"On October 6, 1981, I had a fifteen-and-a-half-hour surgery; it was autumn; the leaves were changing colour. The landscape was changing, and so was I. The lengthy surgery and long recovery left me with significant emotional, physical, and spiritual changes from my previous self. It had a profound effect on my family; my children lost the mother as they knew her. My husband lost his wife as he knew me. It was like a death that none of us were ready...