Weblog: My daughter goes in for back surgery this morning. Her fusion from her Scoliosis surgery last summer has evidently failed.
I told her last night, “You don’t seem to be too worried or uptight about going into surgery tomorrow.” She replied matter-of-factly, “Well, there’s no reason to be. I’ve gone through this before and I know I can handle the pain, so….”
Funny kid. She did cry for a while earlier this week with Robbie as she reflected on all the activities she’d miss out on again this summer, plus having to wear a back brace this time for three months or so. But she doesn’t stay sad very long. And she doesn’t appear to be feeling sorry for herself. I told her of my memories as a 4th grader, looking out at the neighbor kids and my brother playing in the big snow drifts while I was stuck in the house with yet another bout of pneumonia. I did feel sorry for myself… a lot.
Now that I think about, feeling sorry for myself is an emotion (or is a defense mechanism?) that I’ve not experienced for about 7 years or more, back when Robbie and I were still struggling with our marriage. That’s something to be grateful for. And maybe worth thinking deeper about.