A Year Ago

A year ago today I was walking around a really fun fair with my two kids, my good friend and her two kids. We'd just entered the fair grounds and were looking around at all the displays near the entrance.

A year ago today I got a phone call on my cell phone. Brian was in the hospital in Langley because he was having what I thought would be short lived issues with his blood pressure and kidneys. On the phone he told me that they were going to put him in an ambulance and rush him - "code blue" - to VGH where he would require emergency medical attention. He told me that they'd just discovered that his platelet count was dangerously low.

A year ago today I was trying to figure out how not to crumple to my knees in a public park and start sobbing in front of my children. I was trying to keep my voice calm and I was wondering if keeping their Daddy's hospital stay a secret. I was thankful when my friend almost read my mind and distracted my kids by pointing out the newly hatched chicks nearby.

A year ago today I didn't know if I'd ever see my husband again. I knew how serious it was, and I could hear my doctor's words echoing in my head. "If you don't go to the hospital right now, you'll likely die within 24 hours" I wandered around the fair grounds for awhile just letting it sink in, not knowing if I was becoming a widow while Brian was riding in an ambulance, alone. I didn't have any family available to me that day, so I had no where to drop my kids off. I had a long drive into VGH and I didn't know what I'd find when I got there.

A year ago today I knew nothing about platelet counts, or plasma treatments, or the link between blood pressure and kidney function. I'd never heard of hemolytic uremic syndrome and I didn't know anything about rare blood diseases.

A year ago today my entire world changed...