A Long September: The medical journey of Brian Rouff from an interactive, raw and real-time perspective

A Long September: The medical journey of Brian Rouff from an interactive, raw and real-time perspective

We are the only people in the waiting room now. Everyone else has been called, one by one. At 3 p.m. I go up to the desk and ask if they can find out anything. I explain that we are approaching six hours and they said it would be three. She looks at something in the computer and says it shows the first incision was at 9:15 a.m. and they are still in the OR. I know this means that some- thing happened, something unexpected, for sure something bad. My blood is running cold. I have no idea what to do. We have no choice but to wait, for however long it takes. As long as they are still in there it means he is alive. I want that doctor to walk out of that door and yet I am terrified for him to. I can tell the girls are afraid; they are watching me closely, unsure of what to do or say. I should be their rock but they can see that’s not happening. I can feel our family dynamic changing in these moments. They are going to have to be strong for me.