Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Fleeting Guilt

Today as I approached the tunnel, I had a fleeting feeling of guilt.  How could I have authorized that surgery?  How could I do that, make that decision for another human being?  I felt terrible.  I did not have the follow up thought that he may still be alive if I hadn't. 

I did not kill him by authorizing the surgery.  The kidneys failed post-op.  The dialysis failed him; his body was too weak to handle it.

I did the best I could with what I had.  The kidney failure greatly reduced his life expectancy.  I didn't pull the plug, nature did.

Last night I changed the wallpaper on my phone.  It had been a photo of us laughing together on the couch, when I was about 2, to a picture of the forest in Rhode Island last fall.  This morning I changed it back.  I like seeing his smiling face too much every day.

Baby steps.

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