When we last left off in the story, I had just arrived in the hospital room where I was greeted by the charge and my nurse that day, Kim and nursing assistant Janet. While they were asking me questions a quiet little tap came on the door and it was Skylar, the patient advocate, that had encouraged me so much in the ER. Once Skylar left, we continued on with the business at hand. So I arrived from the ER dressed in an open back gown with my clothes placed on the bed but I still had on my panties. Kim, in her kind but firm manner let me know they were going to have to come off. I replied, I barely know you can we get to know one another a little bit before this event has to take place. She and Janet started laughing. I had hesitated on saying that because you know, they probably hear that all the time but in Kim's ten years of nursing, she hadn't. We bonded immediately over our love of walking on the beach, getting caught in the rain and a general disregard for minivans. Over the coming days Janet was my nursing assistant many more times than she probably wishes. Gee, my goal was to have at least one successful bed pan event. Poor Janet. I liked her because she told me like it was and wasn't afraid to let me know. Kim and I visited after vitals or any other reason she needed to be in the room. We both knew we were partaking in a divine appointment. I was fortunate to have her as my nurse both on Monday and Tuesday. She prayed for me and I for her. She is one busy nurse. I also had several male nurses, David a lot of the time and of course Ora, Jennifer and Peggy. Lots and lots of assistants and I enjoyed meeting them all. Sometimes late in the night of the early morning the assistant and I would discuss life while doing the whole bed pan thing. It was a great opportunity to share the love of Christ. Until surgery, I slept a lot because of the pain meds.
Later on Monday, Roy and Emily arrived. Emily was driving the truck home and Roy had packed a suitcase for the week. Kim told him about the Marriott close by and as he and Emily went to get the truck and then fill it up, he stopped in and got a room for the week. Roy said he totally threw me under the bus, and well why not, which got him a cheaper rate and a first floor room. We cannot thank Emily enough for being willing to make that day of driving and have to endure the driving of Roy from Katy to Lafayette.
It doesn't take long to lose all dignity and it becomes less of a concern because you are being asked all kinds of questions, looked at in all manner of ways and your personal space, comfort zone has to be thrown out the window. You can only hope that it returns once you are released from the hospital. Thankfully, mine has. In those situations one must keep a sense of humor. There is a special bed pan for people who have broken their hips and I think they were made for people who are size zero. Lots of leaning to the left, leaning to the right, no standing, just sitting...wee wee wee. Thankfully, the hospital had a generous supply of chuck pads.
Learning these new skills kept me occupied as well as pain meds. It was also interesting when friends called and I could hear that slight break in their voices that signaled that I had really scared them. Or rather how quickly the situation developed and scared them. It hasn't been until Sunday that it occurred to me that the happenings of the past week had some treacherous times in many ways. I've been asked are you going to decorate your walker? NO! This is not going to become a permanent accessory so I am not going to decorate. Really, who can pick up a decorated mat and walk when Jesus gives the command?
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