Thoughts for My Mom

Tomorrow morning, my mom is having an operation to remove an aneurysm from the underside of her brain.

Michael Temchine Photography

My mom has a long and sordid medical history, but the short of it is that, about a month before Abby was born, my mom fell and knocked her noggin.  When she had a CAT scan to ensure there wasn't any damage, the doctor spotted this aneurysm.  There's no way to say how long it had been there.  The risk of it bursting was small enough that if my mom was 80, the doc would say to not bother, but great enough that, if my mom was 30, he would recommend she have it operated on.  It wasn't urgent, but after months of consideration, my mom decided to have it removed, rather than spend the rest of her life worrying about whether it was going to blow at any moment.

By nature, I am not a worrier.  It may be because my mom is a worrier, and I grew up seeing how stressful that was.  It may also be because my dad is not a worrier.  So, after talking to the nurse at my mom's doc's practice, and reading the consent form that listed all of the risks for the procedure, I wasn't particularly worried.  The risks seem pretty small.  That is, until I talked to my dad today and asked, "You're not that worried, are you?" My mom is beside herself with worry.  She can't sleep, and is making sure to call everyone she loves.

"Well, yeah, I'm worried," my dad answered.

"But not that worried, right?"

"Well, with your mom's medical history..."

So, if my dad is worried, now, I am worried, too.  But I also have a lot of faith that everything is going to be okay, and told her as much.  I know she has a lot of people pulling for her.  And while I'm not the praying sort, I do believe in the power of positive energy and  thoughts.  Whether your good thoughts happen to come through prayer or not, please send some my mom's way tomorrow and over the next week or so, while she goes through this procedure and recovery.