GET A C.L.E.W. FOR LIFE!©️ - The back-story behind the book 23 years later...

The following passage reflects my thoughts exactly 23 years ago on March 14, 1996 and the reason why the medical community from New York to San Francisco urged me to write my first book GET A C.L.E.W. FOR LIFE! in the first place.
​
(The photo featured with me seated was the last photo taken of me just prior to February 14, 1996 in New York. I could have never guessed the events about to unfold several weeks later on Valentine's Day 1996. The photo of me standing was taken immediately following my book talk at the business luncheon of the Executives Association of San Francisco on January 24, 2019.)

BEGIN PASSAGE:

"February 14, 1996, the color red was everywhere, representing Valentine's Day and the day septic shock and multiple organ system failure became part of my vocabulary. Twenty-nine days later, everything was turning green as I looked out from my hospital room window. Seven days before the official arrival of spring and three days before St. Patrick's Day, the time of renewal had become my rebirth. If I could just stand on my own two feet and take a few steps with the cane fitted for me that morning, I would be discharged from the Hackensack University Medical Center, the last stop on my journey back to the life I had known prior to that fateful Valentine's Day.

But could I do it? And if I could, would I be able to manage on my own away from what had become my cradle of comfort in the Cardiac Care Unit? I wanted very badly to be home in New York with my husband and son, but I was scared and nervous. I was not used to the outside world. My world had become something out of a science fiction thriller filmed on location in a medical center, only now the medical center felt like home. I was at a fork in the road. My body wanted to stay longer in the comfort and safety of the Cardiac Care Unit but my brain knew it was time to go back to New York and home to my little boy. I could imagine his little face pressed against the living room window hoping it would help make Mommy come home sooner.

I thought about my special squadron of fellow patients, my champions who cared about me and made me feel human again. I thought about the Vietnam veteran who knew something awful had transpired in New York but did not ask me for details. He just encouraged me and tried to make me smile.

So I gathered every bit of strength I could, took hold of the cane, stood up from the hospital bed, and looked straight ahead just as the physical therapist instructed me to do. I proceeded to walk on my severely nerve-damaged feet, the limbs slated for amputation just weeks earlier. For the first time in 29 days, I could do what most people take for granted. I could walk.

"Good job!" exclaimed the therapist with a big smile. "Congratulations! You can go home!"

TO BE CONTINUED when you, your company, and/or your organization contact me for speaking engagements/book talks. Learn why as a critically ill patient 23 years ago I was transferred across state lines. The reason will stun you. It has implications today in the 21st century, and it is NOT what you think...

By Audrey Lasky, MS EDU
Passage from: A Modern Love Story © 2017 The Audrey Zeitouni Lasky Company, LLC

"Let's PREVENT what we can and BE COMBAT-READY for what we cannot as we ENJOY and make the most of every single day."

Get a C.L.E.W. for Life!®️ ®️

"CLIMB, LIFT & EAT WELL..."®️ ®️