"Sudden Pneumothorax."
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| Yes, it's Matt Lauer |
A “Sudden Nooner Thor’s Axe”? That sounds like a weird sex thing they would feature on seedy programs like Maury Povich, Jerry Springer or The Today Show.
That’s not what I said. I said a “Sudden Pneumothorax”. You need to clean out your ears and get your mind out of the gutter while you’re at it. C’mon, people.
On a random Wednesday evening, our oldest son (aka “The Tall One”) came home from baseball practice with sharp pains in the upper right side of his chest that he started feeling while running bases. Being the sensitive and compassionate father that I am, I’m thinking: “toughen up, Mary” (OK, I didn’t think the “Mary” part, but I do have to claim the rest of it).
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| Not a collapsed lung. |
The pain had subsided after dinner, but to test it The Wife sends The Tall One out to run to see if the pain comes back. He doesn’t get down the driveway before he’s headed back in the house in pain. I load him in the car and take him to a nearby urgent care facility. We get right in, the doctor looks at him says he thinks it’s a muscle spasm, but he’ll do an x-ray to be on the safe side. Ten minutes later he is sending us to the emergency room. The Tall One has a partially collapsed lung. Or, in doctor talk: “sudden pneumothorax”. In normal-people-talk it means: “Surgery and 13 days in the hospital”. In blogger talk: “That’s why I haven’t posted anything new in a while”.
To jump to the end, The Tall One went through the surgery very well, has been home about a week and is recovering nicely. This is apparently not an uncommon condition for tall, skinny guys, but before now…who knew? The story within the story, however, is what you learn about your family (and your marriage) in a situation like this.
Thing Learned #1: The Tall One is an outstanding young man. Without a doubt I am biased, and when I’ve shared this “thing learned” with people they are quick to tell me that he takes after his mother. I don’t dispute that. Throughout this trial he maintained a positive attitude, was exceptionally appreciative to his nurses and never sang the blues (he has a collapsed lung…did you expect him to break out in some B.B. King or Muddy Waters?). Whether I have much to do with his mature outlook or not, it brings me a lot of comfort to know for certain that my 18-year old son is not a boy, but a man. Which brings another thought…d@*!, I’m getting old.
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| If you build it... |
Thing Learned #2: There is no substitute for good family and friends. People came to visit The Tall One like he was in a baseball field in an Iowa cornfield rather than in the thoracic ward of the hospital. People brought food, encouragement and, best of all, company for a bored teenager. People were willing to put their lives on hold, in some cases, to help us out. I cannot tell you how humbling that is.
Thing Learned #3: The Wife is an amazing woman and mother. This is not news to me, nor should it be news to you if you've read this blog at all. Her devotion, her composure and her patience were evident throughout this trial. She is doing a tremendous job raising two great sons and one better-than-average husband. As we talked about how we supported each other as we both supported The Tall One, we concluded, once again, that we make a pretty good team.
