mnik

trixieboots:

Fear not to ask, my friends 
Fear not to ask just a little.

Fear not to cry, my friends
Fear not to die just a little.

Fear not to love, my friends
Fear not to lose just a little.

—Gina Chavez

covertheearth:

No not me. A friend called me on thanksgiving because her husband had his appendix out. To me it wasn’t a big deal. You feel a sharp stabbing pain, get the thing out, and in a week badda bing badda boom all better.

Except that her husband started to feel pain on Sunday and didn’t do anything about it until his wife dragged him to the ER on Thursday.

This is how she explained to me:

“Well on Wednesday he was acting a little weird…we were supposed to meet for lunch and he drove to the wrong store…then that night he didn’t want to help put the kids to bed…then this morning he put the turkey in and then sat down. That’s when I knew something was wrong.”

This man’s appendix HAD BURST and all he does is sit down? I’m signing this dude up for Ultimate Ironman.

I spent some time today in the hospital visiting him, and this guy is amazing. In his morphine doped up state, less than 24 hours after surgery, knew every machine hooked up to him, what it did, what the good vitals and bad vitals are, knew what each tube hooked up to him did what, knew how it worked, and I’m pretty sure could tell me every member of the white house cabinet. When I was in the hospital I told people thanks, GTFO, ask the nurse what the hell anything is.

Tomorrow I’ll be helping my friend out with her kids so she can help Mr. I-Just-Sit-Down-Quietly-When-My-Appendix-Bursts. I should get a pictogram for that or something.

Mine burst years ago -when I was about 19 or 20. Went mis/un-diagnosed for over 24hrs. Not fun, but I’m glad to be alive, as somehow it managed to stay in one place & not poison me. Still freaks me out to think about it.

As an aside, I was uninsured at the time -I had just changed jobs and the new employer -who happened to be a health care facility - had a policy you had to be there six months before you were eligible for any health care insurance.

As I had no money, the tax payers picked up the bill to the tune of over $100K.

Oh -and yeah -I was in no way stoic about the pain like your friend was. That too still freaks me out a little as well.

And glad he’s doing well.

OK, now I can go watch TV downstairs in peace; safe in the knowledge that my photo of my kid in a home-made Pilgrim hat on Thanksgiving night got at least 1 more “Heart” than your picture of your dog just laying on the sofa.

scbb-blog:

Something amazing happened last night. Harvard Business School students rallied around a family on SmallCanBeBig. Within hours, they raised over $1,000 in small increments of $11.26, making this Thanksgiving BIG for a family struggling with cancer. Thanks to all the HBS students who helped despite some issues with Google Checkout.

scbb-blog:

Our newest hobby at SCBB: Marathons. That race for over-achievers, superheroes, and gluttons for pain is now our latest model for giving. Sponsor a mile, inspire a runner to go the distance, AND help a family in need.

Following Brad’s great fundraising efforts, Amanda made SmallCanBeBig her marathon partner for the Phildelphia marathon. In less than 4 days, with 44 donors, a family’s need was met and Amanda’s run became something BIG.