Open Letter to Children’s National Medical Center

To Children’s National Medical Center: Below is a physician’s review I posted to Angie’s List. Since your survey was eliciting feedback, I thought you should know. Dr. Yewande Johnson met with our family shortly before my son was scheduled to go into the OR for his first of two surgeries in one week. She took […]

Hilarious

When my son is in the hospital, my wife and I take shifts staying overnight with him. That way there is always one coherent parent present when Drs and nurses come by. In this last 6 day stint, Monday was one of my nights off. When I got home I was so keyed up, I […]

Kinda Prayin’

I must preface my remarks today with an observation. Love has become an almost meaningless word to me. It is so ubiquitous in our lexicon that it can refer to hamburgers, sex or a lifelong commitment. So I am going to stop using it. For today’s entry the word I will use to convey my […]

Lament of a Tired Soul

I have a favorite poem. It is the “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T. S. Eliot. It is a poem of a tired soul. The first stanza in particular resonates with me today. Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized […]

The Long Slog

Most days, VACTERL is just a pain in the ass. It’s just time consuming and it wastes your child’s time, your time and family time. There is a checklist of tasks that you must worry about every day, which normal families take for granted. But over time any set of tasks can become routine to […]

The Swinger

When my son was first born, I was on the cusp of going into the ministry. Because I was quasi clergy, I felt that I had to put a positive spin on everything. I said obnoxious things like, “thank God this happened to us. We have the resources and a strong relationship. We can deal […]

The Winter of My Discontent

VACTERL occasionally gives you a little break. Though you may have an onerous lists of tasks required to keep your child happy and healthy, you get into an offbeat rhythm that mimics normal life. You find a place of serenity and you think that you have beaten back the deadly predators. But really you are […]

Imagine, part 7

Thud! I start this posting with a quote from Pink Floyd’s The Wall. It is written from the perspective of a husband to his wife. But I use it here to describe the next phase of my faith journey. Day after day, love turns grey Like the skin of a dying man. Night after night, […]

Imagine, part 6

Crash! I preface this post with a couple of thoughts. It is impossible for me to put into words how much I love my son. He inspires me daily. Let me be clear I do not in any way, shape or form blame him for what happened to me. What follows is purely the result […]

Dream

Last night I dreamt that I was in a dinner with my wife’s grandparents. It was just the three of us. Her grandfather and I were on one side of a booth, her grandmother on the other. There was a TV overhead. They were playing a news story about bullying disabled children. Jenn’s […]