BUMPED
Terry's surgery was successfully completed last Monday and now she is into the demanding time of recovery. The surgery was originally scheduled for the previous Wednesday but we got bumped. We arrived at the hospital on Tuesday evening and took up residence in the hospital's guest housing. We spent a mostly sleepless night and awoke early to be in pre-op on time. We were ushered into pre-op, but we were told to wait. After an anxious forty minutes we were told by a resident that the surgery had been canceled for that day and that we were to go home and wait for the surgeon to call on Thursday.
This was a blow. We had worked hard to make the arrangements necessary in our lives to allow for the surgery. We had Terry's parents to worry about and the need to move them to a new care location. It seemed to us that the doctor did not appreciate the difficulties we faced and the complications in our lives. This delay seemed in the moment to be an unreasonable complication.
Now we know that Terry's surgery was canceled and rescheduled because a liver became available for someone else and our surgeon was tied up in an emergency transplant surgery that lasted more than fifteen hours. Terry was bumped in order that someone else could live.
Once we understood the reason for the delay we actually were elated that our frustration meant life for someone else. We began to understand that we live in connection with the needs of others. Our wait seemed like a small price to pay for life. This reminder came as a word from God reminding us that we do not live in isolation. It is not always possible to get what we want just when we want it. Another person's needs may be greater than ours at the moment. This reminder is strangely comforting.
We are living in a time of great selfishness. Politicians are running on nothing more substantial than the level of their anger. People claim that they should have complete freedom and no restrictions in life. They claim that they are a "sovereign individual" with no obligation to others. I am grateful for the reminder that we live in connection to one another.
Dave Gladstone