Looking Back

For the Good Doctor Mondo and I, this week has become both a time of reflection, and of celebration. It was a year ago yesterday, that my darling, sweet, wonderful, caring, generous wife went into the hospital with what was first diagnosed as pneumonia -- only to become a five month ordeal of comas, intubation, code blues, decisions about DNRs, hypoxia, neuropathy, re-learning how to walk, rehabilitation, and more and more fear, sleeplessness, PTSD, and emotional exhaustion than anyone should ever have to endure.

And seven months' time of constant forward progress since...rapid early on, and much more incremental now.

So here we are, a year later, and things are looking up. Way up. The Good Doctor's recovery continues, and we continue to be blessed with the love and support of many friends, family, therapists, and an entire community of well-wishers. I look at her every single day and know just how fortunate we both are to still have each other, and to grow even closer to each other each moment. I look upon each step she has been able to take towards health and independence with great pride, from when we got to give up the wheelchair, and then the walker, and now next week, we get to give back two of the four massive tanks that have supplied the Good Doctor with life giving oxygen, given how much lung operation she's recovered.

There is still a lot of uncertainly going forward, and an awful lot of healing left. But while I wouldn't wish this last year on anyone, and would do anything to set the clock back and somehow stop all of this from ever happening, I would not trade the effect this year has had on our relationship for anything at all.