Dear Friends. We are thankful for God’s loving care of Elton today. The surgery was a terrific success. With each hour Elton was more comfortable and lucid. When I left him at 10:00pm he was eating chocolate pudding and popcorn—a long way from the ice chips.
Going to the hospital for surgery is like the Stations of the Cross. Anyone from a Catholic background knows what I’m referring to. Perhaps because we’re in the season of Lent it struck me this way. The “Stations” is a local pilgrimage that depicts the final hours of Jesus life, that is, his Passion. It takes you from Gethsemane’s Garden to the cross and eventually to the resurrection.
Elton’s pilgrimage started at RUSH Hospital with a series of administrative stations, all of which were manned by a clerk or some medical personnel: sign in, insurance, medical history, nurse one, nurse two, get your locker, nurse three, anesthesiologist…roll down hallway toward the operating room. None of these stations involved candle-lighting, but they did have a similar feeling of solemnity. For the surgery you lie down immobile as though you’re nailed to the gurney and eventually you rise. When Elton reached this final station it wasn’t with enormous energy (after all, it takes a while for the anesthesia to wear off) but he was up and deeply relieved.
The following photos show Elton at the point of departure from our home this morning to the moments before his surgery.
Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement. Elton is enormously grateful.
We will keep you posted on the next few weeks of his recovery. Now onto physical therapy!
