Do We Know What Will Happen Tomorrow?

A couple of mornings ago, I listened to a message on my phone from my business partner. He had called earlier and was informing me that he'd had chest pain all night and was going to the local hospital.

After verifying his presence in the emergency department at the local hospital, I hopped into my car and drove over to find out what was happening. The news I received when I arrived was not good. He had suffered a heart attack and was "not out of the woods yet."

This came as a total shock to me even though my partner is 75 years young and one might expect to be greeted with such news. You see, he's had only one and a half lungs as a result of numerous bouts with pneumonia when he was a child and has battled bronchitis and other lung ailments for most of his life. My assumption had been that his lungs were the reason for his chest pain and what had brought him to the hospital in the first place.

But I was wrong!

All of a sudden, I was faced with the possibility that my business partner and one of my best friends would not be around for much longer. The thought left me dazed and bewildered. Since I am not "family" I was not allowed to visit him so I drove home to await further news.

To be honest, I'm not sure how I managed that drive. I certainly don't remember much of it. All I do recall is a feeling of shock as I contemplated what may lie ahead. Would he survive? Would I ever see him again? How much damage had been done?

The worst feeling however was the sadness I felt about the fact that he may die without someone by his side that loved and cared for him.

Well, a couple of days have passed and he's still holding on. He's undergoing tests today to determine a course of action. It could be a simple procedure or it could be by-pass surgery. Time will tell.

What has been going through my mind during these days is the knowledge that I am but one in millions who face this sort of news daily. How many people have loved ones in the hospital? How many are mourning the loss of someone close who didn't survive the heart attack, or the cancer, or the car accident, or the disaster, or the ______?

I've thought about all the hospitals in the area I live in and multiplied it by thousands throughout the world to get a vague estimate of the number of people suffering with physical problems. Then my thoughts go to all the others who are suffering because of war, or famine, or natural distasters.

It can seem overwhelming to consider statistics such as these, but it has been a real eye-opener for me... and all because someone I care about had a heart attack!