Stress Affects Different People in Different Ways

My son is having heart surgery this coming Thursday (September 13, 2007).

I don't consciously feel very tense or worried, but I am finding myself doing things that indicate I am preoccupied or distracted:

• I thought I'd left my cell phone at home. I even left a message for someone I needed to contact saying that she had to leave a message for me at home because I forgot it today. And then, there it is on my belt clip.

• I tried to call someone, forgetting my bluetooth headset was connected to the phone, and three times I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting any sound.

• I couldn't find my badge at work today, so at the cafeteria I had to have the lady punch in my employee number. Only, someone had found my badge and given it to me earlier in the day and I was wearing it. No wonder the woman didn't need me to confirm my name after she punched in the number. Bleh.

I did have some moisture in my eyes today thinking about the possibility of losing him, but I definitely cope with the stress in a different way than my wife.

She seems to be more in touch with her feelings and for some months, as long as we've known about his surgery date, has cried a little from time to time. She worries about this being a sign of weakness, but it's not. There's a place for appropriate emotion about things. I was actually more concerned about myself and that I wasn't feeling it enough. But I'm just a different person. And a man, too, who compartmentalizes fairly well.