Did you ever know any Shifu that made "house calls"? I DIDN'T EITHER! But, believe me, if you're reading this and you don't have a Shifu who makes house calls, GET ONE...RIGHT AWAY! I'm still in the hospital (7 days now), and visitors have been sparse, but that is as I like it because I must keep my exposure to the germs of the living at a minimum, and I am very tired. Last night Sarah e-mailed me that they were considering visiting me today.
I, of course in typical Tamra style, tried to disuade her on the basis of "germ exposure", etc. It worked on my other good Shaolin friend who had wanted to come to see me, but not on Sarah, because she is a nurse and she knows what is possible and what is not; what is said and what is meant (and she was right). No, she and Shifu were coming and that was all there was to it. She called me around 2:00pm and said they were leaving the school and would be there within the hour. I began to perspire???? Why, what was this about? Now I know that steroids "whack me out" (Physician Assistant official terminology), but why would a visit from two people I adore make me so anxious?
It gave me great food for thought as the nurse walked in to tell me that "Transport" was on their way to take me downstairs for a CT of my throat. HORRORS! They were going to arrive and I wasn't going to be there! OH MY GOD! And I didn't have Sarah's number, and....and...and (steroidal manic panic)! Then, as is always the case in circumstances like this, fate intervened in the form of a wonderful, handsome young man named Jason from "Transport". No time to figure it out or "sweat" it; had to go. Normally I would not stray from the theme of this post, a house call from Shifu, but I feel I have to because nothing happens by accident and my short time with Jason proved to be no exception.
Every so often special people are placed in our path at just the right time for any number of reasons, all of which are extremely important. Sometimes, we are the special person placed in theirs. Perhaps it for the spiritual benefit of both? Regardless of the order, the meaning, or the intent, the value of the experience is etched into our mind for life. That person is recorded on our soul. Jason is one of those people for me.
My trip to the CT machine was anything but ordinary, as he entertained me with a humorous schtick from the moment he came into my room to the moment he returned me, still making me laugh til it hurt. The entire approximately 4 minutes it took to get down to the CT lab he delivered a continuous diatribe of hospital oriented "TOUR" shpeal in a perfect monotone that he later likened to the comedy style of Steven Wright and was spot on in the comparison. He was SO funny that when we arrived at the lab I told him he had missed his true calling and needed to be in professional comedy. He already had his routine. It was PERFECT just as it was.
He proceded to tell me that one time he was transporting a guy who just sat there the whole way and didn't say a word; not even a giggle. When he arrived at his destination the guy stared him in the face very seriously, reached into his pocket and handed Jason his card. He OWNED "The Punch Line" comedy club. He wanted Jason to come in and perform. Jason went on to tell me that before that experience another guy he transported just chuckled all along the way and when he arrived at his destination he handed Jason his card and he owned the "Country Bar" (or Tavern) - "The Punch Line" BEFORE it was "The Punch Line"! Then I found myself in the CT machine, thinking that if Jason had "transported" me before today I literally would have died gasping for air while trying to laugh!
My photo op was over before I could figure out whether or not I had brushed my teeth or not this morning, and I was loaded into my chariot and left in the hall. Now Jason had warned me about this. He told me to pay attention to what words the tech used when they "deposited" you in the hall..."transport will be here in a minute" or the to be feared, even dreaded "transport will be here in just a m o m e n t". A minute, he had explained was anywhere from 50 seconds to well, let's just say, something well over 60 seconds. A m o m e n t was an open ended invitation to limbo and there was nothing you could do about it cuz it's the hospital.
So I says to the tech who "deposited" me in the hallway, I says, "I request Jason, please." He laughed, as did the nurse parked in a chair about 25 feet up the hallway (a surgical recovery area). She said, "Oh, he was just here; I was just talking to him." I called out, "JASON!!! COME AN GET ME!" and he says from somewhere around the dim dark corner, "In a m o m e n t maam!" I nearly peed myself! But this story is not over yet.
Jason did transport me to my room, and it was time for a serious conversation about this young man's future (courtesy of Mrs. I'm 53 So You Gotta Listen To Me!). I told Jason that I believe that when something special like that happens (the two dudes with the business cards from what became the same comedy club...did I say that right?) it's not an accident or coincidence. It's telling you something. One such occurrence is a nudge. TWO are a PUSH. I was the third...the SHOVE! "You HAVE to do something with that talent Jason! You are incredible! Everyone will love you!
So then I got Jason's story. This is where I knew Jason was put there for me. 1 day after his 18th birthday (probably 10 years ago or so) Jason was hit by a semi-truck and was turned into "Humpty Dumpty, and had to be put back together again" (literally). The scars on his face were visible from the start, but he was so radiant that my mind didn't stare or focus on them other than recording that it looked like his face had been literally peeled back from the top of his skull down to his ears where dual vertical scars thwarted all hair growth. His personality and humor probably evolved as a means of demonstrating that he was so much more than an altered body.
He spent 9 months in the ICU and was reassembled from head to toe, skeletally and organ-wise. He relearned everything and thought he had "made it" until the day he played the game he loved, tennis, and had a seizure...a bad one. Yes, besides the scars Jason was left with a serious seizure disorder for which he must take medication daily. If you know anything about seizure disorders you know that conrolling them isn't as much of a science as an art. Jason knows what he can and cannot take on stress wise, and when. He knows his limits, but doesn't put them on himself. He listens carefully to his body for subtle clues that things are going astray.
Oh yes, he did call the man who owned "The Punch Line". He did talk about auditioning and what it would mean if he earned a spot on the famous stage. But he also talked to himself and, obviously, that discussion went something like this, "WHY? What's wrong with this?"
Jason had to find a job that he could do within his limitations. He CHOSE to work at the hospital because he has seen so much of it from the patient perspective that he knew he had something he could give, and he does, every day, richly, selflessly. For the past 18 years, and God willing, for the next, Jason will enrich the lives of patients like me who are moving from one scarey part of the hospital to another, and not only will he make us forget for a moment where we are and why, he will bring us great joy in the midst of a crisis! THAT IS WHERE HIS GIFT WAS MEANT TO BE SPENT! I am ever so grateful that Jason was put in my path today and I don't believe it's ever a coincidence.
NOW, back to my "house-calling Shifu"... I got back to my room and there he was! I had a SHIFU, a real, non-hollywoody, SHAOLIN MONK in my room! If any of my fellow phlgem monsters on my floor knew what a Shaolin monk was, well...they would have been impressed and would have wanted one too! Sarah and Shifu were there waiting for me. I was so happy to see them and even more so because of the state of joy I was in from my experience with Jason. For the first time ever in the presence of my great Shifu, I felt like my energy was radiating exponentially.
Is it appropriate to hug a Shifu? Well, I did. Hugging is just what I do when I am so touched that I don't know how else to express it. I was just as delighted to see Sarah as I know that she is his right hand and coordinates all these kinds of activities for this very busy man and herself. She brought me fun things to do (she really gets me), talked with me on a medically intellectually level, and made sure that they stayed just the right amount of time. With such great visitors, I didn't need to play host. That's what all the sweating was about...the incessant need to people please, even when I am deathly ill. That they both took the time to come all this way to see me in the hospital still makes me cry.
I talked a lot about what I want to accomplish when they let me out of my crate (room 631 at St. Joe's). My sites are set high. I want to learn Tai Chi techniques that will help me control the manic phase of steroid withdrawal I always go through while tapering the oral dose over several months. I have come to fear and dread it. I want to find a way to sleep and be rested; to not obsessively crave food all night long, and have to indulge each craving to the point of near explosion or feel like I will die; to be able to sit still without whole body tremors that seem to radiate outward from my spine, and come in waves so hard that they make my voice shake, and I want to, if even for brief periods of time, find a way to quell the constant feeling that the sky is falling. I want to be able to just sit; to be still; to quiet my mind. I can't imagine the relief any measure of control would bring, but I'm determined to find out, and maximize my potential WHILE living within my limits. Jason taught me that. I can never thank him enough!
PS: I'M SERIOUS ABOUT YOU GETTING YOURSELF A SHIFU THAT MAKES HOUSE CALLS! THAT IS WHAT HE SAID HE WOULD DO AS SOON AS I GET HOME...HE'S COMING TO MY HOUSE. OH MY GOD, I'M SWEATING ALREADY!
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