Day 11

Today is 1-11-11. This is Day 11 (again) of my journey.

We may very well have had an historical, life-changing day today. Well, every day is life changing, this is just one for the books.

I've not spoken of this yet since I didn't want to share until I was sure of the outcome, and I still am not quite sure. Rodney went for a colonoscopy today because he has been having some moderate to severe symptoms, and I'll not delve too far into that area. The diagnosis was Ulcerative Colitis. This is a chronic disease that he will live with for the rest of his life. The good news is that it can be treated with medication.

We went to our family doctor last week to get the ball rolling. She asked him a bunch of questions, did an exam and kept saying, "oh that's not good". Then she started writing STAT on his paperwork to try and get him into a gastroenterologist asap. This is when I started freaking out internally, while smiling and looking calm. I know myself fairly well and realize that I will immediately go to the bad place. So, I rationalized that it's all going to be ok. And, while we are facing a lifetime of medicines, I am so thankful that God is continually protecting us.

And now, I have a story to tell you about my darling husband. If you have ever had a colonoscopy or been with someone when they have, you may know that the drug they give you makes you wake up pretty loopy. They wheeled him back out to us (Mom and Dad went too) curled up and snoring. I'll also tell you that seeing that man in a hospital gown is so not normal. Anyway, after we spoke to the doctors and got our instructions, Rodney was ready to eat. If you know my man at all, you know he is an eater. His nickname when he played ball was "groceries". So, in his drunken, hazy state, we took him for a meal at the Olive Garden. He hadn't eaten in over 24 hours. They brought us out our salad and breadsticks and we began serving our plates. And then, he made me love him even more as he grabbed the salad tongs and placed a lovely serving on my plate before he served himself.

We had to run and get a few supplies at Sam's and while we were there, Mom stopped in front of the fresh flowers, lovingly looking at them. I stopped too and said, "these are only $4.88??? I'm getting them!" Then I jokingly said that I would get them for Rodney. When we got to the checkout, Rodney said, "what the heck are these for?" I said "I got them for you". *glare*. I handed them to him and said "ok here, you hold them", *glare*, "now, hand them to me", *glare*, he held them out to me, I reached out and accepted them and, acting surprised exclaimed, "THANK YOU!!!" I realized that the customer in the next isle has been watching our little exchange and she told us we were precious. I think I might agree a little bit.

Life sure has a way of making us wake up and realize what is important. I'm sure to remember this day for a very long time and I pray that we both live to be 100 and can still laugh at each other and this diagnosis will serve to only make us love each other more.