There's Good News and There's Bad News

DeeAnn and I had a great time on JoCo Cruise Crazy last week, and had an all-too-brief visit with my VPXII classmate Julia and her husband the following weekend (they live near Fort Lauderdale, where the cruise ship port was).

That's the good news.

The day before we flew home, we found out by e-mail that our friend Cary had suffered a stroke and was in the hospital. He's still there now, after one surgery, and we remain cautiously optimistic.*

I've been distracted the past few days, checking my e-mail even more often than usual, looking for news about Cary's condition. His parents have been sending frequent updates, which our friend Karl (also one of Cary's co-workers) has been forwarding out to more people. And Cary's Facebook page has become a central location for his friends and family to share their thoughts. There hasn't been much news since the surgery yesterday, but people are filling the silence as best they can.

There's not much more to say right now. It's scary that this happened to Cary, who's about my age--less than forty years old--and in good physical shape, with no health issues. And I can't decide if it's a good thing that we're not in the bay area anymore, where we'd be tempted to bother his family with our lingering around the hospital; I don't know if it's better that we're two states away and insulated from what has surely been an endless emotional wringer for those close to him.

On the gripping hand, there's not much we can do anyway. Cary won't see any of our messages or gifts until he's off the ventilator and no longer sedated. There are plenty of people on hand to lend support; the family's actually been turning away visitors so he can rest and recover. He knows there are a lot of people who care about him, and we can only hope that's helping.

DeeAnn and I still have luggage to unpack, laundry to do, and other things demanding our attention. It seems selfish to get back to our own lives when Cary's is still uncertain, but what else can we do? What else should we do?

We'll be there when he needs us. That's all I have right now.

* Compared to this, DeeAnn's post-trip migraine and my recent issues with what appears to be sinus barotrauma seem pretty minor--more on the latter, I'm sure, after I see the doctor on Monday.