A Secret Smoke
Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!
I was at our hospice and a beautiful Saturday with an odd couple. The patient was an older Hispanic man that had spent the last thirty-six years behind bars in the Texas prison system. And a tall pretty middle-aged Danish lady.
He was released from prison two years ago and never smoked the whole time he was there. When he was released from prison, his sister gave him some cigarettes to give to his prison buddies. He smoked some of them and he found out that he liked to smoke.
That is how he got the lung cancer that is now killing him. But he now wanted to smoke. The problem was he was confined to a bed. I could roll him out to the garden, but not all of the way to designated smoking area.
But I told his Danish girlfriend that we could make it work. I called the nurse to disconnect him from the wall, and we rolled out into the garden. We got to about fifty feet and ran out of roll-able sidewalk. I took the portable oxygen tank from him and took it about ten feet away under a tree.
As I lit his cigarette, his girlfriend and I stood between him and the windows of the hospice so no one could see him smoke. He really enjoyed that cigarette! Sometimes you have to break some rules in order to make a patient happy.
Even though we were not all of the way to the designated smoking area, we were far enough from the oxygen sources to make it reasonably safe for everyone. Like I just said, he really enjoyed that cigarette!
Did you ever had to break some rules to make someone happy? Can you tell me about it in the comments section?
If you enjoyed this story you can click on the "follow" button so you don't miss any.
William James Roop
I was at our hospice and a beautiful Saturday with an odd couple. The patient was an older Hispanic man that had spent the last thirty-six years behind bars in the Texas prison system. And a tall pretty middle-aged Danish lady.
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| Google commons |
He was released from prison two years ago and never smoked the whole time he was there. When he was released from prison, his sister gave him some cigarettes to give to his prison buddies. He smoked some of them and he found out that he liked to smoke.
That is how he got the lung cancer that is now killing him. But he now wanted to smoke. The problem was he was confined to a bed. I could roll him out to the garden, but not all of the way to designated smoking area.
But I told his Danish girlfriend that we could make it work. I called the nurse to disconnect him from the wall, and we rolled out into the garden. We got to about fifty feet and ran out of roll-able sidewalk. I took the portable oxygen tank from him and took it about ten feet away under a tree.
As I lit his cigarette, his girlfriend and I stood between him and the windows of the hospice so no one could see him smoke. He really enjoyed that cigarette! Sometimes you have to break some rules in order to make a patient happy.
Even though we were not all of the way to the designated smoking area, we were far enough from the oxygen sources to make it reasonably safe for everyone. Like I just said, he really enjoyed that cigarette!
 |
| Google commons |
Did you ever had to break some rules to make someone happy? Can you tell me about it in the comments section?
If you enjoyed this story you can click on the "follow" button so you don't miss any.
William James Roop
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