Then, it was my turn...

• My increasingly-painful arthritis was impacting on many life-time routines with the consequence that I went in for a right hip-replacement the day after Mary returned home. The result was immediate; I was able to stand, sit, walk and sleep with minimum pain. Great! It was so successful that I booked to have the left hip done one month later.

• Half-way through mysecond replacement I had a cardiac arrest due to a blood clot. I was rapidly sewn-up (with leg attached only by soft tissue).      

• I required external cardiac massage (25 minutes) while being transferred to Geelong's University Hospital where my chest was opened and the clot removed. 

• Next morning - a second cardiac arrest... I was on life-support for ten days. This wasn't so bad for me; being totally unaware of the situation and enjoying hallucinations (super-heros, interesting adventures and exotic scenes). But, for Mary it was truly horrendous.

• It was a further very painful and frustrating two and a half months before I was strong enough to have the operation completed and three before I could return home.

• Thanks Jo and Jenn for keeping everybody informed via Facebook and Caring Bridge.

Guess it could be

a lot worse

Getting better...

But, so ever-painfully slow...

2015

My program of rehab, including hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, psychotherapy (post-traumatic-stress syndrome for both Mary and I),

a strict medication regime (warfarin etc.) and gentle gym sessions, has continued through into this year.

I guess the biggest changes in my life have been attitudinal:

• My family and friends are so much more important...

• My memories are golden treasures...

• Time seems unreal; day-to-day reality seems not so very different from the hallucinatory world I'd inhabited while on life-support...

• I suddenly realised there were strict limits to what I could do, when and how...

• My old goal-oriented life seemed so 'on-shaky-ground'...

• I became very aware that my financial nest-egg was at risk (our large house made it necessary to employ a gardener and house-cleaner 2-3 hours each per fortnight)...

• My shaky religious foundations were crumbling; I saw no white lights, heard no calming voice, nothing...

• Death was now a very real, in-your-face reality...

Life is such a precious gift...