We laugh about it now.

So once upon a time when this was all still very new to us, we needed to be emergency air lifted down to Vancouver for my first surgery. Not only at this point did we find out my tumor had burst, but it was also a snowstorm. Hooray. This meant driving code 3 (lights and sirens and FAST) to the airport on apparently, according to the paramedic, very icy roads. Even better. No sooner do we get on the plane and my mom realized her seatbelt wasn't quite up to par, no big deal, she tied the strap down and we were on our way. 

At this point in time I was drifting in and out of consciousness, every time I opened my eyes they would push some morphine and I would go back to sleep. But I woke up during the plane ride and kept my eyes closed so I could be aware of what's going on. Then we hit "turbulence" and what felt like an air pocket turned into our dual engine plane becoming a single engine plane. No big deal right? Well from my point of view I remember hearing "fuel pump leaking... Emergency landing in Kelowna... Make it to Vancouver.... Mid-air engine restart..." (The "..."Representing what I don't remember) and also my mom saying "seriously, you're freaking kidding me". 

Seriously, we weren't freaking kidding.

We made it safe to Vancouver (although a few fire trucks and ambulances followed the plane down the runway) and we made it to Vancouver General Hospital. Once I was (sort of) settled and all teams of doctors had taken blood and done their testing, the social worker convinced my mom to leave me so she can tour the hospital. She found the rat that they must have been feeding with all the blood they took from me. Yes. That's right. A rat.

Two? Days later I was in for surgery, and as was being prepped my parents asked if I wanted anything, and all I could think of was a DS with Mario and Zelda games. Oh, and paying off my car but I wanted to do that by myself. My anesthesiologist wanted me to ask for a Ferrari. 

Coming out of surgery everyone says funny things they don't remember. The very first thing I (apparently) said was "well that was fun... I think?" And my mother told me I called a woman a b**** because I was on a fluid restriction and couldn't have juice and she could. She was also being mean to the nurse about what flavour of juice. I stand by what I guess I said. The man in the bed next to me was annoying as well (we later clued in it was because he had anxiety and paranoia) and I guess I was so mad I said "I hope he had his lung removed too so it's easier to suffocate him while he sleeps". And grandma got a time out for having Tim Hortens. 

At the time we were all in a panic, and we were all scared. The realization of all this is that I was just a few days away from not being here today. It's still scary to think that. But now that the scariest part is over (I hope) we can look back at the good times we had, and even laugh about the bad times. It's just nice to know I have someone looking out for me. Because here I am.

And I'm not going anywhere but forward from here.

This wasn't the plane that broke, but I thought I could add this picture I took while standing underneath a plane at the end of the runway at YVR.