1. You Do Not Know What You Have, Until It Is Almost Gone
Hearing my mother’s voice read me the Bernstein Bears while I lay in my gurney in the
Intensive Care Unit at Children’s Hospital Oakland was something I will hold onto forever. My
mother’s soothing tones dropped on my ears bringing me the comfort of a tattered childhood
blanket as her words painted a picture of playful bears in the far away forest. At nine years old
the thought “this may be the last time I ever see my family again” crossed my mind, I was
terrified. Before the nurse injected the anesthesia into my I.V. my mother’s eyes welled up with
tears embracing me “Be strong, I love you.” Along with the company of my twin brother and my
father I slipped into sleep, making sure to not let go of my families loving hands before my body
could no longer keep a grip. I awoke in what seemed like 30 minutes; in actuality it was six
grueling hours of surgery on my pancreas that was torn completely in half. My surgeon, Dr. Jim
Betts, miraculously sewed it completely together. A decision that saved me of a life of painful
insulin injections into my abdomen. Half way conscious, recovering in my room I awoke to my
beautiful mother, my one and only brother, and my tough as nails father all waiting for me; they
waited together praying for me outside of the operating room. No amount of morphine in the
world could have replaced my families’ unconditional love and support.