When my minor surgery took off for hell my dear friend Anne was right there with me. Not once would she let me apologize for my troubles that ate up her whole day and went right on into the evening of the night she had to lead her support group.[Read the nightmare in Tube for ear! Finally! Excited!]
Anne knew exactly when to offer words of comfort and when to say nothing, she was there with water or a cool cloth at every right moment; she knew when I needed privacy, when I needed her near, and exactly when I wanted to be left alone.
While I was incapacitated Anne talked to the doctors and nurses for me, working out what to do, what might be best. She went to the pharmacy for meds that might help. Anne wouldn't even eat an apple though she was starving because she didn't want to "eat in front of me." (Knowing the apple might make me sick or hungry when I could not eat.)
Lyme-sick herself Anne got me in and out of wheelchairs, into an elevator, and she negotiated, without one wrong turn, a complicated drive, requiring a map, to the ER of a not very near hospital. And she was driving my vehicle not her own in a part of a major metropolitan area neither of us know at all. I know she wondered what shape I would be in at the hospital and how long I'd need to be there but not once did she worry out loud about anything she wanted to do for herself or her family that day.
Lymeluck goes both ways, doesn't it? What happened to me was worse than awful and unexpected though if ever there was a true test of a friend, my day in hell showed me how lucky I really am.
Thank you, Anne, for being the best friend and caregiver a girl could have. Our Lyme world is blessed by your love and compassion. Posted by MariaA (Member # 9128) on :
I was very lucky- in a sense- that when I first got sick, another good friend of mine did also. We didnt' know what was wrong with either of us for years and years, and it was really good to know SOMEONE else who was going through the same mystery illness. We both independently got treated right about the same time, and it turned out to be Lyme in both cases, and we got better at about the same rate. While we didnt' stay closely in touch the entire time we were ill we did get to have the same experiences and support each other as much as possible in the beginning and the end of our illness, which is something that made it a lot easier for both of us to cope I think.
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
yes, you are both blessed with special lyme friends who came to your rescue over and over.
hubby will be my protector after my surgery 3-5, but he won't be in des moines the 4 days i'm down there due to SEVERE HAND JERKING from his essential tremors in hands, feet, and legs. when he's stressed, they are 300% worse.
i don't need that extra stress, so we agreed he's stay home since all the hand movements/NOISE sets up my ear lyme! Posted by AlisonP (Member # 7771) on :
mjo,
Your story is beautiful and brings tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing it.
I am so lucky to have a Lyme friend as well that would go to the mat for me in a heartbeat, as I would for her.
There have been times where I have been in the depths of Lyme that having her around, just to listen and to talk to has been one of the single greatest blessings of my lifetime.
Thanks again for relating that experience!
Alison
Posted by geniveve (Member # 8646) on :
gosh, what i wouldn't give for a friend like that......
you are truly blessed. angels come in all forms...
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