This is what I'm using at present for my Facebook profile picture.
This morning a Facebook friend, Mike Marlow, left the following comment beneath the picture: "That's a great picture! Tell Cliff I almost didn't recognize him with clothes on! :)"
That cracked me up, knowing people would be wondering what on earth that's about.
Mike decided to return and add something: "That looks a lot better than a hospital gown! (figured I'd better straighten that out)"
You see, Mike was a respiratory therapist when Cliff had open heart surgery. Dr. Gallion, the-man-who-walks-on-water, invited Mike to watch the surgery.
I answered Mike thusly: "You've not only seen Cliff without clothes, you've seen some of his internal organs! Even I haven't seen his heart."
And Mike answered, "It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I'll never forget it. I'm glad that he's doing well. We should get together sometime soon for lunch or dinner. Tell him hi for me!"
By the way, here's what it looks like out the window of my computer room.
We haven't visited the cardiologist for two or three years; Dr. Deblase, our primary care doctor, did all the same procedures as the specialists, and when I asked him if Cliff needed to go elsewhere, he said no.
And then Dr. Deblase got cancer and eventually died.
So Cliff has been pretty much in the hands of nurse-practitioners since then. One of them has had him cut back on his Lipitor twice in the last year; that's great, as long as it's really the right thing to do, because Lipitor is very expensive. But I decided it's time Cliff saw his heart doctor, just to make sure.
This is the guy he's going to see; here he is in 2006, telling Cliff after his angiogram that he's going to need open heart surgery.
What's that? Well of COURSE I took pictures!
Before this was taken, when we first met this guy, we were not impressed. There had been a new program installed in the computers where he worked, and he spent most of his time mumbling at the computer and trying to figure it out, rather than dealing with Cliff.
Cliff took a nuclear stress test, then returned to the room where I was; we waited together for the results of the test, planning where we'd go out to eat after this doctor was through with him.
Our plans were interrupted when he came into the room with charts in his hand and said, "Well, there's a problem."
Those were some life-changing words, let me tell you. He wouldn't even let Cliff drive to the hospital... and we'd been riding around on a motorcycle for months!
We neither one like going to the cardiologist's office. You have to make an appointment about three months ahead of time, and the people at the front desk are often rude. However, I remind myself that without that doctor, or one like him, Cliff would probably be dead. I might be, too, if Cliff had had a heart attack while we were on the motorcycle.
Because that doctor contacted this heart surgeon, Dr. Gallion, who, a mere two days after the angiogram, was doing four bypasses to Cliff's heart. In this picture, he's telling us the surgery went just fine, thank you very much. I hope Cliff never needs a heart surgeon again, but if he does, this is the man I would want in charge. All the nurses, and former patients of his we talked to, seemed to think he walked on water.
I guess I should pause for a moment and give thanks for specialists, one and all.
We're approaching the one-year anniversary of Cliff's four-way bypass open heart surgery. Our lives will never be the same as before. Trust me on this.
We already realized our time on earth was short, but this confirmed it. We had already agreed between us that time is more precious than money. But we didn't really know it in our bones until the fateful day of Cliff's surgery.
Cliff never works overtime now when it's offered. Even though he'd be making over $30 an hour. Because money isn't that important. If he suggests that he might work overtime, I remind him, "You'll be sorry". And he agrees, once again, that time is more important than money.
I do everything in my power to keep his diet healthy. In fact, at our last visit to his cardiologist we were asked why he was losing weight.
"Weight watchers?" the nurse asked.
"Nope," I answered, pointing to myself. "Me watcher."
"Then I wish you'd come and help some of our other patients," she said, smiling.
And she told me about one lady, living alone, who had her heart bypass a year ago.
"She's worse now than she was before surgery," the nurse said. "She lives alone and won't walk, and has basically given up."
She and the doctor shared with us how most patients refuse to quit smoking, refuse to exercise, and refuse to eat properly.
Cliff and I walk a half-hour every day in the pasture. He works out in the weight room at work, on his break-time. He is determined to stay healthy. And I'm determined to keep him that way, as long as I can.
I am now so thankful that I insisted we re-finance the place so he could build his shop, because that's where he spends most of his time when he isn't working or sleeping; he loves it.
I'm so thankful that I insisted he get XM radio, although he didn't have a clue what it was when I suggested it. Because now he can listen exclusively to the kind of music he enjoys (with no commercials), and he loves every minute of it. (And I'm thankful that our son helped me figure out how to get it.)
I'm thankful that I urged him to buy that Honda Gold Wing he wanted so badly, because it was such a big incentive in his recovery... and the number one reason he started working out after his surgery. He wanted to have the strength to handle it again.
I'm glad I talked him into trying a different, more expensive type of hearing aid. Because now he isn't left out of conversations, and he isn't treated as though he's retarded just because he can't hear.
I want you all to remember than life is short. If you can help someone you love achieve their dreams and pursue happiness, do it now. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed.
If you'd like to see the start of Cliff's heart surgery adventure, click HERE. If you want to go through the whole operation and aftermath, just click on the upper right-hand portion of the entry where it says "Wednesday, April 19", then to the next post and the next until you've seen it all. As far as I'm concerned, it's a story of God's grace.
And a wakeup call.
