I’m back…

Michael Jordan retired in 1993 and then when he came back in 1995 he announced it with two words in a fax. “I’m back”

Just before my open heart surgery at Mayo, I remember asking the surgeon, “Can you connect the other scars on my chest so it’s just one big scar?” “I’ll see what I can do”, he says. And then just before I went under, the last thing I see is a Texas A&M skull cap on a nurse. I groaned out loud. The nurse sitting at my side asked if I was ok. I said, “The last thing I wanted to see before I die was not a Texas A&M skull cap!” That nurse came over and asked me where I went to school and I said TCU. I then said, “But the most important question is where did the surgeon go to school!”

When I woke up in ICU the surgeon was sitting at my bedside reading a magazine. I still had the trach tube down my throat so I couldn’t talk. I was in and out of it and in a lot of pain. The doctor looked up and said, “How are you feeling?” What a stupid question I thought. I gave him a thumbs down and pointed at my chest. He said, “Yes, I connected all the scars into one big one, very sexy.” I smiled.

He then asked again, “No, how are you feeling? Take a minute. I want to know if you can feel a difference in your artery”. So I closed my eyes, took a few deep breaths and while I could feel my sternum shift, I had never taken such a deep breath. It was remarkable. There was no pain. I felt like someone had un-kinked a hose full of water. I could feel the energy. It was incredible. I opened my eyes and smiled as much as I could and gave him two big thumbs up.

He said, “Your artery was so pinched…I knew you would feel it, even now”. He patted me on the arm and left, and that’s the last I saw of the surgeon.

ICU was miserable. I had friends come to visit which was so very nice. I can’t describe what great friends I have. A couple of them came to visit from Ft Worth. One of them was trying to get the dumb machine to stop beeping and the other was trying to brush my head with a cloth. They were both trying to help me sleep. However, he was inept at all things mechanical and she was wearing these huge bracelets. All I could think of was those damn bracelets. They were so loud! 🙂 As I came out of ICU, the lack of pain is impossible to describe.

I would never compare it to anyone else’s struggles. Ever. But I wonder how the man born blind felt or the cripple when Jesus healed them. Of course their experience would be one of elation that my little relief pales in comparison to. Of course.

Nevertheless, I felt deep breaths and energy like never before.

About 6 months later I was sitting in my office at home and I felt it. One of the sharp pains. My eyes grew wide. NO! Then the next day again. And so on.

If you were the man born blind would you want your sight for 6 months if you knew you had to go back to being blind?