When Goals and Life Collide
The Goals
Last week I had a plan for productivity:
- Finish a course on JavaScript Promises.
- Increased engagement with the Grow with Google community.
My Week
Itstarted out admittedly slow in terms of productivity. Not a big deal! I had gotten a lot done the previous week. I even tried some new things. Overall I classified it as a success. The goals that I set for this week seemed very achievable and I wasn’t worried.
I started out by diving into Phaser. This was the proposed framework that was going to be used in a group project some of the Grow with Google community members had proposed. The idea was to make a JavaScript game that had offline first features. Since I’ve never used Phaser before I found some tutorials I could follow to familiarize myself with the framework and shared them with my peers in case they wanted to do the same. If your curious those tutorials are a 2D breakout game and a 2D platform game. I setup my repository for the 2D breakout game so when I was ready I could just dive into the tutorial!
Along the community engagement lines I also started getting caught back up on our Slack group. I tend to participate in the forums more but I want to get out of my comfort zone and get the most out of this opportunity for group learning and collaboration. So I joined a few more channels and skimmed my way to current on the channels I had already joined.
Other activities still include Flexbox Zombies (done with Chapter 9!) and running while listening to podcasts. At this point I need to take a moment to rant:
I’m getting so tired of the React vs Angular vs Vue discussion! Perhaps I’m just too much of a noob but if your going to have that discussion let’s talk about particulars. Specific weaknesses and/or strengths of a given framework. Something where you can take away some knowledge that a more seasoned developer has experienced. At least some learning could be facilitated from the discussion! The do your research and weigh the pros and cons and ask the right questions before making an unbiased decision as to which one works/scales best for your particular project is good advice…. it would be even better if some examples of said things were shared.
Moving on…
Almost immediately my time management and prioritization skills are tested!
Friday: I did community interaction while my wife was getting hydration at the infusion center. Saturday: Before heading over to my In-Law’s to help them replace an alternator in their vehicle I did some Flexbox Zombies and reading. When that was done I got my run in. Sunday: I stayed home from work to help my wife around the house and added a link to my Portfolio. (This was only possible because my In-Laws came over to help as well).
Finding the time to be productive was challenging, perhaps mildly irritating, but nothing compared to the shit-storm on the horizon…
The following day we had “routine” doctor appointments. (Blood work, face to face time with the doctor, Albumin and hydration at the infusion center, topped off with a CT Scan in radiology.)
The lab results came back less than ideal. This prompted the doctor to admit my wife to get her in better shape. It sucked but all in all it was fine. We’ll hang out in the hospital for a day or two, get my wife in good shape, and go home! Last week I got an entire feature added to one of my projects while hanging out in the hospital for just a day. Perhaps the silver lining would be good productivity.
The CT Scan results came back… her kidneys are being obstructed, she’s not clearing fluids properly. At this point stress levels are rising and productivity is non existent. My role shifts slightly more to nurse than moral and logistical support. The doctors come up with a plan to fix it: a minor surgical procedure. It should only take about an hour. Queue the shit-storm…
We wait for the procedure to begin. Every passing minute her health seems to be deteriorating. It’s not surprising really. She hasn’t eaten in a few days and her hydration is bare minimum until after the procedure. We’re just managing symptoms the best we can. In a moment it changes from stressful and helpless to terrifying!
She falls asleep. She’s been doing that a lot. Anybody would be with that much anti-nausea and pain medicine in their system. This time though, we can’t get her to wake up. Transport is there to take her to do the procedure. We say her name. We yell her name and shake her! She remains asleep. The CNA leaves to inform the nurse. I’m there at her side shaking her and saying her name with little success. She drifts in and out.
Then nurses rush through the door! Six (I think) nurses crammed into her hospital room with vital machines and other devices/tools. Shaking her, saying her name, hooking up instruments, taking pulse, and checking the computer as they relay information back and forth. The blood pressure machine can’t get a blood pressure reading. The nurses struggle locating a manual blood pressure cuff. We can only get her attention for short periods of time. Her finger is pricked and a machine reads her blood sugar. It’s crazy low! The manual blood pressure cuff is found and a nurse takes her blood pressure. It’s also crazy low! An ICU nurse has been called up to help any way she can. She is administered a drug and suddenly she comes to. Swiftly she locks eyes with me. Her eyes tell me she thinks she’s dying. She asks, “Are you worried?” I respond as I take her hand, “No, your blood sugar is just really low. The nurses are working on fixing it.” They get a syringe full of dextrose (sugar) and inject her with it. Still she continues to drift away. She struggles to tell me she loves me. I realize she’s saying her final goodbyes…. So we do…. This is the saddest moment of my life.
The nurses get her stable enough and feel that we need to get this procedure done. I walk with her all the way into the operating room. I kiss her and am walked into the waiting room.
A restless hour passes and I receive a call from one of the nurses that assisted with the operation. She informs me that the procedure was a success but she’s still really fragile. They are going to move her to the ICU to recover.
We are on the other side of it now. She’s stable and alert! The procedure was a success! We’ll be going home soon.
I didn’t achieve any of my goals this week. I missed my move goal for the first time in 337 days. Seems silly to even mention considering the week we’ve had. Your not going to achieve every goal you set. You can’t plan for everything. Life is going to do it’s thing and sometimes you just have to hang on and hope for the best.
Clean up after the storm and continue the journey…
I originally published this on Medium