My new hero

I'm hoping Santa brings Dr. Maria Siemionow something extra for Christmas this year. Her amazing talent gave a new face to a horribly disfigured woman. Where this woman would have more than likely faced life as a shut-in, she now has a second chance. Man, how many of us are granted such a chance?

I'm also hoping that Santa has something special for the generous family who looked past their grief and donated their loved one's organs so this poor woman could have a new life. Sort of makes all the other garbage that's going on pale in comparison. Maria, you're my new hero for the month.

Reiki - Spiritually Guided Life Force Energy

As is the wont of most twenty-five-year-olds, my son considers himself indestructible. Bully for him – except when he’s challenging a mountain and a rail armed with a snowboard and no helmet. Guess who won? A broken clavicle in four places landed him in surgery this past Monday.

The nurses took him back and got him prepped. It was at this point he got pretty nervous, so I went back and Reiki’d him like crazy. The energy poured out of me, and he soaked it up like a sponge. After a few minutes he went from anxious, to completely relaxed, to the point of snozzing off into a deep meditative state.

Okay, that was cool, but I’ve done that before. Here’s the funky part; I happened to be working on the soles of his feet when the anesthesiologist came in to give him his pre-surgical cocktail. The minute the drugs left the tubing and went into his veins, the energy shot out of my hands like fire. I mean, it ramped up like I’ve never felt before. My hands and my son’s feet tingled and burned. It’s like the energy knew the drugs had entered his body and set about doing its thing. I’ve never done Reiki in the midst of an injection before, and this gave me a front row seat to witnessing an intelligent energy knowing far more than I. I’m merely the conduit.

Truly amazing. Truly humbling.

The medical personnel was great. No one whistled the Twilight Zone theme song. In fact, the OR nurse grinned when she found out I was doing Reiki and said, "Oh, I love that stuff!"