I ran into a couple of friends the other day while standing in line at Tim Horton's buying a green tea and a chicken salad sandwich on whole wheat.
Hector and I chat every month or so but Dave I had not seen in about six months. The inevitable question of "So, how are you doing?" went around the table as we settled down for lunch.
I never know anymore if it is a real question because of my heart surgery or merely a polite question as a precursor to conversation. In this case I couldn't get away with a mumbled, "Not so bad. You?". They really wanted a report.
The truth is- not so bad. I've been fishing most evenings when the weather is fit, maintaining my fitness regimen and starting to feel more optimistic about the future.
When Dave said I was the picture of health it caught me totally by surprise. The picture of health?
There is a funny psychological effect when one has been so sick for so long, it shapes one's self-image. My self-image was frozen somewhere around the week or two following my heart surgery. Who I am today is a long way down the road from who I was then. It just hadn't really sunken in.
The picture of health? I'll take it.
Friday 18 June 2010
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Today marks the 6 month anniversary of my heart attack and bypass surgery. Like you, the image of myself is is stuck in the first week home. I return to work during the 2nd week of February, but it wasn't until sometime in May that my co-workers began to say that I am looking good which cause me to wonder what I have been looking like. so I asked my daughter. Her reply was that I looked like I had survived death.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting your blog.
Joe
Happy half a year anniversary Joe.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a long road sometimes doesn't it?
Just think what we have been through to get to the point where we can even start to see an upside. Your daughter is right I think. We wear the experience on our face.
This blog has helped me a lot in coming to terms with the changes to my mind and body. I find the comments from others such as yourself to be illuminating and helpful in getting through it as well. Thanks.
Cheers,
Steve