tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23119886.post114549562724267417..comments2023-10-23T12:18:58.655-07:00Comments on PegSpot: Aneurysms and AnniversariesPeg Spencerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03052139882594799076noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23119886.post-1146629785891137362006-05-02T21:16:00.000-07:002006-05-02T21:16:00.000-07:00Both of you doctors are darlings. I think next tim...Both of you doctors are darlings. I think next time I need a doctor or two to mend me and hold my hand I guess I'll dial Dr. Peg and Dr. Connery. On second thought, however,there ought better be a computer near my bedside so I can hit the search engines!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23119886.post-1146527245561119912006-05-01T16:47:00.000-07:002006-05-01T16:47:00.000-07:00connery - No apology needed for that very rich com...connery - No apology needed for that very rich comment. Worth more than $2.59, so save your change. I don't think there are "rules" for blog comment lengths. I've seen it all.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your thoughts. Sounds like you've truly been "on both sides of the stethoscope" in your life.<BR/><BR/>I like what your friend said about hugging your loved ones. I like better what you said:<BR/><BR/><I><B>Just grab on to life and hold it as joyfully and playfully and lovingly as you can.<BR/>While you can. </I></B>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23119886.post-1146526023708726822006-05-01T16:27:00.000-07:002006-05-01T16:27:00.000-07:00Sorry. That was quite a bit longer than most comm...Sorry. That was quite a bit longer than most comments I've seen here. Didn't mean to violate any "Blog Etiquette" rules. I'm kinda new here. Didn't mean to take up so much space. Do I need to send you $2.59, like you said in the May 1 edition? Would that cover it? Probably not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23119886.post-1146525848922257222006-05-01T16:24:00.000-07:002006-05-01T16:24:00.000-07:00Peg--Wow.I was thinking about this topic two weeks...Peg--<BR/><BR/>Wow.<BR/><BR/>I was thinking about this topic two weeks before I read this touching essay. <BR/><BR/>Very eloquently described. I felt it as I read it. Your reaction, etc. Not all of <BR/>us would be able to recognize or admit that that's what led to the <BR/>procrastination to visit. <BR/><BR/>Sure, as physicians (I am a physician, as are you), we deal with ICU crises and major illnesses, and risks <BR/>of death and permanent brain damage more often than most other lay people.<BR/>But, we're all "regular, lay people" on the inside; it's what we were first, what <BR/>we were born as, before we developed the "superpowers of physicianhood."<BR/><BR/>You give us that situation to our friends and family, we react as people first, no <BR/>matter what knowledge we may have, or how we might treat that same lady<BR/>as a "stranger," as "just a patient."<BR/><BR/>Yes, your friend is lucky to have such a caring, emotionally aware friend as<BR/>you.<BR/><BR/>Yes, our reactions to these things speaks to our own reactions to ourselves.<BR/>The "What if?" dread that creeps over us. <BR/><BR/>"There but for the Grace of G-d go I" is a favorite phrase of mine, not just as <BR/>a clicheed phrase, but to really hold on to the words and FEEL their meaning.<BR/>It's probably at the root of my empathy that I am able to share with my <BR/>friends and loved ones and family, and patients. <I>That could be me on the <BR/>other side of that bed or that stethoscope. </I><BR/><BR/>Sudden tragic stuff could happen to any of us. It happened to your friend. It <BR/>happens to this guy and that lady and this patient and that one's friend's <BR/>brother-in-law, etc. We're all human. <BR/><BR/>So, you enjoy your life, and live your life to the fullest, and then, I find [upbeat, spiritual, caring-friend e-mail/philosophical sayings that get passed on via the web], and you <BR/>remember to go and hug your loved ones, as a friend of ours said.<BR/><BR/>Why does life-altering tragedy touch one person and not another? Who<BR/>knows?<BR/><BR/>I ate dinner at Windows On the World at the World Trade Center in the spring<BR/>of 2001. What a beautiful view, fantastic food, wine, the closeness of a loved<BR/>one, warm springtime evening. There but for the Grace of G-d. Who knew<BR/>what terrorists would do that September 11th? How random was it that they <BR/>picked September 11th instead of May 11th, or whatever day we went there?<BR/><BR/>You never know. None of us knows. <BR/><BR/>Just grab on to life and hold it as joyfully and playfully and lovingly as you can.<BR/>While you can. <BR/><BR/>Just some of my random thoughts and reactions, after having read this item.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23119886.post-1146498601383274922006-05-01T08:50:00.000-07:002006-05-01T08:50:00.000-07:00giovanni - Thanks for sharing (I mean that serious...giovanni - Thanks for sharing (I mean that seriously - and I can say it with a straight face since I used to be a Californian). <BR/><BR/>Not everyone takes the attitude you did with your illness. <BR/><BR/><I>So you embrace the experience, try to create meaning and review your life as you intend to change it once (if) the suffering is past.</I><BR/><BR/>I'm impressed. The same could be said for any tough experience in life - loss, change, challenge. Embrace it and try to create meaning from it. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the inspiration.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23119886.post-1146091215014194802006-04-26T15:40:00.000-07:002006-04-26T15:40:00.000-07:00Thanks all for your comments. I went to our local...Thanks all for your comments. I went to our local novelty shop and bought her some toys to make rehab more fun. My favorite is a rubber chicken who, when you squeeze her, squirts out a shell-less egg out her bottom: a clear expandable "membrane" with "egg-white" complete with floaties (ee-yew) and a suspended "yolk". Release her chicken belly and the "egg" pops back in.<BR/><BR/>Hours of fun.Peg Spencerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03052139882594799076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23119886.post-1145883057878000512006-04-24T05:50:00.000-07:002006-04-24T05:50:00.000-07:00Peg,Very touching post. I need reminders all the ...Peg,<BR/>Very touching post. I need reminders all the time to not take myself, life, wife, family, friends and job for granted. You're not alone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23119886.post-1145824832135857242006-04-23T13:40:00.000-07:002006-04-23T13:40:00.000-07:00Great post. It's really important to have perspec...Great post. It's really important to have perspective, and to really value the positive things we have. But it's also incredibly difficult, day to day, to appreciate the mundane healthfulness, job, family, roof over our heads, and so forth... until it's not mundane. Then it's easy to appreciate them, at least for a bit.Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23119886.post-1145823085822756342006-04-23T13:11:00.000-07:002006-04-23T13:11:00.000-07:00It's human nature to be bored at such things Dr. P...It's human nature to be bored at such things Dr. Peg. Accept the boredom as a good time to just slip into a meditative state. Don't look at it as anything but an opportunity to have downtime. You give a lot of yourself and insight to others through your blogsite writings and your doctoring. I don't like to put the energy into the 'shame on me' kind of thoughts. It doesn't seem all that productive anymore. When it's our time, it's our time. Our sicknesses and disabilities are all part of life. I know you're a caring doctor, but sometimes we go overboard. Think of yourself, you deserve the attentioin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com