Friday, February 27, 2004
Clack, clack, clack...
This is Kimberly, writing on Paul's laptop...
Well, the day is finally here. Paul has just been taken to anesthesia, and I'm in the surgical waiting room. It's 6:30 a.m. My parents and college roommate Chris will be here soon, and I'm hoping to see lots of other friends throughout the day. Fortunately, UW med center has DSL ports all over the place, so while I'm by myself I'm able to just plug into the system and start writing.
After weeks of actively gathering information and making choices about Paul's treatment, we've reached the point where, at least for today, it's out of our hands. This experience feels like an amusement park we didn't choose to visit. The past few weeks were the bumper cars; we could make decisions, and try to choose a direction, but we never knew when or from where the next jolt was coming. And now we've gotten on the roller coaster. We're strapped in, and heading up that first long incline. Clack, clack, clack. Once we reach the top, gravity takes over. We can decide whether to scream or laugh, hold our hands up in the air or hang on for dear life. Clack, clack, clack...