Mortality is defined as the state of being mortal, or susceptible to death. I suppose the moment when each of us realizes that we are getting older, we begrudgingly admit we are in fact adults, and we are forced to face our own and the people we love's mortality happens differently for every person. No matter what, it is a daunting moment. A true reality check. And let's face it, scary as hell.
A few months ago my Dad was having his annual physical and during a routine check with a stethoscope his doctor thought things sounded foggy when he listened near his neck. He referred him to a specialist in Abilene (a nearby "big" city compared to measly Brownwood) as he suspected some blockage in his carotid artery. My parents went and had tests done that concluded there was in fact blockage but the level was uncertain but enough (somewhere between 60%-85%) to warrant surgery. So three days later Jayne and I were en route to Abilene on a Thursday to meet my parents at the hospital so a thoracic surgeon could cut open my Dad's carotid artery and remove said blockage.
Here is a quick medical lesson for you if you haven't brushed up lately. And forgive me if you are in the medical profession and I am annihilating a true scientific explanation. You get the gist. The carotid arteries (you have one on the left and one on the right) are the largest in your body, supplies the head and neck with oxygenated blood and if punctured you can bleed out in minutes. Trust me you have seen someone stabbed in their carotid in a movie or TV show (Scandal Season 1 Finale for instance. RIP Gideon). It is also a way we can take a pulse. When it becomes blocked, it can cause a stroke or heart attack. So, even though this surgeon does this type of thing all the time and the surgery is only 90 minutes it is still very risky and the procedure could trigger a stroke as well.
Let me also preface this by saying that my Dad is a pretty healthy guy. He walks in the mornings, plays golf regularly, and pretty much eats exactly the same things my Mom eats and she is very health conscious and cooks balanced, nutritious meals. He had ZERO symptoms so this all happened pretty fast and we were unprepared.
The moments I will never forget are 1) after the pre-anestesia our family correcting the anestesiologists that instead of him being about three margaritas in he was a scotch man so he was more like two scotchy wotchy's in - haha, we Cavetts like to keep things light 2) holding hands with my Dad, Mom, Sister and our Pastor saying a prayer before they wheeled my Dad off to surgery 3) Seeing for the first time in my life a bit of worry and uncertainty in my Mom's eyes. And for those of you that know Debbie, she is the strongest person I know and always keeps it together. She is the rock of the family 4) The waiting. The waiting room sucks. For those of you who have been there, it SUCKS. You think about a lot - what if that was the last time your family was all together? What was the last thing you said to your Father? Was it the right thing? Was he scared? How can you support your Mom? What if he survives but is comes back different? The four of us are as close as a family comes and it wouldn't be the same without our Dad. But you have to stay calm and pray and know that there is no reason to think of those things and wait for the good news when the doctor comes out and says "it went well. he is in recovery".
And that is exactly what happened. He was/is fine! Happy moments I will remember are 1) hearing those words "it went well. he is in recovery" 2) seeing him awake and lucid in recovery, albeit he still had tubes everywhere so that was still scary and 3) the support of our family and my parents friends who were either there with us (shout out Kathy & Dennis James!) or texting, calling and emailing for updates. Today, my Dad is as good as new! Barely even a scar. In fact, when people ask him how he is feeling he says "I feel great. I never felt bad to begin with!". The scary thing is that his artery was over 90% blocked! The doctor even brought out the nasty, fatty stuff and showed us (I spared you all on this one and decided not to upload a pic). We were VERY lucky that for whatever reason my Dad hadn't already suffered a heart attack or stroke and even luckier that my Dad's regular doctor payed attention during a standard exam and got my Dad to the right doctor. And I am even MORE thankful that my Dad takes care of himself and actually goes to the doctor! Who knows where we would be sitting now as a family if he didn't do his due diligence for his health.
Point is, we are getting older and so are our parents and loved ones. We are all mortal, susceptible to death, but we do have some control over how we can live long, healthy lives. Be thankful you are here and take care of yourself and encourage your loved ones to as well.
And for those of you who weren't as lucky as our family was this time and have lost a loved one I am truly sorry and can't imagine what that is like. I do know that you know what the waiting room is like and I am sorry for any of you who have had to experience it, whatever the outcome. My prayers are with you and yours - always.
And thank you to Dr. Mark Martin of Brownwood, TX and Dr. Scott Crocker of Abilene Medical Center in Abilene, TX and the nurses and staff for helping our family through a scary day and taking care of my Dad!
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