Welcome to Mexico!

By Victoria Schmidt

Angels and Demons

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Life has a way of shaking things up from time to time. We go about our daily lives making plans and filling our appointment books and keeping busy when suddenly everything comes to a screeching halt. A death in the family, a serious illness, or a family crisis can stop everything. 

In every life, a little “rain must fall.” And in my case, rainy season came too soon this year and it’s been pouring with an end in sight, just not quick enough for me.

I had what was to be a minor surgery, but following the surgery complications set in.  My carefully organized life suddenly fell into disarray and entropy became the rule to the day. I’ve always been a planner, and chaos is something I don’t ever wish to invite into my house.  Yet there it was.

The worst was the blood transfusion.  At one time or another one of our friends has needed a blood transfusion, so we knew the routine in Mexico is very different from the USA.  We’d need to find donors; each facility has different requirements for the donor.  But we had arranged to have me admitted, be administered the blood, and be discharged back to my 24/per day care in 10 hours.  But thanks to a young doctor with the aqua blue framed glasses, (I called her the demon.)  I ended up there for a day and a half.  There were so many people there, but few people listening, and too many people making assumptions.  And what happened ultimately added weeks to my recuperation.

At the time, I went through all kinds of emotions.  But mostly, I felt so bad for my friend, who came with me, knew little Spanish, and she couldn’t reach her husband because his hearing aid broke and he couldn’t hear the phone.  I’ve known her more years than I care to admit and yet I’d never seen her so stressed.  Even though she was just watching, she was as trapped as I was.

It wasn’t a good situation, but there were moments of incredible grace.  A social worker and a supervising nun were the first angels sent, followed by two doctors, two IV nurses who were incredible. We called them angels. The atmosphere in the room changed as soon as these people walked into the room, and suddenly, things started to happen.

At home, I felt surrounded by angels as friends surrounded us with help, and one personal friend who went beyond the call of duty is my Guardian Angel. 

My confinement has lasted nine weeks.  Our home was a revolving door of doctors, nurses, lab techs, medical equipment deliveries, and visitors. No part of my home or my life was under control.  I couldn’t tell you what was going on most of the time.  If it wasn’t within view of my bed, I couldn’t see it or know about it.  Not a comfortable place for someone who likes to keep everything under control.

I look at times like these and ask myself  “What is it I need to learn from all this?”  My conclusion for this past experience was two-fold.  First, be careful what you wish for.  I was wishing for some time off, and some pampering.  This was not what I had in mind! 

But my true learning experience is how many angels bless my life.

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