#Bonding

There is an interconnectedness among members 

that bonds the family, much like mountain climbers 

who rope themselves together when climbing 

a mountain, so that if someone should slip or need support,

he's held up by the others until he regains his footing.  

~ Phil McGraw

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Spending the day after Thanksgiving in a hospital waiting room isn't quite the idea we had for myself or my siblings.  However, no matter where we are, there's one thing my family does better than anyone - bonding.  We've had lots of coffee, many trips to the vending machine (which family friend of the year has deemed the concession stand).  Football watching, crochet coaster making, college home working completing, Twitter educating and following, snack pack toting types of bonding.  For what some may deem a crisis, we've managed to make light of what may not be seen by all as a "light" situation.

It's been a whirlwind week.  On Monday a neurosurgeon at Mayo Clinic confirmed the chiari malformation in our mother's brain that has been suspected for some time.  Surgery was scheduled for Friday to make room for the swelling happening in my mother's brain that has been causing double vision, difficulty swallowing, blurred vision, and poor balance.  While we hope for relief for her, we deal with what seems a crisis in the only way we know how - humor.  

Let's see, the silliness all started this morning with the restaurant in the picture shown in this post.  A restaurant with a name my sister of the year managed to seriously misread.  I'm sure you all know where I'm going with this but if you need a hint, glance quickly at Honkers.  She saw another name.  We stared at that restaurant going on 5 hours.  Frankly, while it brought great humor at a time when we needed a laugh, I hope to never see that restaurant again.  

At this particular hospital, they have a large television screen in the family waiting area with a patient number and then a listing of exactly where that patient is in their surgical process.  For instance, in operating room or awaiting procedure.  Family friend of the year decided this particular process was much like Pizza Hut.  That's right.  I said Pizza Hut.  He went on to explain that at his local Pizza Hut, you can watch your pizza cook through a window knowing exactly where it is in the process.  Strange analogy?  Yes.  Lots of laughs from the waiting room?  Absolutely!  

Much to my surprise, I also learned brother-in-law of the year has a Twitter account.  Now, we all love this man dearly but his use of hashtags is much like calling Facebook, THE Facebook.  It's just wrong in so many ways.  This led to a lengthy discussion on hashtags, how you use them, why they aren't just a pound sign, and what using five of them in a row means.  My interest in Twitter has seriously been renewed.  Thus, I had to title this post using a hashtag as a salute to brother-in-law of the year.  

The best laugh may have been right at the brink of each of us losing our minds when a nurse finally called my mother's name.  The waiting room literally cleared except for three people as we all got our things to follow her as we'd been told hours earlier to the 8th floor.  There, we would wait for her outside neuro ICU.  As we followed the nurse, we all acted like we do every time we are together - like silly adult children.  One elevator ride and several cracked jokes later, we arrived at the ICU desk where the nurse could not even spit out my mother's name because she was laughing too hard.  As she turned to leave, she whispered to the nurse at the desk, "Good luck.  They're a fun bunch."    

I know many would wonder, why humor at such a point in life that might bring most face to face with thoughts that contain their greatest fears?  Well, it sure is better than thinking about the hole that surgeon is cutting into my mother's skull and the possibility of removing vertebrae to make room for a brain that just doesn't want to fit in the space it has readily available.  It beats thinking about the 6 week recovery time it will take for her to feel somewhat "normal."  It's more pleasant than the constant monitoring she will need by a physician to make sure the swelling has subsided.  It's a coping mechanism.  It's our coping mechanism.  

There is one very distinct thing you learn when confronted with a situation that walks, talks and acts like a crisis and that is how lucky you are to be blessed with the family you were given.  Family that I am happy to sit with for hours, crack jokes, eat vending machine food and await results of an unpleasant surgery that we hope will have great results.  For today, I put my endless pursuit on the back burner and await good news for the mom of the year front runner:  my own mother.  

Now, we wait.   And laugh.