Have you hugged your Super Hero today?

Original photo provided by ErinBurroughPhotography.com

superhero:  a fictional character appearing in comic books or movies who has amazing powers and is dedicated to protecting the public.

super hero: someone with distinguished courage or ability, admired for brave achievements and exceptional qualities.

When you think of a superhero, who comes to mind? Superman, Batman, Spider-Man? Rightly so, because those fictional characters fit the definition of a superhero.

Who comes to mind when you think of a super hero? Lately, my biggest super hero has been one of my smallest grandsons.

From an early age, he was plagued with ear infections and ear drainage. My daughter would take him again and again to his pediatrician and she would prescribe antibiotics and ear drops. Nothing helped. Finally, my daughter asked the pediatrician if she would refer him to an ear, nose, and throat doctor. She did.

The ENT acknowledged there was something in my grandson's right ear that prevented him from being able to see inside the ear. The prescribed treatment? Washing the ear canal out with vinegar and water. My daughter took my grandson to that ENT 3-4 times over the course of several months and even asked the doctor to remove the tonsils and adenoids and put tubes in his ears. The doctor said that procedure would not help the problem.

Fortunately, my daughter and son-in-law made the decision to take their son to another ENT. Immediately, the second ENT knew what the problem was: cholesteatoma, an infection in the middle ear and mastoid region. Left untreated, this infection can cause total and permanent deafness. It can attack the facial nerve causing facial paralysis. It can travel to the brain, and in rare cases, lead to death.

The second ENT immediately scheduled surgery to have the tonsils and adenoids removed, something the first doctor said was unnecessary. A tube was put in the left ear, but one couldn't be put in the right ear because the infection had eaten the eardrum and two of the three small bones (ossicles). Nothing could be done about the infection at that time.

A second surgery was performed several weeks later. An incision was made behind the ear so the doctor could open the ear to scrape out the infection. Hoping to grow a new eardrum, a graft was put in place.

For the next couple of months the ear seemed to be healing nicely. The graft took resulting in a new eardrum. However, the ear started to drain again. A CAT scan revealed another surgery was needed to scrape out any infection that had returned.

My grandson was a trooper. When he found out another surgery was needed, he was scared, but willing to have it done. He had the surgery on Thursday. The doctor said that as long as he didn't jump around or roughhouse with the other kids, he could go back to school as soon as he was up to it. He went back to his kindergarten class the following Monday. A true super hero.

My boss recently lost her husband to cancer. On August 5 he started hiccuping. A brain tumor was discovered along with other tumors throughout his body. On October 21 he took his last breath.

I felt numb as I watched this horror story play out over the last few weeks of his life. There was nothing I could say or do to make this nightmare go away. If I could have carried any of her pain for her, I would have. I couldn't be her super hero.

She was his super hero, though, and that's what really mattered. She was at his side every step of the way. Together they saw doctors. Together they went through treatment. Together they decided when to stop treatment. When he could no longer take care of himself, she did it for him. Now she has to go on without him.

When we were kids and our mom bought us a new pair of tennis shoes, we just knew our new shoes had the power to make us run faster and jump higher. In reality they did nothing special. They were just shoes. There's no special suit a super hero can put on to become powerful like a superhero. Super heroes can't leap tall buildings in a single bound. They can't weave a web around the villain obstacle in their life and lock it up for good. What they can do is face whatever comes before them with an incredible amount of strength and stamina. They can find needed strength to stand up when they've been beaten down, putting one foot in front of the other to accomplish whatever needs to be done that day. They endure.

Super heroes come in all ages, sizes and nationalities. They're just everyday people that face problems that are unfortunately becoming more and more commonplace.  Super heroes have something superheroes don't. We have each other.