Into the Mines

/Begin Nerd Moment/

So, since I used The Lord of the Rings as a reference earlier in my blog, it is only fitting that I continue that analogy. As we head into surgery day, we know we are walking the safest path. Unfortunately, it has its fair share of uncertainty and danger. The Norwood procedure is the most complex and precarious of the 3 surgeries Liam will need (What is the Norwood Procedure?). Not unlike deciding to trek through the Mines of Moria, we are confident this is the best course while also recognizing nothing is guaranteed. Will we get through the dark tunnel of this surgery? What kind of balrogs will we encounter along the way? 

/End Nerd Moment/

As I write this, Logan and I are waiting by Liam’s bedside for the doctors to come and take him to the OR. I am by turns ready and wholly unprepared for that moment. After Liam is taken, we still need to take our daughter to day care- performing a normal ritual that helps with Eliza’s consistent schedule. We must now function as normally as possible until we get our first call and then we will trudge through the rest of the day, each hour waiting to receive a call to update us on the progress of his surgery. 

When he returns to his room later this afternoon, we will have entered an entirely new and uncharted territory. Can I just say that it’s not as fun being in the adventure story as it is to read about someone else’s while tanning oneself on a beach? What does Samwise say in The Two Towers? 

“It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end… because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing… this shadow. Even darkness must pass.”

Here’s to Samwise- whose hope in the passing of darkness is my light right now.