I stated the other day that the stay in the hospital was one of the best weeks in my life. I hesitated to say those words. Did I really mean it? What if a benevolent Higher Power suddenly grants me the privilege of month after month in the hospital? Was I just being cute? Even worse, was I being clever? No, I really mean it, it was one of the best weeks of my life.

If I had to sum it up in one word, that word would be vision. Vision is a very powerful word. It is what the man who crawls up the mountain on bloodied hands and knees asks of the guru at the top. Jesus Christ speaks of it many times; in fact, it is something that is sought in many faiths. So what did I see? I saw a lot.

I saw life. I am a 54 year old middle aged man. I am not a criminal, but I am not a great contributor to society. I am a consumer. I possess no skill that society critically needs, I have no ideas that will make a difference in the world, and in fact I am more taker than giver. I would be first off the lifeboat. Yet I wanted to live. Life is the most powerful force and I did not want to lose it. If my life is valuable, then all lives are valuable and we all must do what we can to protect life. That raises so many questions. What is my responsibility to take care of my own life? How about the life of my neighbour? More awkwardly, how about the life of my enemy? How about the life of someone who has something that I or my society wants? How about the life of the unborn? Or how about the quality of life of the yet to be born? More awkwardly still, how about the life of those who want to end it themselves? Who does life belong to? Who makes the choice? But I did see life!

I saw competence and skill. A quintuple bypass is pretty heavy duty and I think that I had platinum card treatment from nine in the morning on February 23rd when I walked into the Pre Admission Unit (PAU) at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. I was trying to do a mental tabulation of individuals I personally encountered, and I came up with the number 20, and that does not include the surgical team. I am guessing that with the surgical team the number gets closer to 30 and that does not include the unseen techs and administrators. I think of the collective years of training and education that were required to provide this, not to mention the money and the support of loved ones. When you drive by a hospital you just see a building, stay there for a few days and you see a bit of a glimpse of what is really there.

I saw what it is like to be weak. When you are somewhat immobilized by frailty, discomfort, and a few wires and tubes, it is not fun. I was able to measure my confinement time in days, really in hours, but it really made me think about those that are restrained by physical and mental handicaps, age, disease, weakness and other things.

I saw the best of the medical system. Criticism of the Canadian / Ontario system is rampant , apoplectic, seething, and unremitting and that is from the fans. All I can say is this: I cannot imagine or visualize better treatment. Right from the ease of the administrative paper work at the PAU, to my prep by the nurses there, to the ride down to the OR, to greeting there, to wake up in the ICU, the work they do there, the ride down to your room, the nurses, the docs, the techs, the orderlies, the housekeepers, the food service workers, the exercise therapists, the educators, the volunteers - they were all fantastic. The same for my home medical clinic and the same for the Home Care Nurse from the County of Renfrew. I give everybody 5 stars out of 5. Again, that is my view. My heart goes out to those who fall between the cracks. My sympathy goes out to people that feel the system performs beneath their expecations. But my message to the Premier is this: I am one very satisfied and grateful customer.

I saw myself at the top of the top of the resources of the earth. I thought that likely for 99% of the earth’s peoples my week of vision would have been a week of the impossible. Why was I chosen? Why am so blessed? What am I going to do with this?

I said at the start that the week in the hospital was one best of my life. Never has the state of my body been improved more. And never have I learned more. And never have I had more questions. What am I going to do with my new power of vision?