Thinking about `what if…’

Happy New Year!

December blew by in a rush. Cookie baking. Some pre-holiday gatherings.  Cookie baking.  Holiday decorating. Cookie baking. Cleaning and furniture rearrangement.  Cookie baking. Snow shoveling. Vile flu and a headache that lasted eight days. Cookie baking. Pre-surgery preparation.  Holiday celebration. Eldest and youngest sons swooping in to “help.”  Finally the much-anticipated highlight: my husband’s hip replacement surgery.

Frankly, I’m exhausted. I’m also amazed at the amount of  “stuff” hip and joint replacement patients accumulate prior to surgery. My husband’s pre-surgery preparation list included elastic shoelaces; grabbers of varying lengths; canes; toilet risers and shower grab bars; shower seats; incredibly long shoe horns; and those odd-looking gizmos to pull on socks.  Oh, let’s not forget the walker.  It has a seat, a basket, hand brakes and night reflectors.  Just add headlights and a John Deere motor and he’s street legal.

Among the things he had to do prior to surgery: Make out a Health Care Directive. Like many of us, he had stubbornly avoided thinking about “what if….”.  But it’s so important to have one—and I learned that the hard way.

When my brain blew up, the Health Care Directive forms were in my office buried with other paperwork in my “To Do” file.  While in ICU those first few days, I floated in and out of sleep. Although much of it remains a blur, I was very worried about unfinished business.  When one of the hospital’s social workers came, I remember a sense of relief.  She brought the forms and in a soothing clear voice, explained each option, checked my selections, and rearranged my bed tray so I could sign it.  

We all should make out a Health Care Directive—and we should do it long before we need it. But human nature is mysterious and, too often, we procrastinate “should” until it becomes “must.”

As for my husband’s surgery?  It’s been much more of a blessing than a curse. His surgeon is unbelievably talented and skilled.  St. Joe’s orthopedic nurses were fabulous. The home health nurse and physical therapist are grand.  My husband’s hip doesn’t hurt at all. In fact, he’s getting around better than before his surgery. Only one question remains: What are we going to do with his tricked-out walker?