Managing Expectations

I had a doctor in Utah tell me last week that the definition of "bad news" was the negative difference between expectations and reality, and "good news" was the positive difference. During the past 53 days Tania's health reality and my expectations have often not been aligned. In August following her first surgery, I received "good news" as her recovery progressed better than my expectations. In September and for the first half of October I have often had to process "bad news". When I received the late night phone call this past Sunday that she was bleeding and needed a transfusion, I clearly had to process some "bad news". However, last night (with my expectations lowered) the doctor's phone call that advised me that the bleeding had been identified, a treatment plan was in place and the ramifications were minor was "good news."

My current expectations are that Tania will continue to sleep nearly all of the time for the rest of this week and repairs to the shunt will be delayed until next week when the blood clots in the brain have diminished. Therefore, each day she is stable and opens her eyes even a little bit is taken as "good news".

Rollie