BATH TIME

MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS PRESENT

I received my favorite Christmas present a day late. But that was fine with me and you will understand and agree with me that it was indeed worth the wait.

This morning, the day after Christmas, my bedroom door opened at 6:30 A.M. and there stood Jennifer smiling with baby Sam in her arms. "Darn! Sorry! You were still asleep!" she whispered but before they could disappear, I was quick to reply that I had been waiting impatiently for them and our morning ritual together.

After climbing into bed with me we recounted memories of the day before and we both agreed that Christmas this year had to be one of our best. Not only was the entire family together, but Graham's two day long feast was so delicious and to finally celebrate Christmas once again through the eyes of a child - well frankly, that was a big deal for us all.

Back to the gift....

I am not able to quote her exactly as I didn't want to leap out of bed (as if I could!) to grab a pen and paper...so I am trying my best to recall her words to me. Jennifer told me that she thought she was put on this earth to be Sam's mother. He is her reason for being. To always be there for him, to care for him, to love him. Jennifer believes that Sam has come into her life to teach her life lessons and that he has already taught her about what is most important and what should take priority when living a good life.

Well done, Samuel. This story only proves that big things do come in small packages.

CHRISTMAS DAY

MERRY CHRISTMAS MORNING!

SO TIRED FROM ALL THAT LAST MINUTE SHOPPING WITH GRANDPA AND MOMMIE ON CHRISTMAS EVE!

NURSES ARE SIMPLY ANGELS ON EARTH

The Wikipedia Encyclopedia definition of a guardian angel is "a spirit who protects and guides a particular person."

It's the right time of year to be talking about angels considering the Christmas season is upon us. Over the past two weeks I have intimately experienced their glorious presence, not in the heavenly celestial visitations we read about in the Bible but in the warm and caring fashion of the human touch of a nurse.

My first angel was Elfie. The friend who is a nurse who just happened to be working on the day of my surgery. Later I find out that this was a carefully orchestrated plan of changed shifts and rearranged time off. Her voice was like a lifeline of security to me before and immediately after my time in the operating room. I felt so calm and peaceful knowing that she was watching over my surgery and would be there to receive me afterwards with her capable strong hands.

Angel #2 is Janice. She came every day and attended to my dressing and offered support to my dear mom. Janice, always the quiet one, has never let me down when I have needed her, physically or emotionally. She is a big reason why I am able to get through some troublesome issues that pop up in my life as she once taught me about the false illusion of control and to simply accept the lessons that come to us as all having good purpose and reason.

I think the saying goes "Three Times Lucky" so this would indeed be the case of my final angel, Carol. Nurse #3. I like to fondly refer to her as Nurse Ratchet. Do you remember her from the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" or perhaps more recently, Annie Wilkes in "Misery?" Carol left her family for six days to wash me, feed me, change me and in her spare time she bought and wrapped my Christmas presents. She made me laugh and cry. All for good reason.

Thank you Elfie, Janice and Carol. You do your profession proud.

WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG

Just imagine learning that something was not quite right with your new baby. I think all new parents must worry about this possibility at some point. I did and I know my daughter does. And I know for certain that my parents experienced these fears which unfortunately became a reality in the fall of 1955, just days before our first Christmas together as a family.

I was only four months old when an astute doctor who was working a shift at the "Well Baby" Clinic thought he detected something amiss with my hips. He strongly suggested that I have a thorough examination by our family doctor. Our GP could not determine anything was wrong so to be safe he ordered xrays which clearly showed that both my hips were dislocated. Hospital visits and immediate surgery to release tendons by an orthopaedic specialist, * Dr. Frank Paterson were scheduled. Just imagine the concern my parents would have at that early point of their marriage. They were both so young! My mom was only 20, my daddy 25! (Let's stop just for a minute and try to imagine our own children who may be the same ages right now being able to cope with this as a young parent!) The entire family jumped in to help my mom and dad lending a hand with my care as well as offering emotional support they must have desperately needed. I love hearing the story about the special wooden chair that my dad built for me so that I could sit upright and be as comfortable as possible. There was not orthopaedic equipment in the fifties that we have available today. He designed and constructed it keeping in mind my bulky cast and braces that didn't allow me to sit in a regular baby chair. Thank you, Dad for showing your love for me by doing what you do best. Quietly and diligently working hard for your family. My cousin Alan who is exactly the same vintage as myself was like a brother in my early years. We often spent our days together because our moms are sisters and we lived close to each other. An old story goes that Alan would race across the floor but suddenly stop crawling, turn around and sit and wait patiently for me to drag myself (with cast on) to where he was. Thanks Alan for being my very first friend. My mom tells me I developed incredible upper body strength from having no choice but to use my arms to propell myself around. Because of this, after some time I was able to lift a kitchen chrome chair completely off the ground! Several months of surgery, then traction, the cast, various braces and physio therapy everyone breathed a sigh of relief as I caught up to my peers. Mom remembers that I began walking less than two weeks after the final braces were removed...from her loving arms towards "daddy" who was holding my favorite toy, a small pink rubber cat he used encourage and entice me across the floor.

All these years later interestingly enough, * Dr. Frank Paterson and my current Orthopod, Dr. Clive Duncan, crossed over as colleagues at VGH for a period of time. Obviously gratitude must be extended to them.

My mom must have spent almost every waking moment taking care of me, worrying about me and then losing sleep over me. Still today after all these years she sometimes lets herself feels guilty and sad because she wishes things had been different for me as a baby and then now as a grown woman. I like to tell her that this experience is what has made me evolve into the incredible "hip" person I am today. Seriously, thank you Mom for all your tender loving care from the beginning through present day. Today here she is once again taking care of me, worrying about me and losing sleep over me.

Lucky, lucky me.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM "SAMTA"!

AND THE WINNER IS.........

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!