THE EQUS GOLF STORY - CHAPTER 17 – ANTICIPATION
Friends and family provided all we needed: initial housing, meals and a lot of support. The wait was on (again) however, for whatever reason my odds were much better. Be it more experience, an abundance of confidence or simply more organs per recipient, the St. Lukes Cardiac Transplant team in Kansas City was the perfect fit.
91 days, 2 hours and 21 minutes after my arrival in Kansas City, I got the call. It was 2:15 AM on July 19, 2012. A rush of adrenalin came over me as I hung up the phone. Our well-rehearsed exit left nothing to chance. We were off to the hospital. My mom and dad were deceased so their worry was not a burden. My sister was in Wichita (3 hours), my oldest son and daughter in Lawrence (1 hour) and my younger son in Los Angeles (? hours). Calls were made, plane tickets purchased and everyday tasks set aside. Everyone started their journey to witness a miracle, to say the least.
The transplant retrieval surgeon came to my room around 10:30 AM just prior to his departure to obtain my heart. It was a subtle give away to where my new engine would come from and when the surgery would begin. Interestingly, the same process was simultaneously occurring across the Midwest for the other vital organs from our donor. The ball was rolling. All our lives depended on our fallen angel.
It was 11:20 AM when they told me 10 minutes until I go back to the operating room. My son had not yet arrived from Los Angeles. Reservations at 3:00 AM on the earliest flight meant an arrival at 10:45 AM, without delays. My oldest son had been given the task of retrieving his brother. My sister told the story of a black Honda Ridgeline speeding past her as she neared the hospital, weaving in and out of traffic while avoiding such nuances as yellow lights and stop signs. My sister followed. Needless to say the two car caravan delivered my complete family to my room three minutes before I went back to the operating room. I never was so happy or content. I tear up every time I tell the story, and when I just wrote it.
© EQUSGolf 2016
Also in Story
THE EQUS GOLF STORY - CHAPTER 19 – MOMENTUM
“The strength or force gained by motion or by a series of events.”
Regaining momentum after a nine month hiatus was difficult at best. To break the boredom and monotony of the standard micro-management, of a newly acquired heart, was a challenge. Momentum is a fleeting force. We had it, we lost it and just like that the outcome to our iron development project was in jeopardy.
