Captain Goodbaby and I passed the pinkest cherry blossoms I’ve ever seen on our way to (where else??) another doctor visit this morning.
This was my first chance to report back to the Goodbaby’s primary care doc about how her diagnosis of Isaac’s murmur at his one year appointment saved his life, or at the very least added decades to it. And how three different specialists in Atlanta essentially said, “She referred you to a cardiologist based on that murmur? Wow. I don’t know that I would have, but it’s really good that she did. It’s a lot worse than it sounds.”
So we get there and I start singing her praises to the corpsmen. Then she came in with a huge smile for Isaac and shared a sigh of relief with me.
“You saved his life,” I said after we chatted about coarctations a little.
“You know, we just do our best and trust that God will help us see what we need to see,” she said.
It was one of those moments of clarity that feel like you’re up high seeing the whole picture. Is that an epiphany? Before I even knew to be concerned about Isaac, God’s hands and ears were present in our lives in the form of our doctor. She went on to say a few more words about trusting God as she does her work. I’ve never had a conversation like that with my doc before. (ha…I’ve been saying that a lot lately)
Ok, on to cherry blossoms!
Most people are familiar with the Japanese obsession with cherry blossoms. I LOVE it. The long, cold winter of waiting for spring finally pays off with a week of soft, ephemeral beauty. At the same time, the blossoms last for such a short time there’s no way you can ever appreciate it as much as you would like. You’re always left wanting a little more, so it’s clear why they symbolize the transient, fleeting nature of life. So tragic. So poetic. Life is short; observe more cherry blossoms.
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Except, here in Florida, we have no long, hard, bitterly cold winter. We’ve been having a gentle, fluttering, soft-breeze kind of winter. Captain Goodbaby and I found brilliant cherry blossoms today and it’s not even February. Traditionally, Chris and I HATE January. With Isaac’s surgery looming we were too focused on doom to hate January, but ever since we loaded that Goodbaby into his car seat and spiraled up out of the underground hospital parking, getting closer and closer to home, WOW! Our January looks bright! So take THAT, winter! Cherry blossoms sucker punch cold weather!
The Good Captain briefly tried to grab some blossoms, but they came off in his hand and sent showers of pink petals raining down around him. After that he just toddled around them playing peak-a-boo with his mama. And picking up sticks to whack the cherry blossoms. He is 100% boy, after all.
Our doc visits this week delivered great news: Isaac is recovering really well. The caveat is: extremely limited contact for at least two more weeks to avoid getting shoved/jostled and all the nasty flu crud going around. So…see you later, friends. Don’t forget about us! I’m super appreciative of all the tasty meals our kind friends have brought by. The best part is getting to see people. Thank you so much!
