Family medicine

I’ve been away from the computer for a few days. Last Tuesday my mother was taken to emergency with chest pains. She lives in a remote area where the hospital resources are . . . well . . . remote, so she was flown to Sydney for tests. By Friday almost all of the family had descended on Sydney. What could have been a traumatic weekend actually turned out to be a good one. By the time we all arrived in her room she’d had all the tests and was given the all-clear. They wanted to keep her in till Sunday due to an infection, but otherwise she was cautioned to take it easy and told she could go home to rest. Rest being the operative word, because the doctors believed the pain was caused by stress. By Saturday, she was chipper and looking much brighter, with her family clustered around her. It’s amazing what a few familiar faces can do for your morale.

Since Sunday was my birthday, a few of us decided to go out for dinner to Sydney’s Darling Harbour. We were fortunate to be at the Harbour on a night that was scheduled for fireworks – secretly I believe they were just for my mum, to celebrate her well-being. As I watched the fireworks, I considered the week’s events and it seemed to me that the forces that be were colluding to have us all in the same place for the benefit of easing my mother’s heart. The simple act of being there was all the medicine she needed. In fact, the dose did us all so much good. In future, I hope we don’t wait for an emergency to come together.