From Bitter to Happy
Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
Yesterday morning at the hospice started out kinda slow with all the patients asleep or with family. One patient was sitting up in bed but he said that he did not want a visit, so I excused myself.
One of the nurses asked if the volunteer office had any pillowcases left, and a comb. I checked and we did have one pillowcase left. We have a group of volunteers who sew special pillowcases for our patients. A little something to brighten up their rooms. We didn't have any combs but we did have a circular compact that had a mirror and a push out brush.
I followed the nurse into the room. She was a lady in her sixties and she didn't look sick. She had just arrived the day before. Just before I arrived she had just eaten a large breakfast and was proud of it because she had not eaten a solid meal for a couple of weeks. We started to talk and she started to throw it all up. After cleaning her up the nurse gave her some pain med and a anti-nausea medicine. Anyway, not to let a good barfing disrupt a good visit, I sat down to visit with her and show her some support and love. Her mood was still good even though she was very disappointed about not keeping the food down.
She was upset that her primary care doctor did not catch the cancer on time. She had a pain in her shoulder for awhile and then in her chest and she thought she had a heart attack. Her doctor, which was an older man close to retirement thought it was nothing but a muscle pull. After waiting for some time with no relief, they then decided to make some x-rays. That's when they found out it was lung cancer! They had lost so much time by then the cancer had spread from her lungs down her spine. The doctor just told her that it was not his specialty and referred her to a cancer doctor. It was incurable by that time. So, she was bitter that she didn't have a chance to fight it, and maybe survive.
But after a nice conversation about her insurance carrier for forty years and a funny video of my wife snoring, she was in a much better mood! She finally started dosing off due the the pain medication and so I eased out of the room. She never married and had no kids which I thought was sad. A carrier woman all her life, a very important regional manager. But we all die as equals.
As I was leaving, I was talking to another volunteer by the front doors, and a large Lincoln pulls up with a name sign on the doors. A chauffeur driving and two older folks in the back. We looked at each other and said that a movie star must be here! But an older gentleman in his nineties walking with only a cane walks in and we talked for a few minutes. He stays at a assisted living in the wealthy part of town and had lot of amenities! He was visiting his wife of sixty-six years! What a guy, still very sharp minded! That made a very nice ending to my morning at the hospice.
Has anyone else been bitter about something? Can you tell me about it in the comments section?
Brother Roop
Yesterday morning at the hospice started out kinda slow with all the patients asleep or with family. One patient was sitting up in bed but he said that he did not want a visit, so I excused myself.
One of the nurses asked if the volunteer office had any pillowcases left, and a comb. I checked and we did have one pillowcase left. We have a group of volunteers who sew special pillowcases for our patients. A little something to brighten up their rooms. We didn't have any combs but we did have a circular compact that had a mirror and a push out brush.
I followed the nurse into the room. She was a lady in her sixties and she didn't look sick. She had just arrived the day before. Just before I arrived she had just eaten a large breakfast and was proud of it because she had not eaten a solid meal for a couple of weeks. We started to talk and she started to throw it all up. After cleaning her up the nurse gave her some pain med and a anti-nausea medicine. Anyway, not to let a good barfing disrupt a good visit, I sat down to visit with her and show her some support and love. Her mood was still good even though she was very disappointed about not keeping the food down.
She was upset that her primary care doctor did not catch the cancer on time. She had a pain in her shoulder for awhile and then in her chest and she thought she had a heart attack. Her doctor, which was an older man close to retirement thought it was nothing but a muscle pull. After waiting for some time with no relief, they then decided to make some x-rays. That's when they found out it was lung cancer! They had lost so much time by then the cancer had spread from her lungs down her spine. The doctor just told her that it was not his specialty and referred her to a cancer doctor. It was incurable by that time. So, she was bitter that she didn't have a chance to fight it, and maybe survive.
But after a nice conversation about her insurance carrier for forty years and a funny video of my wife snoring, she was in a much better mood! She finally started dosing off due the the pain medication and so I eased out of the room. She never married and had no kids which I thought was sad. A carrier woman all her life, a very important regional manager. But we all die as equals.
As I was leaving, I was talking to another volunteer by the front doors, and a large Lincoln pulls up with a name sign on the doors. A chauffeur driving and two older folks in the back. We looked at each other and said that a movie star must be here! But an older gentleman in his nineties walking with only a cane walks in and we talked for a few minutes. He stays at a assisted living in the wealthy part of town and had lot of amenities! He was visiting his wife of sixty-six years! What a guy, still very sharp minded! That made a very nice ending to my morning at the hospice.
Has anyone else been bitter about something? Can you tell me about it in the comments section?
Brother Roop
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