Good Lord in heaven I have had my fill of ER's, illness, surgeries and hospitals in general for this year. I seriously want a reboot of 2018 as I am not liking it one iota so far, and it is only March 6th. I thank God that it was my own health issues that have been giving me grief and not those of people that I love. That is, in and of itself a blessing, but may God give me the health and strength to get through the rest of the year.
I have quite a few things swirling in my pretty little head today, some of which is God centered; Others just have to do with just common sense and decency. This last round with the hospital started like a bolt out of the blue with intestinal cramping and within the hour I was in the ER with a life-threatening illness. Where was God? God is the one that whispered in my ear get to the ER stat; I can't do this without the hands of the nurses and doctors that I have given the gift of healing to. That's where God was. It took a week for them to get me stabilized and on the road to recovery, which will be a long one, but here I am over a week later sitting at my computer typing this. All I can say is God bless anyone that has decided to go into the health care industry, especially the nurses and nurses' aids. They should be given the Congressional Medal of Honor for their service to us all because trust me, they do go into battle on a daily basis. In the 20 or so days that I was in the hospital I saw and heard some pretty wild stuff. They are constantly yelled for and yelled at by patients and patients' loved ones. Some people lose all sense of common sense and yes, decency, once they cross the threshold of the hospital doors. I completely and totally understand that in many cases people are upset to be in there and by the condition of their loved one, but that doesn't give them an automatic pass to be rude and condescending. Okay, I will say that there are some health care professionals that need a brush up course in bedside manner but then again if I dealt with rude people all day long my very long fuse of tolerance might be snipped in the bud as well. Who knows?
What I have learned is that it takes time for the ER to get a bed for someone who has a non-threatening illness or injury but for life-threatening things you are seen almost immediately. It takes time for a doctor to assess the patient's physical or mental state. It takes time for orders to be put in for lab work and then for the tech to come and do it. It takes time for people to be transported to testing. It takes time for the techs to actually do testing be it an x-ray, cat scan or EKG and those same techs are also taking care of in-hospital patients and those that have made appointments for tests. It takes time for techs to prepare the results for docs to review. It then takes time for them to respond to the ER doc so that a course of action can be decided upon based on the results, some of which may take hours, and sometimes days, to develop, like a culture. In the meantime, someone sitting with a patient, or a patient themselves, is sitting there complaining that nobody is checking on them. Well, please remember the next time you go into an ER that you are not the only one in there. That someone that has been brought in with a life-threatening illness will take priority over your broken bone. That if you are hooked up to any kind of monitor they know exactly what is going on as the results are being watched at the ER station by the staff that is watching them. There is actually quite a lot going on, behind the scenes, that is being done specifically for your loved one and yes, it does take time to get those results. Your nurse is the one that facilitates all of those tests that you need done. Stop yelling at them. Use some common sense. Sure address the concerns you may have but realize that things do take time, especially in the hospital and that patience does go a long way in every situation.
When it comes to common sense and decency, two things come to mind from my own experience with loved ones of other patients, both of which I was sharing a room at the time. The first was when I was in the ER for the second time with the flu (I wasn't diagnosed yet). I was sharing a room with a young woman who was there for a stomach thing and her parents were there with her. At one point the security guards kicked everyone out of the ER because they had a violent patient coming in (with a large group of police officers). For the safety of everyone in the ER, it was cleared of all visitors and the man was placed in an isolated room. Well, the Mom left her pocketbook with the sick daughter. While this was all going on the girl was brought for a CAT scan and she took the pocketbook with her. She was concerned before she went so I promised that I would tell her Mom that she had it, when the visitors were allowed back in. Well, I did just that, therefore, the Mom knew that the daughter had gone for a test and that her pocketbook was safe. What did the Mom do then? She continued to rant and rave about the safety of her pocketbook and how the violent patient was getting more attention then her daughter. She became so ridiculous with her rants that security threatened to kick her out. All this is going on, mind you, at the foot of my bed while I'm lying there feeling miserable with a fever of 103 and struggling to breathe.
The other scenario was when I was in the hospital just a few days ago with filament colitis. I had a nice big room with a lovely roommate who had many friends that visited. Well, we kept the curtains open but I didn't want to be part of their conversations, so on one evening, I think it was Tuesday night, I put on TMC, snuggled into my pillows and put the remote next to my ear so I could hear it, but it didn't disturb them. It was playing King's Row from 1942, which was an Oscar nominee for best movie. Great movie btw, with Robert Cummings, Anne Blythe and Ronald Reagan, check it out if you are into old, good movies. Anyway, At one point, one of the friends got up to leave and everyone was laughing and she said something to me so I said, what did I miss? She then said, "I'm sorry if we were disturbing you." I said, "oh no you weren't. I found a great movie on TMC from 1942 with Ronald Reagan in it." Her response? Oh well, then I'm NOT sorry we disturbed you. She was serious and gave me a dismissive hand gesture. SERIOUSLY? How about enjoy it. Feel better. Sheesh. I couldn't even tell you if I voted for the man but I can tell you that she obviously didn't. How miserable she must be if she can't even be polite to someone in a hospital bed.
At this point I guess you are wondering just where was that light that I saw in the ER? It was the light bulb that went off when I realized just how much DOES go on in an ER and in hospitals in general when caring for you or your loved one. It's the light of God shining through the care and compassion of those that work in health care. Nobody goes into that field unless they really have a calling to do it. It doesn't matter if they believe in Him or not. He IS working through their hands to heal us. It was my own light, that I was afraid was getting ready to flicker and die way, way before I wanted it to. If this year has taught me anything it is that our lives are in God's hands. We are here on His time, not ours and when we have accomplished what he sent us to do He will take us home and judge us according to our actions and deeds and how we treated everyone, not only those that we know and love.
Embrace each day. Live life to your fullest potential. Love your family and friends and, most especially, your enemies. Love your God. Today, if you meet someone that is in the health care profession, thank them. They are truly doing His work.
Peace and Love,
Mare
I have quite a few things swirling in my pretty little head today, some of which is God centered; Others just have to do with just common sense and decency. This last round with the hospital started like a bolt out of the blue with intestinal cramping and within the hour I was in the ER with a life-threatening illness. Where was God? God is the one that whispered in my ear get to the ER stat; I can't do this without the hands of the nurses and doctors that I have given the gift of healing to. That's where God was. It took a week for them to get me stabilized and on the road to recovery, which will be a long one, but here I am over a week later sitting at my computer typing this. All I can say is God bless anyone that has decided to go into the health care industry, especially the nurses and nurses' aids. They should be given the Congressional Medal of Honor for their service to us all because trust me, they do go into battle on a daily basis. In the 20 or so days that I was in the hospital I saw and heard some pretty wild stuff. They are constantly yelled for and yelled at by patients and patients' loved ones. Some people lose all sense of common sense and yes, decency, once they cross the threshold of the hospital doors. I completely and totally understand that in many cases people are upset to be in there and by the condition of their loved one, but that doesn't give them an automatic pass to be rude and condescending. Okay, I will say that there are some health care professionals that need a brush up course in bedside manner but then again if I dealt with rude people all day long my very long fuse of tolerance might be snipped in the bud as well. Who knows?
What I have learned is that it takes time for the ER to get a bed for someone who has a non-threatening illness or injury but for life-threatening things you are seen almost immediately. It takes time for a doctor to assess the patient's physical or mental state. It takes time for orders to be put in for lab work and then for the tech to come and do it. It takes time for people to be transported to testing. It takes time for the techs to actually do testing be it an x-ray, cat scan or EKG and those same techs are also taking care of in-hospital patients and those that have made appointments for tests. It takes time for techs to prepare the results for docs to review. It then takes time for them to respond to the ER doc so that a course of action can be decided upon based on the results, some of which may take hours, and sometimes days, to develop, like a culture. In the meantime, someone sitting with a patient, or a patient themselves, is sitting there complaining that nobody is checking on them. Well, please remember the next time you go into an ER that you are not the only one in there. That someone that has been brought in with a life-threatening illness will take priority over your broken bone. That if you are hooked up to any kind of monitor they know exactly what is going on as the results are being watched at the ER station by the staff that is watching them. There is actually quite a lot going on, behind the scenes, that is being done specifically for your loved one and yes, it does take time to get those results. Your nurse is the one that facilitates all of those tests that you need done. Stop yelling at them. Use some common sense. Sure address the concerns you may have but realize that things do take time, especially in the hospital and that patience does go a long way in every situation.
When it comes to common sense and decency, two things come to mind from my own experience with loved ones of other patients, both of which I was sharing a room at the time. The first was when I was in the ER for the second time with the flu (I wasn't diagnosed yet). I was sharing a room with a young woman who was there for a stomach thing and her parents were there with her. At one point the security guards kicked everyone out of the ER because they had a violent patient coming in (with a large group of police officers). For the safety of everyone in the ER, it was cleared of all visitors and the man was placed in an isolated room. Well, the Mom left her pocketbook with the sick daughter. While this was all going on the girl was brought for a CAT scan and she took the pocketbook with her. She was concerned before she went so I promised that I would tell her Mom that she had it, when the visitors were allowed back in. Well, I did just that, therefore, the Mom knew that the daughter had gone for a test and that her pocketbook was safe. What did the Mom do then? She continued to rant and rave about the safety of her pocketbook and how the violent patient was getting more attention then her daughter. She became so ridiculous with her rants that security threatened to kick her out. All this is going on, mind you, at the foot of my bed while I'm lying there feeling miserable with a fever of 103 and struggling to breathe.
The other scenario was when I was in the hospital just a few days ago with filament colitis. I had a nice big room with a lovely roommate who had many friends that visited. Well, we kept the curtains open but I didn't want to be part of their conversations, so on one evening, I think it was Tuesday night, I put on TMC, snuggled into my pillows and put the remote next to my ear so I could hear it, but it didn't disturb them. It was playing King's Row from 1942, which was an Oscar nominee for best movie. Great movie btw, with Robert Cummings, Anne Blythe and Ronald Reagan, check it out if you are into old, good movies. Anyway, At one point, one of the friends got up to leave and everyone was laughing and she said something to me so I said, what did I miss? She then said, "I'm sorry if we were disturbing you." I said, "oh no you weren't. I found a great movie on TMC from 1942 with Ronald Reagan in it." Her response? Oh well, then I'm NOT sorry we disturbed you. She was serious and gave me a dismissive hand gesture. SERIOUSLY? How about enjoy it. Feel better. Sheesh. I couldn't even tell you if I voted for the man but I can tell you that she obviously didn't. How miserable she must be if she can't even be polite to someone in a hospital bed.
At this point I guess you are wondering just where was that light that I saw in the ER? It was the light bulb that went off when I realized just how much DOES go on in an ER and in hospitals in general when caring for you or your loved one. It's the light of God shining through the care and compassion of those that work in health care. Nobody goes into that field unless they really have a calling to do it. It doesn't matter if they believe in Him or not. He IS working through their hands to heal us. It was my own light, that I was afraid was getting ready to flicker and die way, way before I wanted it to. If this year has taught me anything it is that our lives are in God's hands. We are here on His time, not ours and when we have accomplished what he sent us to do He will take us home and judge us according to our actions and deeds and how we treated everyone, not only those that we know and love.
Embrace each day. Live life to your fullest potential. Love your family and friends and, most especially, your enemies. Love your God. Today, if you meet someone that is in the health care profession, thank them. They are truly doing His work.
Peace and Love,
Mare
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