Monday, September 5, 2016

Spring/Summer Hospital Stay Day 18

June 3, 2016


The word of the day was compromise and the question was do we or don't we. The medical team appears to be hesitant to authorize the release ofAngela Bursler without her consent and Angela is hesitant to agree until she can move freely about without pain.
If I would have told Angela on May 17th, the day she was admitted into the hospital, that she could potentially miss her son's graduation she would have been crushed. Given the circumstances her choice may be to risk her health and attend or remain hospitalized, not attend and realize a complete recovery.
Objectives, targets and goals are good but if progression toward accomplishment is off pace than they could and should be changed. If a runner has a goal to break three hours in a marathon but stumbles late in the race does he or she quit or modify the goal? In end the accomplishment of finishing the race may be not be as satsifying as breaking three hours but it is an accomplishment none the less. The quitter quits and accomplishes nothing. In the case of Angela an objective was set to attend her son's graduation however her recovery has fell off pace so what does she do? Give up, quit, die , fall off the face of the Earth? No, she sacrifices the graduation to realize a full recovery to be better prepared for the next battle which is sure to come.
Cancer is war which consists of many battles of which this is only one. She needs to win this one in order to have an opportunity for the next. Ultimately, when she wins the war, she will be around for college graduations, marriages, grandchildren and every other important event in the lives of her sons. Yes missing one graduation may leave a bad taste in her mouth but when the war is over and she is the victor this one sacrifice may well be what swayed the pendulum in her favor.
Compromise is not a sign of weakness but instead it is a sign that a person is aware, thinking and making wise choices. Risk, on the other hand, if pursued, is a sign of a person who reactively makes decisions without giving thought to the consequences. We will compromise if need be but risk is not a part of our vocabulary. The answer to the opening question is yes we will compromise if recovery is slower than expected because there are bigger fish to be fried than one graduation.
Angela Bursler is a warrior with the heart of a lion who may miss one graduation but she will conquer cancer.
More to come--it isn't over 'til it's over. I still wouldn't be surprised if she found her way to the graduation.

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