Sunday, March 15, 2009

All in good time

The day after surgery and just hours before their 1-0 victory over the New England Revolution, 12 of Evan's friends from the Carolina Railhawks stoppped by to wish him a speedy recovery (Pictured on the left Nate Norman, Brad Rusin, Caleb Patterson, Jack Stewart, and Paul Ritchie; on the right John Gilkerson, Brian Plotkin, Josh Gardner, Eric Reed, Steven Curfman, and Caleb Norkus. Not pictured Mark Schulte)


Time. This will take time. If there is a time for all things then we are now in the time of healing. Concurrently we exist in the time of pain, and time of preparation for discharge; but it is the ever present ticking of the proverbial clock that marks each day. Around us are so many families with so many hurting children from so many causes; and yet there is a quiet solitude that is the background for our current step.

48 hours ago we were tearfully sending Evan back to an operating suite where we didn’t know what was going to happen, just that a surgeon was going to do his best to remove all traces of cancer. All we knew was that Evan was as scared as we have ever seen him, and in recovery he shared that he hadn’t been able to keep himself together when they got him to the operating room. The relief he felt when he could look in our eyes and know that he had survived was a palpable weight lifting off his face, and sleep soon followed.

Actually sleep has been the primary focus of the last 48 hours. There have been the requisite input/output breaks, medications moments and of course Lego construction therapy; but mostly it has been about studying the inside of his eyelids. Narcotics will do this to a person.

Evan controls his own destiny for this next step, to be able to ambulate, to get into and out of bed without excruciating pain, to be able to breathe deeply enough. Pain management is a function of medicine, time and activity. Medication is scheduled against time, activity is measured against time, and time knows no measure but the passing tick tock of a clock.

Peace is that place in your heart where you find tranquility about your purpose and place in any given moment. Having achieved a positive surgical outcome, it would seem likely to be at peace, but the restless soul always seems to seek out the next step rather than to bask in the glory of the grace of this given moment. It is at these times that our friends in ENCVDC share the words of supportive peace, God Loves You And So Do I.

Your thoughts and prayers have given us the presence of peace through these past hours of torment, and they continue to see us through our current challenge and time of healing. So we leave you with this thought GLYASDI(We)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Evan and Family,
Your grandmother (mother) sits behind me in choir at New Hope Church.How proud she must be of each of you. Your courage and your willingness to share your thoughts and progress with us, has been a testimony of faith and a sermon of hope. Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Mary Jo Limbird

Unknown said...

Evan, Lizzy, and Paul,

We are keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers. Godspeed in your recovery.

By His Grace,
Steven, April & Catherine Blalock

Anonymous said...

Mighty Evan,

Although I have not spent time with you to experience your bubbly personality, I have had the pleasure of having talks with your dad and experiencing it through him. I know that through God's grace and your will to survive you are going to come out on the other side and climb the highest mountains in life. We here at Cape Fear Marble & Tile are thinking of you and have you in our prayers. May God Bless You!!!!