Of Crises, Nurses, and Other Odd Thoughts
by Linda Rodriguez
This will be the shortest blog post I’ve ever written.
Primarily because it’s the middle of the night, and I just got home from many unexpected
hours in a suburban hospital. A good friend was supposed to have emergency
open-heart surgery at 6:00 a.m. Thursday, and I had agreed to sit and wait with
his wife, an even dearer friend for many years, since the surgery was to take
8-10 hours—many arteries to bypass and a hole in the heart to repair. Only the
doctors kept putting off the surgery, first until 8:00 a.m., then until 11:00
a.m., and again until 1:00 p.m., and yet again until 2:00 p.m., and finally
until 3:00 p.m., only to finally take him into surgery at 5:00 p.m. Both of
them went over 24 hours without food, and my friend, the wife, went 48 hours
without sleep (they had at least sedated the patient to sleep the night
before). And the delays were extremely stressful, causing them to run
constantly on adrenaline all day as each of them geared up to be strong and
brave for the surgery, only to have it delayed again and have to go through it
all over repeatedly. It was a nightmare situation in the first place and soon
began to take on the aspect of a psychological horror story. When I left the
hospital in the wee hours of the morning, things were going well with the
surgery, and my friend had wisely decided to go to the hotel next door to the
hospital to try to get some sleep since it was still going to take hours to
complete.
Primarily because it’s the middle of the night, and I just got home from many unexpected
hours in a suburban hospital. A good friend was supposed to have emergency
open-heart surgery at 6:00 a.m. Thursday, and I had agreed to sit and wait with
his wife, an even dearer friend for many years, since the surgery was to take
8-10 hours—many arteries to bypass and a hole in the heart to repair. Only the
doctors kept putting off the surgery, first until 8:00 a.m., then until 11:00
a.m., and again until 1:00 p.m., and yet again until 2:00 p.m., and finally
until 3:00 p.m., only to finally take him into surgery at 5:00 p.m. Both of
them went over 24 hours without food, and my friend, the wife, went 48 hours
without sleep (they had at least sedated the patient to sleep the night
before). And the delays were extremely stressful, causing them to run
constantly on adrenaline all day as each of them geared up to be strong and
brave for the surgery, only to have it delayed again and have to go through it
all over repeatedly. It was a nightmare situation in the first place and soon
began to take on the aspect of a psychological horror story. When I left the
hospital in the wee hours of the morning, things were going well with the
surgery, and my friend had wisely decided to go to the hotel next door to the
hospital to try to get some sleep since it was still going to take hours to
complete.
So I’m pretty brain-dead with not much blogging ability to
my name. This has come on the heels of a crisis involving a death connected to
my family over the holidays, and I’m kind of emergencied out right now. Any new
crisis that tries to come to my house will simply have to go away and come back
later. There’s just nothing left to give. But I have a few random,
crisis-created thoughts to share with you.
my name. This has come on the heels of a crisis involving a death connected to
my family over the holidays, and I’m kind of emergencied out right now. Any new
crisis that tries to come to my house will simply have to go away and come back
later. There’s just nothing left to give. But I have a few random,
crisis-created thoughts to share with you.
Nurses are the salt of the earth, angels, and every other
cliché that’s ever been written or said about them. They make a difference
every day and night in so many lives. Why are they paid so little when pro
sports stars are paid so much?
cliché that’s ever been written or said about them. They make a difference
every day and night in so many lives. Why are they paid so little when pro
sports stars are paid so much?
Crises and emergencies can bring estranged families back
together or drive them further apart. I’ve seen vivid examples of both just
recently, and I vote for bringing them back into touch with each other. Stop
letting the little stuff get in the way of being with the people you love. Hug
the people you love while you still have a chance.
together or drive them further apart. I’ve seen vivid examples of both just
recently, and I vote for bringing them back into touch with each other. Stop
letting the little stuff get in the way of being with the people you love. Hug
the people you love while you still have a chance.
A cosplay funeral is always a bad idea. The less said about
that, the better.
that, the better.
And nurses—salt of the earth, angels in scrubs. Pay them
more!
more!
after all that, I hope the surgery was a complete success.
Heard this morning that it was, though he's still out. Thanks for asking, Margaret.
"Crisis, crisis, go away. Come again .. . " No, not like the "rain, rain" ditty. May the crises "stay away". Hope your friend recovers well. You are an awesome friend, Linda!! And yes, nurses are definitely undervalued. (So are our teachers.) Take care of yourself.
Marjorie, I've just put up a big, business-like sign on the front door saying, "No crises allowed until at least next month!"
Always hard. Have two nurses in the family–granddaughters-in-law–one is an emergency room nurse, the other works with the elderly. They love their jobs.
Marilyn, please tell your granddaughters-in-law how much I admire them.