My neighbor has aneurysm

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I have a male neighbor who married a nice young woman who works as nurse in a local hospital. That was more than 10 years ago. They were blessed with 2 girls, the eldest one being my godchild. The wife, whom we shall call Lanie, continued to work as a nurse while her husband, Danny, had to work as a seaman for a cargo vessel that travels abroad. At the very least, he comes home to be with his family once a year, at most, 2 years. This year, he came home for summer and after earning quite a lot abroad, they decided to have their house finished. It is a beautiful two-storey home, no finishing yet, but it was livable. The master’s bedroom had a balcony overlooking the sunrise over the hills. I think Danny’s vacation was about 2 months, so they went around shopping and all. Times were good. Last March 17, Danny was scheduled to go back to work, a day after the birthday of their second daughter. So a few days before that, the couple went downtown to buy some additional things for the party. Lanie’s shift at the hospital was 3 o’clock in the afternoon so they left their house after lunch in order to pick up some things before Lanie went to work. That particular afternoon was very hot, the sun glaring above the sky. Quite unusual, as Danny recalled, Lanie asked him to go with her to the hospital where she worked. Danny thought that Lanie never asked him this, so he just went. That was around 2:30pm. So as with her usual day at work, Lanie passed by the chapel and prayed before reporting for work. She did her rounds, cleaned her patients, made their beds, and administered their medications. Around 4pm, she went back to the nurses’ station when she shouted, “Aray!” (ouch!) while clutching her head. The nurses at the station went to her aid and assisted her. They gave her a pain killer and allowed her to rest. But a doctor saw that something was not right, that Lanie didn’t just have a regular headache. She immediately ordered that Lanie be rushed to the emergency room. And it was a timely decision because within minutes that they got the ER, Lanie was becoming unconcscious and her mouth had clamped shut. They had to force it open and lodged it with something, even breaking one of her teeth, just so she could breathed. Her undetected brain aneurysm erupted. As she was working in the hospital, their director ordered that she be taken to another, more advanced hospital in the city that has a CT-scanner. Without money in their pockets, Lanie was rushed, diagnosed and within a few hours was already having her skull drilled and her brain suctioned from all bleeding. Lanie was in a coma for several weeks. She was in the city with a tube attached to her head and a tube on her throat so that she can breathe. She was prone to infections because of her open wounds. We prayed for her recovery. She was young and had two daughters to take care of. Then after some time, she woke up. But she was not her usually self, it seemed that she had a second childhood. She can remember her past, but she had new habits. Doctors said she might have a slim chance for complete recovery if the clot was removed. But our city didn’t have the equipment needed so she had to be transported to Manila our capital for the andiogram and then the operation. When the andiogram was undertaken, it was learned she had another aneurysm that is also a candidate for blowing itself and flooding the brain. The old clot and the aneurysm may be taken out through surgery, but there was not guarantee that she will live or that she will not become blind or paralyzed. That’s what the doctors said. The husband opted to have her wife like that than risk the operation and increase her chances of dying. They came home. The husband went back to work abroad. Now Lanie is still alive, enjoying her children but she is in a mental state that’s similar to those with Alzheimer’s. Lanie once told us that she saw Jesus but asked Him to send her back for the sake of her kids. It has been 6 months now and Lanie is still alive. Everyday, she comes to my house to talk to my mom. She is my mom’s current ministry. We feed her, talk to her, and just entertain her. She’s like a child. If there’s one thing I learned, I learned that life is too short. At a young age of 41, Lanie experienced such in her life. No matter how we work or plan for our future, we don’t know what lies ahead. Where we put our trust now will determine where we are going after this life. Let’s reflect on her life and think on how we have been spending our days.