The Game Plan By Charles Prince

The North Jefferson News



Last Sunday morning was not your typical morning in my house. My wife Susan had been feeling bad most of the week with what we assumed was bad case of bronchitis, which had also brought on laryngitis.

Susan had been treating her symptoms with DayQuil and ZyCam, but we soon found out that wouldn’t be enough.

She began coughing again, but when she pulled her tissue away from her face, you could see that she had coughed up some blood. Then her nose began pouring blood, the same way water pours from a faucet.

It was probably the scariest moment I’ve been through in the 12 years Susan and I have been married.

Just minutes later, we were in the emergency room at Cullman Regional Medical Center. However, due to an overflow of patients, Susan wasn’t able to be seen that day, so I took her home to put her to bed.

On Monday, I took off work so I could take Susan to the physician she often uses when aliments come her way.

The doctor gave her a shot of steroids (okay, no Barry Bonds jokes, please), and a shot of antibiotics. She was also given prescriptions for both.

Apparently, Susan had hacked so much that her throat had become raw and that’s what caused her to cough up blood.

As of Friday, Susan is doing better, but she’s not completely over her illness.

If I could, I’d like to take a few lines and say thanks for those of you who contacted me to ask how she was doing.

When I got back in the office on Tuesday, I got two calls asking about Susan’s well-being from callers who had tried to contact me on Monday, only to learn I was at home with a sick wife.

Later, when I checked my e-mail, a couple of more folks asked about her.

Thanks for being concerned. It was a wonderfully-nice gesture.

If you have seen me covering football since I’ve been in the North Jefferson area, you’ve probably seen Susan with me.

She really likes the sport. In fact she’s a Indianapolis Colts fan. She attends most of the high school football games I cover each season.

She’s been helping me take photos this season, because she really enjoys photography and she wants to help me out instead of just watching the game.

She’s also very valuable after the games end. She fields some of the calls when assistant coaches and stat keepers call in game recaps of contests I couldn’t personally cover. She fills in the stat forms and sometimes even writes a recap sometimes. She’s a big help to me.

It looks like Susan is on the mend now, and that fact makes me very happy. Susan’s a wonderful person and I thank God often that she married me.