Hearts
So Grady is raising money for the American Heart Association. I should tell you that he's doing this because his father's heart surgery affected him so deeply that he is very concerned about heart health and wants to help with research into making hearts better. I should tell you that.
But he doesn't really remember beyond Daddy was in the hospital for a while and he's now all better.
Really he just likes all the prizes that you get as you raise money.
I did sit him down when he said he wanted to do it and explain to him why we like hearts. Why it's important to be healthy. Why research into medical advancement is important because his dad has a titanium ring in his heart.
Ok I left that last part out.
This is about the most detailed I've ever gotten into the heart surgery. I have started several posts about other details when the mood strikes but I never post. It's not only my story. It affects others. And I just don't feel as comfortable sharing everything as I once did.
I will say I find it unjust that I've had to see him on a ventilator and he hasn't had to go through that. The marriage scale is not balanced.
If it weren't for all that crap he wouldn't be here. He would have signed up for a bike race with his buddy at work; thinking hey I can bike 25mi that's nothing.
And his heart would have panicked and he'd have had a heart attack as massive amounts of blood flooded through his heart the wrong way, flushing it larger and larger until it stopped.
That's just a fact. That's not even drama. That is what would have happened to him.
Sometime in, probably towards the end of, 2015.
I remember one night before we found out, after D was born ... he went for a run. He came home incredibly out of breath and looking pale. I didn't think anything of it then. I thought well yeah he hasn't worked out in months. But when the surgeon asked "are you ever really short of breath after exorcize?" Lew said no. But that came to my mind.
Sometimes I wonder if it wasn't that incident that accelerated things to where they could be found. IF that wasn't the moment that his heart shifted.
Lewis likes to say he is living on borrowed time. All of these are bonus years. I hate when he says that.
We are never far from these memories. They are there. Anytime Lew runs. Goes to the gym. Rides his bike. When I saw Charlie Rose is having heart surgery again to fix a valve my own heart skipped a beat. Charlie Rose had corrective surgery in 2005. Twelve years later he's having it fixed again.
I know that's in my future. And it scares the ever loving everything out of me.
I can't even accurately use words. There are no words. Words Fail.
The metaphor that came to me during the heart surgery time was that Lewis is the tree of this family. He is the roots and foundation under our feet and the shelter and shade we live under. When the tree is threatened ... everyone feels it in very real ways. I know the phrase is "he's my rock" but I just don't feel that covers it. If anything I'm the rock, grounding everyone ... to the tree.
If you're inclined click G's link and donate. Hearts are really important. And if you aren't inclined ... go get a physical and make sure someone is listening to your heart every year. The life you save could be your kids parent.
But he doesn't really remember beyond Daddy was in the hospital for a while and he's now all better.
Really he just likes all the prizes that you get as you raise money.
I did sit him down when he said he wanted to do it and explain to him why we like hearts. Why it's important to be healthy. Why research into medical advancement is important because his dad has a titanium ring in his heart.
Ok I left that last part out.
This is about the most detailed I've ever gotten into the heart surgery. I have started several posts about other details when the mood strikes but I never post. It's not only my story. It affects others. And I just don't feel as comfortable sharing everything as I once did.
I will say I find it unjust that I've had to see him on a ventilator and he hasn't had to go through that. The marriage scale is not balanced.
If it weren't for all that crap he wouldn't be here. He would have signed up for a bike race with his buddy at work; thinking hey I can bike 25mi that's nothing.
And his heart would have panicked and he'd have had a heart attack as massive amounts of blood flooded through his heart the wrong way, flushing it larger and larger until it stopped.
That's just a fact. That's not even drama. That is what would have happened to him.
Sometime in, probably towards the end of, 2015.
I remember one night before we found out, after D was born ... he went for a run. He came home incredibly out of breath and looking pale. I didn't think anything of it then. I thought well yeah he hasn't worked out in months. But when the surgeon asked "are you ever really short of breath after exorcize?" Lew said no. But that came to my mind.
Sometimes I wonder if it wasn't that incident that accelerated things to where they could be found. IF that wasn't the moment that his heart shifted.
Lewis likes to say he is living on borrowed time. All of these are bonus years. I hate when he says that.
We are never far from these memories. They are there. Anytime Lew runs. Goes to the gym. Rides his bike. When I saw Charlie Rose is having heart surgery again to fix a valve my own heart skipped a beat. Charlie Rose had corrective surgery in 2005. Twelve years later he's having it fixed again.
I know that's in my future. And it scares the ever loving everything out of me.
I can't even accurately use words. There are no words. Words Fail.
The metaphor that came to me during the heart surgery time was that Lewis is the tree of this family. He is the roots and foundation under our feet and the shelter and shade we live under. When the tree is threatened ... everyone feels it in very real ways. I know the phrase is "he's my rock" but I just don't feel that covers it. If anything I'm the rock, grounding everyone ... to the tree.
If you're inclined click G's link and donate. Hearts are really important. And if you aren't inclined ... go get a physical and make sure someone is listening to your heart every year. The life you save could be your kids parent.
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