02 May, 2008

About that heart

Samuel is sleeping at the moment - I hope for his sake, it is a couple or a few hours. He has been antsy this afternoon / evening. He wasn't allowed to drink anything at all, and was finally allowed ice chips around 5p.

Amazing about this guy - he is off of major pain meds. They took him off of the morphine some time I'm guessing, about mid-day. All he has at the moment for pain is this IV acetaminophen and seems to be amazingly comfortable, where pain is concerned. I'm quite amazed as I can only image that having had my chest cracked open, I'd be a simpering wimp...

Back to the heart. I had made a previous post about the metaphorical heart a few of weeks back, and more recently posted a u-toob video by Ingrid Michaelson on the frailty of the human condition, as it were. Or was it about resiliency?

What has had my attention most of the afternoon is the resiliency of the physical heart and how science treats it. Perhaps it is how the heart indicates it can be treated. I was telling Rowena, "you know, when you break an arm, tear a muscle in a leg or something, they immobilize that bone or muscle to let it heal. Give most things like that about 6 weeks, a little love and kindness and it will be ready to get back to work and build itself up again."

"The heart on the other-hand, is not given that option. Scientists go find it, in one way or another, cut on it, burn it, slice it, re-plumb it, etc., and when it's all over and done with, the heart doesn't get 6 weeks off. It's right back to work, full-time. 24x7x365.25."

I suppose that beats the alternative. Anyway, as I am pre-occupied with the human condition at the moment, and those components that make up said condition, I can't help but be stunned at the capability of the human. Breakable. Resilient.

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