I can only remember my measured breathing as my sister, Michelle, and I waited outside an open air pavilion on the grounds of the Tripler Army Medical Center.  We could not stand the depressing waiting room in the surgical center so we decided to wait outside in an area overlooking the Hawaii beaches a few miles down the way and feeling the the warm fingers of the suns rays.

Mom was undergoing  a five hour major surgery on the 5th floor.  The wait was excruciating and my sister and I were trying to make time past and trying to distract our thoughts with conversation. It was mostly failing but we tried.  I was glad she was there because I knew she understood what  I was  feeling. It was our mother up there.

We could not stand another loss in our family.  The doctors assured us everything would be okay.  However, we just went through the passing away of our sister in law a little more than two weeks ago in Guam.  The doctors said she was going to be okay. They said it was just the flu.  All of sudden she went into cardiac arrest one night and died.

So our minds were doubting and our hearts were not trusting medical authority at the time.  There was still a lot of pain in our hearts from the most recent death in our home.

We know mom was a fighter. She was extremely active for her age and did not look her nearly seventy years old. She still worked and was very active in her faith… Faith… That was our mother’s strength.   We has three brothers elsewhere who were also anxiously awaiting news. Two of them on Guam and one in Arizona.  Mom was someone we thought would live forever. We want to hold to that fantasy as long as possible.

About a half hour before the estimated completion of the surgery, my sister and I decided to return to the surgical center.   When we arrived to the unit,  a nurse came up to us and told us that they were looking for us and then said,  ” Your mom is fine.”

Michelle and Mom

Time stop for a moment there.  My heart wept inside.  Thank you. Mom is fine. Thank you. Mom is fine.

The doctor came out to meet us and he said that mom came through with flying colors.

Mom and her Surgeon Dr. "Harry Potter"

When mom was wheeled in her room a couple of hours later, she was alert enough to talk a little and she acknowledged Michelle and I. She was conversant and we were amazed.

Mom is fine.

Thank you.

Mom gushing over one of her handsome doctors