8 hours

[RICHARD]

here's one to chew on.

steven spielberg, on spending time with fidel castro.......


"it was the most important 8 hours in my life."


funny, the most important 8 hours in MY life is the time i spend
working, so i can pay my bills.....seem like i'll be saving some money by not going to see any of his movies...

[Karen]

He did not say whether it was important in a good way, or in a bad way, did he?

Isn't the time you spend with Eddie more important/fun than working? Or maybe you have a great, life-changing/saving kind of job, like a doctor or something, that those hours are more important!

The 6-8 or so hours that I was unconscious and having brain surgery were very important ones, that cost me my hearing on one side, but potentially saved my life. Would I want to repeat the experience? No. But it WAS important!

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by Karen
He did not say whether it was important in a good way, or in a bad way, did he?

Isn't the time you spend with Eddie more important/fun than working? Or maybe you have a great, life-changing/saving kind of job, like a doctor or something, that those hours are more important!

The 6-8 or so hours that I was unconscious and having brain surgery were very important ones, that cost me my hearing on one side, but potentially saved my life. Would I want to repeat the experience? No. But it WAS important!

i understand your point!

to him it was important from the good side.

i do work in the med field.

i do not do 'hands on' - i work behind the scenes and i do have a good sense of achievement when the day is done...

i 'see' TONS of head/brain/spine surgeries every year. one of the longest was a 12 hour procedure!!!!! those are the toughest
most time intensive procedures on the planet. a surgery suite
usually has six people in it-a 6-8 hour procedure can have as many as 15 people during the whole thing.

I think that a surgery, any surgery, is important to the person who is 'under the knife'.


if i had my way i'd love to spend all day long with my cat!!!!

but, in the mean time, I need to work so i can afford to spend that time, money and pay my bills.

The most important lesson my mom taught me was this..

on a cold rainy night she'd look out the window and then look
back at us kids sitting by the fireplace.
she'd then ask us "how would you like to be homeless tonight??"
when she'd get no answer she'd ask us, "where would you go if you were??"

those few minutes were important to me because, as long as i live and be a productive person, i will not be homeless!!!!!


of course if i had the money that spielberg has i'd probably venture a trip down there, but i'd pass on the face to face with fidel, his beard weirds me out!

sorry to hear about your surgery, but glad you are able to enjoy life because of it.

it never ceases to amaze me all of the advance we have made in
the medical field in the time i worked in it!

[jackiesdaisy1935]

That is a good question Richard, what would be the most important 8 hours in a person's life. I don't think they would be with Fidel Castro that's for sure, on the other hand I have lots and lots of hours in my life, I suppose for me it would be saying goodbye to my family at the thought of passing away during heart surgery only to find out and realize that I did wake up and everything went well and I knew I had a long life ahead of me to
enter into these dog house discussions unfortunately for everyone else.
Jackie, Perry and Miss Daisy

[Karen]

Originally posted by RICHARD
i understand your point!
(snip)
sorry to hear about your surgery, but glad you are able to enjoy life because of it.

it never ceases to amaze me all of the advance we have made in
the medical field in the time i worked in it!

I had an acoustic neuroma removed. (It was benign, as they almost always are.) I enjoyed life before, and afterwards, too. They thought they'd be able to save what hearing I had left on that side, but alas, no such luck. It was almost ten years ago, so I no longer have to get follow-up MRI's, but I also don't get to say, "Well, I'm off to have my head examined" or get to see my brain in slices, either!

Everyone who reads this should value their "directional hearing" ability. You'll all never know how weird it is to hear a sound and have no idea where it's coming from. If something beeps or makes an "alarm sound," I just hope it has a flashing light to match!

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by jackiesdaisy1935
I suppose for me it would be saying goodbye to my family at the thought of passing away during heart surgery only to find out and realize that I did wake up and everything went well and I knew I had a long life ahead of me

Jackie, Perry and Miss Daisy

didn't the thought of hospital food scare the poop outta you????





karen,
my mistake!
sorry, when i hear brain surgery i always assume it's a hemorrhage, malignant, or some kind skull/brain trauma.
the patients we get/operate on are very ill. we also do quite a
few procedures on small children with cranial defects.
those operations take on different air!
watching the nurses take a small child from the crib and place them on the OR table you'd think they have the most fragile piece of glass in their hands....




8 hours............i have to think about that, jackie!!!!

[babolaypo65]

YIKES! My first degree is in audiology (hearing disorders). from my trained perspective, Ill say: YIKES!
this does not sound like fun...
and yes, often results in a hearing loss.
and yes, life without directional hearing is terrible.

karen,do you you have balance problems now? or balance problems in the dark? just curious.

Originally posted by Karen
I had an acoustic neuroma removed. (It was benign, as they almost always are.) I enjoyed life before, and afterwards, too. They thought they'd be able to save what hearing I had left on that side, but alas, no such luck. It was almost ten years ago, so I no longer have to get follow-up MRI's, but I also don't get to say, "Well, I'm off to have my head examined" or get to see my brain in slices, either!

Everyone who reads this should value their "directional hearing" ability. You'll all never know how weird it is to hear a sound and have no idea where it's coming from. If something beeps or makes an "alarm sound," I just hope it has a flashing light to match!

[mugsy]

Does the person have to be alive??? If I could choose anyone to spend 8 hours with, I'd choose my great great great great great grandfather Reverand Robert Worster.

Now, if that person has to be alive (for the reality sake), I think I would choose a woman from Afghanistan to see how life has changed since the Taliban has been deposed.

[lbaker]

I too spent 10 hrs in brain surgery (ruptured brain aneurysm) and I guess that would have been my most important hrs while unconscious. Waking up to find my husband & son there, and my daughter having flown up from TX, my mom driven from Delaware and my brother having flown on an emergency military flight from San Diego and to find I was not only alive but somewhat lucid I guess would be my next most important eight. My life hasn't been the same since & I now appreciate things I used to take for granted. I must be here for a reason.
Laurie

[Karen]

Originally posted by babolaypo65
YIKES! My first degree is in audiology (hearing disorders). from my trained perspective, Ill say: YIKES!
this does not sound like fun...
and yes, often results in a hearing loss.
and yes, life without directional hearing is terrible.

It's annoying, more than anything. When I hear a siren while driving, I pull to the side of the road, then look for the flashing lights. Other drivers must think I'm crazy, because THEY know it's going in the other direction, or down a different street, but I'm clueless 'til I spot the thing!

karen,do you you have balance problems now? or balance problems in the dark? just curious.

Blindfold me, and I'd be in real trouble! I rely on sight for balance, and I hang onto things if it's dark. My balance was never great anyway, and my career in ballet was over before it ever began! (I am a first-class klutz). The only time I have real trouble is if I am overtired and in a dark place.

The other thing I've noticed is, you know how often, in slippery places, or just uneven ground, you "start to fall," but "catch yourself," you know, flail arms and manage to remain upright? If I "start to fall," I finish falling, then get back up. Scares the heck oughta people, but I'm usually okay, and am careful not to hit my head.

But all this has a plus side! I do not get motion sick any more, and I used to all the time. Oh, that, and the tumor isn't there to continue growing and eventually kill me, that's a plus, too!

[babolaypo65]

The middle/inner ear is an amazingly complext system isn't it? It is responsible for hearing, AND all the things you just mentioned. balance, understanding of where your body is in space, equilibrium.... amazing that it works as often as it does.

the balance thing is always something we have to consider with deaf children. as they are growing we note if they have developed compensatory skills or not.

sad/ironic little anecdote: a few years ago our local deaf school had a really good football team (for once). they were playing a "hearing" school, who some how had learned about deaf kids, balance, and darkness. they rescheduled the game after dark, and purposely put out some of the field lights... our kids were at such a disadvantage! (running, in the dark, not being able to look at their feet....) finally, about the second quarter, our school's superintendent figured out what was going on. Appealed to the heart of the coach, and the game was rescheduled in the day time. (we trounced them!).
Karen, I'm so glad it's all worked out as well as it has for you...

[RICHARD]

and to think spielberg thought 'castro time' was important....

[babolaypo65]

It pales in comparison to the importance of six man football!

Originally posted by RICHARD
and to think spielberg thought 'castro time' was important....

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by babolaypo65
It pales in comparison to the importance of six man football!

sports fan, eh????

[babolaypo65]

NOT!

Originally posted by RICHARD
sports fan, eh????