On the Philosophical Side

The TTG Team just had a near-miss and nothing else seems quite important enough to blog about.  One of our team members, actually not "just" a member, but the revered "Team Guru", went into septic shock following the emergency removal of his gall bladder.  We didn't know what septic shock was - heck, we pretty much didn't know what the gall bladder was, until a visit to Wikipedia.  50% of the people who suffer toxic shock die from it, and that's 50% of EVERYONE who gets it.  That isn't counting people such as The Guru who have underlying health problems.

With septic shock, infection enters the blood stream, which carries it to every organ in the body, and they start shutting down.  The blood vessels, "trained" to enlarge in an infected area so more blood goes to the boo-boo, enlarge throughout the body and the blood pressure drops to nothing.  The whole body just kind of quits and lots of people die.

The Guru's surgeon didn't expect him to last the weekend - and he's still here.  Vitals are up, eyes vaguely open, ventilator gone and blood pressure holding its own.  The ICU staff calls him Cat Man, because he must have nine lives.  We just call him mean, nasty names for scaring us so badly.  He still has a long way to go and a lot of hospital food in his future, but he's still with us and we're grateful beyond bloggy words.

So, where are we going with this?  Hug your Gurus every day.  Hug your wordsmiths and your boardheads and your fishing guides and your epicures.  A team is the sum of its members and becomes a whole new total if it loses one.  It can still be a team, but not the same team, and we like ours just the way it is. 

Oh yes...and Prayer Works!!