Reflecting After One Year; 7 Lessons

It’s been one year since my liver ruptured and I nearly bled out internally. I spent a week in the hospital, nearly ½ of that time in the ICU and 6 weeks of recovery. Reflecting on the past year I have a lot of perspective and I thought one way I could make some good out of a bad situation is to share my knowledge. So, I created this list of things others might learn from my experience. Please note, I’m no expert, many of these things I learned the hard way.

#1 If you think you need an ambulance - call 911. I was 33, had recently completed the Eugene Marathon and had also gotten a clean bill of health just hours earlier from my doctor when my liver ruptured. No reason to think I would need to have an ambulance right? Wrong! Don’t second guess your intuition. If the thought, I wonder if I should call 911 enters your mind it’s probably a good idea to call 911.

#2 Know who your back-up is in case of emergency. I was lucky to have people to step right in and watch my kids and take over my work. We say this a lot, “if you get hit by a truck tomorrow...” If you can’t think of who would cover you perhaps its time to start developing those key relationships.

#3 Don’t automatically believe what a doctor is telling you. Get second opinions! After all medicine is a science, it’s artful, and A + B does not ALWAYS = C. According to Dr. Oz, “Research shows that only 20% of people who seek medical care every year get a second opinion. Now, if only 1/5 of people seek second opinions, but almost 1/3 of second opinions result in new diagnoses…the math is making my head hurt, but the implication is obvious. There are millions of patients who aren't getting second opinions who clearly should—and doing so would change the treatment course for large numbers of them.”

#4 Work hard to be in your best physical shape.  You never know when you might need it. Had I not been physically fit (note the aforementioned marathon) I may not have survived. The doctors repeatedly said, “It’s a good thing you were in such good shape”. My body was able to withstand multiple surgeries, blood loss, trauma and subsequently raid my muscles of protein during my recovery.

#5 You never know when your time is up so get your #%$% together. Take care of your will, living will, list of personal assets, guardianship, etc. Keep your house clean and like mom always said wear clean underwear (literally and figuratively).

#6 In an emergency do what you think you can and ought to do (not necessarily what you are told to do). Friends, family and neighbors who asked what they could do to help got a blank stare from my immediate family members. Those who did what they could and thought they ought to do were incredibly helpful! A friend who dropped everything to watch my 1 and 3 year old girls for two days before my in-laws arrived, a neighbor who dropped off an allergy-free dinner one night without asking, special care packages that were mailed, fruit baskets delivered, the incredible number of cards I received in the mail, friends who dropped off books and magazines during my recovery.

#7 Be grateful. It’s the little things that make this such a great life. I’m overwhelmed with gratefulness for the littlest things…the sun shining while I sit on my back patio, a good run, friends, laughter a squishy hug from my kids. I’m so lucky to live this life and live it with a slightly different lens than the one I was looking through before.