Heidi, Daughter of Noah

On the stretcher on my way to surgery on Saturday morning, I fought back tears. Throughout this entire ordeal, I kept my spirits exceedingly high. But as I was being wheeled down to the OR, I suddenly felt lonely and sad. I wished Aaron were there. Or Felix or Robby. The attendant was such a nice guy. He held my hand and told me that there were a lot of people who were going to take good care of me.

Sure enough, about a dozen people were in the pre-op room, all for me. They'd opened the place up for my surgery, no one else's. Part of my celebrity status as HBO team member, I guess. This had been evident since Thursday, with introductions to the head of the ER department and Dr. Fein, the head of nephrology, who followed me throughout my stay, making sure my dialysis supplies were replenished. Also the PR gal had seen me in the ER.

Surgery was uneventful. Most importantly, I didn't feel the tube going into me or coming out, the latter of which was a traumatic experience after bypass surgery in November.

I got out of surgery at about 11 a.m. but didn't return to my room until about 9 p.m.--10 hours in recovery. Most of that time I dozed. Around 4, much to my surprise, Robby appeared. Felix had called the hospital earlier in the day to see how I was. When he couldn't reach me, he called the front desk and was told I was in surgery. Felix then called Robby, hoping he would pick up. Robby saw Felix's name displayed or recognized the number and so he picked up. He felt being with me was a higher calling than strictly observing the sabbath. I'm so glad he did. So good to see him! We talked easily about family and religion and what else I don't recall. There was just an easy, friendly flow to the conversation.

At some point, Robby had to leave to attend synagogue. Robby is making every effort to adhere to six months of thrice-daily prayers to honor the passing of his father, something that is often quite difficult to do, as the prayers are supposed to be said with other believers, not as a solitary ritual. What a beautiful, loving thing to have your child remember you in this way, through these acts of dedication and faith. Before he left, he asked if he could kiss me. Well, golly, sure, I said, or something like that. A sweet, little kiss, just what is needed following surgery. A hand hold before and a kiss afterwards. Perfect.

When Robby returned, he told me something that really warmed my heart--and still does now. At some point in the service, or whatever the synagogue time is called, the rabbi went around and asked if there were any prayer requests. Robby said that if I were a Jew, the rabbi would say this is a prayer request for the healing of Heidi, daughter of Moses. But since I'm not, the rabbi said this is for Heidi, daughter of Noah, as everyone is a son or daughter of Noah. I never thought of it like that, but, yes, that's how we're all related, all connected to one another.