my siblings live much farther away (two of them outside of Canada).
• That we arrived on Thursday, not Friday, so certain things were open during regular business hours for telephone calls we had to make this morning.
• For clear driving conditions. One of the downsides of my parents living in a remote area is their distance from civilization. It is a trek to get to any hospital and today was set to be a miserable day of thunderstorms. We ended up having clear roads the whole way.
• The hospital cafeteria coffee. It was surprisingly delicious. And warm. And I’m about to indulge in a second cup, blowing past my self-enforced rule of no caffeine after noon because this feels like a good time to throw that caution to the wind.
• Cell phones (I can stay in touch via text).
• My laptop was fully charged and there’s excellent, free hospital Wi-Fi. One upside of the long wait: I sped through my inbox, which had been getting out of control. I also brought my planner with me and did some scheduling and planning.
• Snacks on hand to grab quickly. We made a quick decision to come to the hospital after a phone consult and I had a container of homemade energy balls, a container of grapes, and a box of Triscuits on hand to toss in the bag for easy snacks.
• E-readers. I have the equivalent of eight books with me at the hospital (very much hoping we’re not here long enough for me to read them all), and my Kobo is light as a feather. What a wonderful technology.
• For blog reader Maria who lives relatively close to the hospital and is “on call” if we end up needing anything. Thank you.
• That I wore socks and sneakers and a sweater. Waiting rooms are always SO cold, and this one is… cold. I have been living in Birkenstocks lately, but opted for socks and sneakers today. My toes are still a bit cool, so thank goodness I didn’t stay in my sandals.
• That God’s got this. There is so much comfort for me in trusting Him, especially in situations where so much feels outside my control.

And that’s the unexpected update from my world right now.

Happy weekending, friends <3

Header photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash