Happiness and Healthcare

My dear father-in-law is currently in surgery — open heart surgery to repair his dissected (torn) aorta.  And we are sitting in the hospital totally happy!

Lester M. Dunning (initials LMD, aka Lucky Mr Dunning) has been healthy for 80 years, until eight weeks ago when he *thought* he hurt his back making a difficult shot on the golf course (tremendous shooting pain, etc).  He’s been in and out of his doctor’s office since then, taking antibiotics, feeling better and worse but never quite normal.  Something was not quite right with his system.  He was always tired.  He was losing weight.  He was running a low-grade fever every other day.  A nagging cough would not go away.  Everyone was wanting for him to feel better, but no one could figure out the problem.  Anxiety was running high.

Finally, his doctor sent him for a CAT Scan a couple days ago.  Minutes after he arrived home, his doctor was on the phone with the results: “Go to the hospital.  Now.”  Turns out he’s been walking around with a dissected aorta, a condition that normally results in death – yes, death – in 90% of cases, usually within a few hours.  Hours. And this man has been walking around w/ the condition for two months!

And not just walking.  WALKING!  On his good days, he and Lois were still maintaining their two-mile walking regimen.  He flew to Nova Scotia to visit Lois’ son.  Everyone in the healthcare system who has heard this story says the same thing: “wow – you must be just plain lucky!”  Statistically, he should be gone.  Statistically, his walking around — and let’s not even talk about the flying! — should have killed him.

His survival for this long with this condition is so unusual that several doctors have come in to examine and study him.  This morning, everyone on the 15-person surgical team came in to the pre-op area to meet him before they took him to the OR — because they wanted to meet this man who is a walking miracle.

With this much positive attention, is it any wonder that we was in an incredibly UPBEAT mood as they wheeled him away?  The surgical nurse came down to tell us that he was laughing and joking with the team as they put him under to start the procedure.

So, as serious as this surgery is (it doesn’t get more invasive than when they open your ribcage with a power saw!), we are THRILLED that he is undergoing this seven-hour ordeal. He is, indeed, Lucky Mr Dunning.

Clearly, he has more work to do in this life.  And we are pretty happy about that. 

Miracles do happen — the power of attraction

This is about a little miracle — in the midst of a bad economy.

My wife and I bought another house (a foreclosure) in our neightborhood a few years ago.  After rehabbing it we rented it out.  The tenants — who were decent sorts — recently moved, but after fixing all the problems they left behind, we decided that maybe we’re not cut out to be landlords.  So, we decided to sell the house.

“What are you thinking?!” you might ask.  This is, after all a very down market.  And yes, there are houses in our neighborhood that have been on the market for over a year.  Still, we decided to try.  This house, with a large fenced yard, is a perfect starter home for a family with one or two kids and a dog — and we are certain that a family like that is out there somewhere.  We decide to attract such a family.

Monday: we place a For Sale By Owner sign in the front yard, and list the house on Craigslist and Zillow (free is good!).

Tuesday: we post our maximum allotment of four pictures to the online ads

Wednesday: we are contacted by a broker who specializes in houses in our city.  Reluctantly, we agree to chat.  He impresses us.  He tours the house, affirms that we’ve got a nice, clean little property.  He makes a good case for himself, and we agree to give him a shot on a flat fee basis.  What the heck — it costs us nothing to let somebody else do some work for us, eh?!

Thursday, 1pm: Matt the Matchmaker (as I’m now calling him) says he’s showing the house at 3PM.  Cheryl and I head out to run some errands on the other side of town.

Thursday, 4:30pm: Matt calls Cheryl on her mobile, and a cryptic conversation ensues.  Cheryl hangs up, shakes her head, and says: “He sold the house!”

Unbelievably, we are signing papers tomorrow.  Family, with one kids and two small dogs.  They are pre-approved with a bank.  They are first-time homebuyers, and their current lease expires in six days, so they want to start moving in… in three days!

We will have sold the house and turned it over, in less than a week.  The power of attraction works!

And we are VERY happy! 

I believe in miracles.