Tuesday, September 6, 2016

A love story


I don't write about Mr. Tea very often; other than the occasional mention of the super sherpa.

Mr. Tea is the best man in every sense of the word. Because we married young, we grew up together. Forever the team. Forever best friends. Every day, I can't figure out how I got him. I tell him it must be that nice rack of mine.

I'm writing today for a different reason.

Right before Nationals, we thought Mr. Tea had a major heart attack. Fortunately, it turned out to not be a major.

Medications, steroids.....follow up exams, tests and more tests.

The past 4 weeks have been an emotional roller coaster as he had days where he felt better, but then he would crash again.

This morning he was in bad shape. He was going in for testing today, so we didn't think too much about it.

I left for masters swim.

When I got out of masters, my phone had blown up with messages.

Mr. Tea was taken to the emergency room. They were admitting him and taking him by ambulance to the hospital.

After many phone calls trying to figure out where he was, I finally reached him.

The result: Pulmonary embolism. He has two massive blood clots in each lung.

If he waited another few hours, he wouldn't have made it.

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. I had to get home to pick up a few things for him.

I had to figure out how to get his truck home. His truck was at the emergency room. He was now at the hospital 20 minutes away.

JMan was unavailable in Denver.

Due to a miscommunication with Googs, I had no choice but to walk 3.5 miles in the 93 degree heat to get his truck. Googs works with us. He held down the warehouse. Then, he had to run home before going to the hospital. He lives in Denver with JMan. Coming out to where we live would have been quite a feat.....it would have taken him longer to get to our house than it would have been for me to walk the 3.5 miles.

Mr. Tea will be in the hospital awhile. He's getting high dosages of blood thinners. I've been warned that I'll have to give him shots in his stomach for awhile. He will likely be on blood thinners for the rest of his life.

I'm heading back to the hospital. I asked him if he needed anything else from home. He said, "Can you bring the laptop? Our Fantasy draft is tonight."

I guess that's a good sign.

Over the years, I have begged and pleaded with Mr. Tea to make himself a priority, take care of himself. I don't know what I would do without him. He always says, "My job is making you happy."

I always respond with, "Having you around as happy and healthy make me happy."

My requests always fell on deaf ears, and he continued to take care of everyone except himself.

Today, the doctor visited him in his room. The doctor said, "The deck is stacked against you. This is serious. You HAVE to start making yourself a priority. YOU ALMOST DIED TODAY."

For the 2nd time in a month, we have a "new" "New normal".

I know he'll be in your thoughts. I probably won't be around much for a bit as I will be taking on more work and visiting him in the hospital.

The thing....the one thing that you can do for me.....is to TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. Make yourself a priority. It's NOT being selfish. You are the only person you will know for your entire life. Please. Take care of yourself.