How It All Began

In October 2022 I was given a second chance at life. I became severely ill on the second night of a 9 day cruise. I was misdiagnosed twice during the week onboard, early in the week and then later on, being assured I had food poisoning or Norovirus. I believed the ship’s doctors when I actually had appendicitis which would rupture mid-week of the cruise. When I sought medical attention after getting home 9 days after the pain began I was desperately ill and worried. Little did I know then that I had been spared from a deadly infection by a rare occurrence. My rupture had formed an abscess around the infection and kept it from spreading into my body and bloodstream causing sepsis. I have been told by multiple medical professionals that this is very rare and that I am “a very lucky woman.”

I have no explanation except that God spared my life. My recovery was very long and difficult with many ups and downs but with everything I just kept thinking that I might not have been here to recover; to see another day. The impact of those thoughts was, and is, overwhelming. I have in the last year spent a lot of time pondering the way it all unfolded, how I was given this second chance, and what it all means. A woman I met a few months ago said to me, “You see things differently when you have seen your mortality.” This is profoundly true. This post is my attempt to sum up some of the lessons I have learned this past year.

Lessons for Life

Life is Precious and Fragile

I have learned to grab hold of every second I have. Instead of sipping life from a teacup, I now feel an urgency to drink in every day that I live. I puposefully hold it dear and cherish it; most especially the ones I love, all the sights, smells, sounds, feelings. I try now to be more intentional about life; to be completely present for the big events and the small moments. Often when I am looking at my loved ones faces, enjoying a special occasion, spending time with friends, playing with my grandchildren, etc. I will think, “I could have missed this.” My goal is to experience and hold on to every bit of it that I can.

'Thankfulness

I have always been one to be thankful and to remember how very blessed I am. However, since my illness, I find that I count my blessings even more. I have commented many times that we do not know how to be thankful. We truly don’t. We are thankful, and we realize on some level how extraordinarily blessed we are but when we have lost someone, dealt with health problems, or walked through a trial in life, only then do we know the depth of gratitude.

Choosing Joy

Since my close call, I have bought a couple of shirts with the phrase “Choose Joy” on them. I want very much to intentionally live each day with an attitude of joy. It isn’t joy that is tied to an event, or something I’m looking forward to, or enjoy doing. It is having joy in the whole journey. Since God has allowed me this extra time I want to celebrate it by living with joy in the smallest moments, like cooking a meal, reading a book, sitting on my porch with coffee, etc. just as much as I do in the big, exciting, happiest moments of life. I will say that it is not always easy to hold onto joy and sometimes events of life make it feel as though joy is gone. But it is still inside and helps me make it through those times.

Stress Less

After going through this, I find now that I do not get as stressed as I once did about the ins and outs of life. The fact that I am here to live each day, to love my family and friends, to have a second chance is enough to make me realize that most of the things I stressed about were not all that important. There are difficult times and some things are just too hard in life but stressing myself will not help. I read a quote during an especially stressful time in my life that said, “This too will pass. It may pass like a kidney stone but it will pass.” I’ve found this to be true and knowing difficulty will pass gives me hope.

Trust Your Inner Voice

I have had people to ask since my experience how I did not know how very sick I was. This is a question I have asked myself. On some level I knew that I was very sick but when I asked on the ship about appendicitis I was assured by the medical professionals on the ship that it was food poisoning or Norovirus. My husband and I discussed getting off the ship midweek to get another opinion but we decided to wait. By the time I was in the ER I knew I had made a big mistake not seeking other help. Hindsight is 20/20 but if faced with the same situation I would get another opinion. I think we should always listen to and trust our inner voice. I wish that I had.

Thankful Thoughts

As Thanksgiving approaches, I cannot help but look back over the past year. The pictures throughout this post show special events I would have missed if things had gone differently. And there is so much more, times spent with family and friends, numerous family and friend’s birthday celebrations, tailgate party Saturdays, and innumerable small, simple moments that make up life. Of course, not everything has been good this year. Among other things, we had to have some extensive home repairs done, along with two surgeries and a lengthy recovery due to the appendix rupture and a major foot surgery that has required a long and hard recovery. But it makes me think about the Garth Brooks song line, “I could have missed the pain, But I’d have had to miss the dance.” So this year, on Thanksgiving Day, as with every single day, I am especially thankful for all of the many blessings that God has granted me and especially for a second chance to enjoy my life even more.

I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.

Karen