ArsCompendium - Digital Scribes For The New Millenium

Users Online

1 User Online

Hospital Stays

Read more articles on Life's Nuances and Adults and Let Me Share With You.

April 22, 2007

About This Editor: Karen has enjoyed her many varied experiences in corporate business management, dance education, and preschool assistance. She hopes to write about these past lives-and more-from her home in Pittsburgh, PA, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and 3 cats.

386 Views

Submit this article to the following social bookmark news sites:

Well, it’s been one of those weeks.

Those of you who’ve had a parent in the hospital for any extended time know what I’m talking about. It’s just plain hard, in every way.

There’s that shock every time you walk into the room and realize that the small figure of an old person lying motionless with tubes everywhere is really your parent. There’s the realization that time is slipping by faster than you care to admit. There’s the fear of not really knowing the whole story, and not knowing what tomorrow will bring, just like not wanting to answer the phone for fear it’s another doctor. It’s looking at his stuff and hoping that he or she will continue to still be using it next month and next year. It’s calling family, suspending cable service, going through bank statements, and hoping that you won’t have to do it again, any time soon, for much more somber reasons.

My dad’s vital signs are becoming stable, although there still are a few mysteries stumping the professionals. Some advances have been made, but there’s a long road ahead.

A few days ago I did something I’ve never done in all my life-I gave him a shave. It was definitely one of those poignant moments. My daughter can’t understand how it doesn’t bother me to see him like that, and all I can say is that you just don’t see the tubes and such after awhile. Every step forward is a reason to have hope.

I think his spirit is improving, though: he’s getting enough energy to be cranky. He’s starting to kid the nurses. And he asked me to bring him two cans of beer. (I told him when he gets the food IV out, and the stomach tube out, and the docs say it’s ok with his diabetes and blood pressure, then we’ll talk. He was not amused.)

So, if you have someone in the hospital, change your schedule, leave other things go, get yourself in your car, and go. That’s the kind of thing that really matters. And don’t think too much about how it could be us someday in that bed, unless as a motivation to live a better life until that point.

I’ve often wondered if doctors and nurses have that kind of view, seeing sickness and death as their daily life. All I know is that I couldn’t do it. Thank God for those who can.