Danny is My Superman!
Six years ago he had open heart surgery to repair a congenital defect in his heart. Four years ago he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. He has faced both of these possible life ending health issues with courage, strength, a positive attitude, and determination to stay alive for me.
When we were married my Danny promised me that in thirty years I would be able to say that he has given me a good life. Neither of us had any idea of the amazingly spectacular life that we would create together. This has been a marriage made in heaven. A life that you only read about in fairy tales.
It is our very own fairy tale come true. Thank you, Danny.
In the last six years he has undergone surgery, radiation, and powerful medicine with serious, possibly irreversible side effects. Danny did all this for me…for us. In the last six years he has always been upbeat and has never complained. In addition, he has always been extremely gentle and loving with me. In fact, he has been more concerned with how his health issues have affected me, than him.
Then six months ago he had a heart attack. Right before my eyes, he fell back on the bed and died. My first thought was, “NO”! I was not going to let him leave me. Our life together was not over. He had not given me our thirty years. If his life was over, than mine was too.
My love for him brought him back to life. I didn’t have time to go to pieces or panic. I needed to make his heart beat….to make him start breathing. So that’s what I did.
Our life has changed since January 10th….the day that my Danny died.
He is now on several different medications—medicines to control his heartbeat, blood thinners, and more. Once again there have been numerous side effects to these medications. He has felt more tired and weak, with a loss of energy and enthusiasm.
In addition, due to the blood thinners, he can no longer take NSAIDS for his arthritis. Through the years, he has been diagnosed with arthritis in most all of his joints. So right after his heart attack, he felt an immediate increase in pain all over his body. The pain at times was (and is) debilitating.
We tried to get out and walk, cycle, or dance most days. But we decreased all these fun activities that we love to do together by more than half. And some days we just took it easy and rested.
But all this has made no difference to me. Taking it easy and resting is another fun activity that we love to do together. All I want in life is to be with my dear Danny every minute of every day.
We talk often about how fortunate it is that we are always together. What if I had not been with him that day in January? Although it may seem unreasonable, it frightens me to be far from his side…to even be in another room.
I often have dreams of my love lying on our bed…not breathing, with no heartbeat. When I come into our home and call out to him, and he doesn’t answer, I frantically look for him….imagining that he has left me again. The image of him lying on our bed is always with me.
The past month we have been patiently and slowly increasing our activities. And Dan has been getting stonger, bit by bit. His joints are still painful, but not debilitating as often.
Today, on the Pine-Strawberry Trail, we had an amazingly glorious hike just a few blocks from our cabin with Strawberry Mountain rising above us across the chaparral….
Since it is a hot summer, so we were on the trail by 6 AM.
We could see the little hamlet of Pine below us, as the sun rose over Milk Ranch Road on the Mogollon Rim….
We were both energized and strong!
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