Bobby Murcer, Glen Waggoner Yankee for Life, My 40 Year Journey in Pinstripes (2008)

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Let sjust take it one step at a time.Good by me.As soon as we told Jeff that he was our guy you want to beon a first-name basis with somebody who s going to hold your lifein his hands, don t you? he sent me off on a marathon of tests.I was at it from 10 A.M.until 9 P.M. no food, no breaks and letme tell you, it was as exhausting a day as I d ever spent.After the last MRI when we were finally back at the hotel, Jeffcalled to tell me that there was no cancer anywhere else.At leastwe could have that comfort going into surgery the next morning.I thought about suggesting to Dr.W.that he read a book by aformer colleague and good buddy, TimMcCarver s Baseball for BrainSurgeons and Other Fans.You never know, I might want to quiz himagain the next morning before he started cutting.YANKEE for LIFE " 249But I decided that it was more important that he get a goodnight s sleep.Kay and I reported back to M.D.Anderson at 5 A.M.on themorning of December 28 as instructed.Our son, Todd, and ourdaughter, Tori, were with us.We had no idea what to expect.Wehad only just the day before met the surgeon who would be cuttingopen my skull.We d been told that the operation would take placeat 6:30 or 7 in the morning, but that we had to be there at 5 A.M.So we got there exactly at 5.Don t want to be late for your own brain surgery, right?When Kay and I described to close friends later how all thiswas going down, and how we were reacting to it, a few of themsaid flat-out that we must have been in full denial, that we had tohave been going crazy with fear and anxiety.Well, we weren t.You have to understand that I ve never been a worrier, whatKay calls a hand wringer. Neither has she.I ve always felt that Icould overcome anything.A problem presents itself, you map outa plan of action, and you take the problem on, one step at a time.That s just the way I am.That s the way we are.The night before, we d all come together as a family in our roomacross the street at the Marriott: me; Kay; Todd; Tori; Cindy;her husband, Calvin; Kay s brother Dwaine; his wife, Phyllis; andKay s parents.There Dwaine led the family in a devotional basedon Deuteronomy 31:6, in which Moses assures Israel of the pres-ence of God within them:Be strong and courageous.Do not be afraid or terrified because ofthem, for the Lord your God goes with you.He will never leave younor forsake you.That verse has carried me through each day since then.It s sortof become my personal mantra.That moment together the night before my surgery was the start250 " BOBBY MURCERof the peace and calm that has continued to this day.Pretty darnpowerful.A small moment really, but it changed us all as a family.Sure, we all got a little emotional, we all cried some.But webolstered one another, gave strength to one another.We huggeda lot, and we spoke of our conviction that we were doing whatwe could do, and we shared our belief that God would take careof us.We all knew that I wasn t going into this thing alone.So there we were at 5 o clock in the morning in this big room withabout 20 other patients and their families.Not a lot of small talkgoing on there, I tell you.But there wasn t time for any, becausepretty soon this nurse was up in front of what felt like a classroomtelling us that we were going to be taken down to the pre-op area,where each of us would be assigned a cubicle.You almost felt like you ought to be taking notes so that you goteverything right.I looked around, sort of curious, and there were people of allages no, make that adults of all ages.No kids.Thank goodness.Kay and I and Tori and Todd were hanging tough, but I think ifthere d been little kids in there, too, we d all have lost it for sure.People of all ages and all colors and, from the look of it, fromall over the world.Kind of a mini-UN of people getting ready forcancer operations.The nurse started calling out names, kind of like a roll call,then she said, Follow me, and everybody marched out behindher to this huge elevator.I didn t see how they were going to geteverybody on, but I guess they d done this a time or two before.The elevator took us down to the pre-op area, which was a big,L-shaped room with a wide aisle down the middle and cubicles oneither side.There were about 20 cubicles containing pre-opperslike me that morning, with one family member allowed to providemoral support.They had curtains for privacy, but you could heareverybody around you talking, carrying on semiprivate conversa-tions.YANKEE for LIFE " 251The nurse then began calling out names and numbers of ourcubicle assignments.I was toward the end of her list: Mr.Murcer,number 15.Number 15? Kay and I looked at each other and smiled: 15 wasthe number worn for 11 seasons by our dear friend ThurmanMunson.That had to be a good omen.Cubicle 15 was at the farend, at the tip of the L, which meant I had a neighbor on just oneside, and thus a bit more privacy.Every patient was here for one sort of cancer operation or an-other, of course, but you sure couldn t tell it from the subdued talkgoing on all around us.I heard no crying, no raised voices, nosense of tension in the air.I think it was probably because every-body was trying so hard to keep their own emotions in check so asnot to trigger anxiety in a family member.After a while, a nurse came and told me to get undressed andput on this gown affair and surgical hose.All new gear to me.Kay stayed with me.We weren t despondent or weepy, but neitherdid we display any false cheerfulness in my cubicle.Serious busi-ness, yes.I got undressed and put on my gown and surgical hose.I gaveKay my watch and billfold and stuff.But I kept on my underpants.Hey, I didn t know any of these people, right? Sounds silly, lookingback, but nobody told me I had to take off my shorts, so I didn t.That morning, before heading out to the hospital, I d lookedin the mirror and said, Goodbye, cowlick. I figured they weregoing to shave my head.Don t they always shave your head baldbefore brain surgery?My nurse then said that my anesthesiologists would be comingin a couple of minutes to give me some instructions and to answerany questions you might have.Questions? How much time do we have? For starters, I d nevermet the anesthesiologists, didn t know their names or anything.I d met my surgeon just the day before, but these were the peoplewho were going to put me under and, at some time or other, bringme back up, and I didn t know a thing about them.Were they rookies? Veterans? Stars? Journeymen? For some-body with my mind-set, not knowing is always unnerving.I like to252 " BOBBY MURCERknow who everybody is and what their assignments are.Kay saysI like to micromanage sometimes, and I suppose she s right.Finally it seemed like a long time but was minutes at mostthe anesthesiologists came in and introduced themselves.Youngman by the name of Tom Rahlfs, young woman by the name ofJulie Gayle.They started telling me who they were and what theywere going to do and what the anesthesia was going to be like.That made me feel a little better.Times like that, just having con-crete information is soothing.Next thing I knew, Julie was sticking needles in my arm andcapping them with IV ports they were going to need later.I askedher, Do I need to take my shorts off now? She said, No, youdon t have to right now if you don t want to.We ll take care ofthem right before surgery.Good.Got to keep on what I was now thinking of as my lucky shorts.Kay left so that Tori could come in and talk for a little spell.Then she left and Todd came in.Then Kay s sister, Cindy, and soon, around the horn again.Shuttling well-wishers [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Linki