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Beau Wann, Jr.
GOOOOOOOD MORNING CHAPPELL HILL, and all points east and west, hither and yon....
Davids name has been added to the prayer list at our little country church in the city, Oaks Pres...and also here at the house also too ! When we had classes together, we usually sat close, being last names starting with W and Z...I remembered David from his great smile...so, I looked it up in the Aries, and sho nuff, that's how my mind recollected David. and I say, "remembered", and "recollected", only in the sense that I havent seen David since 1964, unless he was at one of the re onions.
Funny I can remember somethings 50 years ago, but not things in the last few years, or last few minutes for that matter. Just wanted David and his family to know, there's a lot of people thinking about you and praying for you.
Linda you are right about whatever percentage is of a great outcome, whether it's 50% or 99%, there's still a chance, and all anyone needs, is a chance.
I know I've told this story many times, but it is one worth hearing and thinking about again and again, not because it's me and mine, but because it is a human interest story, and it is real and true, and surely can instill a since of hope. I imagine others have gone through similar situations, like the "90 minutes in heaven" author. Sometimes it's hard to relate to folks that have written books about "miracles", but to hear them from someone you know, sets a different tone, sort of....
In Dianes and ours third year of marriage, Diane went in for a laproscopy in april of 87 and they found endimitriosis (sp). So she was scheduled for surgery to correct the problem. Surgery was scheduled for July, and was to be routine. During the surgery, Dianes doc came out and said they found cancer, and surgery was going to take longer. I dont know how many hours passed, when they came out and said she was in recovery and they "think" they got it all.
They put in a subclavian catheter so she could receive chemo injections in the coming months....they let me see her, and back then, she weighed about 95 pounds normally, so tiny. They had a tube in her side going around her lungs, because when they put the subclavian catheter in, they punctured a lung...oh great...
I dont remember a lot of the particulars anymore, but it was just one fire after another, until they found out that she had a lot of bleeders where they did the surgery, so she was bleeding to death on the inside. Finally they caught on to their mistake, and wheeled her back into surgery, her second major in less than 8 hours.
It didnt look good....I remember being outside the surgery doors, in a long white hallway, by myself...the anethesiologist or bowel doc came out and said that she had died on the table, and that everyone had stopped and held their breath, when someone said, "she's in Gods hands now"....not a moment after that, the doc said, Diane took in a deep breath and started breathing again, the monitor went from flat line to good heartbeat and pulse...everyone sprung into action and of course she survived, as many of you that have met her can attest too....
After the doc went back into surgery, I was alone in that long white hallway, with my back up against the wall figuratively and literally....I slid down the wall till I was sitting on the floor, wondering "how am I going to g et through this alone"....I generally didnt share things with folks back then, like I do now, just took it and went on managing best I could on things....However, Dianes family being just the opposite, and Oaks Pres family being involved, that's how we made it....
I remember being alone in that hallway, and watching the doc go back in to surgery, and thinking "how can I do this alone", when all of a sudden as if on cue, the hallway started filling up with Dianes family and friends and church memebers and even my mom and dad showed up and some aunts and uncles , and this was like 9 or 10 at night...my family never left the house after dark ! ! !
When she started chemo, it lasted a whole day, and she had to stay at Texas Womens hospital a week at a time. The concoction of chemo meds they used on her, was so potent, and volatile, the room had to be darkened and the IV bag had to be in a bag so no light could get to it....
Dianes weight dropped down to 80 pounds and she had to live downstairs for a month or so, no climbing stairs. The food never stopped coming from neighbors, church members and family. Even my ex-wife, Dolly, came over numerous times and cleaned house for us, and cooked for us, and when Diane lost her hair from the chemo treatment, she took Diane shopping for scarves and hats and wigs. Dolly was one of the best hairdressers in the city at the time, and had her own shop in Memorial, so she knew hair and wigs etc...that's the kind of help and love that was shown to us during those dark moments.
All that and the love of God is what got us through that...It wasnt Dianes time yet...she went on to become teacher of the year in HISD, and helping thousands of special ed kids and teachers alike, and a jillion other things and retiring after almost 40 years....oh, did I mention, taking care of her special ed husband also, which is a full time job in itself, so you could say she has had two full time jobs for the last 32 years....
Amazingly enough, Diane does not remember the two surgeries at all, or even being in recovery. Which is a blessing, because it was painful to watch, let alone being the one it was happening to.
So you see, there was no chance that Diane was going to survive the second surgery, she didnt even have a 50% chance of survival, in fact she died, now that's 0 percent, yet she did survive, and thank the Lord she did...who else is there.
I guess the lesson here is, like Linda said, there's hope....so, we're all hoping and praying that all will turn out well for the Zaring family, as it did in Dianes and my situation and many other good folks similar situations.
So instead of only having 3 years with Diane, now I've had 32 wonderful years, 32 years next thursday June 16th to be perzact....who do I thank? All the friends and families that were there for us, and most specifically, God....I feel sorry for those folks that dont believe in God and Jesus Christ...look at what they are missing....Even if things dont turn out like we want them to, there's always the hand of God that guides us through it, so dont ever give up....even if it's your last breath, keep the love of Christ in your mind, and never give up....
Ok, I went over my time limit....there's a time limit? Oh no Mr Bill...
So Happy Trails, To all my DuBarry friends, Oak Forest Mayberry, and class of 64 and beyond...you have all my love and thoughts and prayers, till....forever,
Post Script; Dianes room at Texas Womens hospital faced the Shamrock Hilton. it was a few miles away, but you could see it. 1987 was the time they had started trying to tear it down....BOOOOOO...
anyway, after them trying to implode it with dynamite, which failed, (I could have told em it wasnt going to go quietly because my dad and uncles and grandfather built the shamrock as ironworkers back in 51 methinks, and anything they built, wasnt going to be easy to tear down)...we watched them with their wrecking balls slowly tear it down....tha bums.....the Shamrock doesnt go without a fight, Glen McCarthy strikes again, yeaaaaaa...
.But it saddened me because that's where we had our prom and 20 year reunion, THE EMERALD ROOM....also on that same note, the bar that was in the Shamrock has resurfaced in an Italian restaurant on the corner of Westview and Wirt? The name of the restaurant is Fratellis, not to be confused with the Fratellis on 290, which w as suppose to shut down and gave the name to Jerry, but didnt actually shut down, so they are not related....they may have finally shut down because of the construction on 290.
Fratellis, on Westview and Wirt, is very good Italian food...pricey, but good....
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. It just shows what a wonderful loving family we are -- no matter what challenges life brings us, we are always there for each other. It cannot get any better than that! We're dancing together! Love you all and big hugs, J
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