Happy New Year! I wish everyone a blessed 2012.
I just spent four days and three nights in the hospital after surgery, and during that time I learned a lot and thought a lot about things I did not understand in the first 56 years of my life when I was not the one lying in that bed.
First, I owe an apology to my great aunt and uncle and their son (I don't know what degree of cousin that made him!). Include in that group my grandmother and grandfather and finally my mom and dad.
They spent many days and nights in the hospital and I was often there with them.
I now realize why they could never get comfortable and why they couldn't reach this or that and made so many requests for something only to change their mind before I could get back in my chair or to the other side of the bed.
None of these family members were complainers or burdensome, but I just never realized how helpless you really are when you are lying on your back....Man will walk on Mars before anyone will be able to sleep on their side in a hospital bed, but that's another issue!
After surgery you have to think about the most minute physical action on your part and the resulting effect on your body if you actually attempt the move. You can't just reach over and grab a cup of water, you can't do anything without looking and concentrating. I never realized how much planning actually can go into deciding if you want your glasses or not! You better really want that cell phone before you try to reach for it, because your arm may not move the way you want it to or it may hurt more than you are willing to accept just to see who sent you a text.
The buttons to adjust the bed or the remote for the TV/call button were never in the right place.
I now know that my mom and dad were correct every time they wanted a light turned on just to want it turned off less than a minute later. I realize that infinite attempts to adjust blinds to their satisfaction was a completely legitimate request.
I know now a lot of things that I didn't know then, and to all my relatives I offer my sincere apologies..
It just proves sometimes you can't understand if you have never been there. As they say, sympathy is cheap but empathy costs something..
I have a wife and daughter who have endured relatively "short" hospital stays (10 minutes is a short stay, any longer is an eternity... no matter how much actual time passes.) and I have apologized to them several times already.
To any of my friends who have been hospitalized (and I have several that come to mind for kidney stones) I also apologize. I just never realized exactly what it is like.
Anyway, I did a lot of thinking and made some observations.
Hospital beds are designed to be able to raise, lower, tilt, adjust, everything except allow a patient to get comfortable., The sheets, blankets, and pillows are everywhere, but they are never in a position that enables you to get comfortable.
If legislators had to lie in hospital beds for all congressional hearings, committee meetings, and the State of the Union address, things would go much faster, that is for sure.
If all legislators had to sleep in hospital beds the entire time they are in Congress then there would be no debate over term limits! Of course there would be scandals over the senator found sleeping on a cot or in a recliner, but I doubt you would find many wanting to go to Washington (or Austin) and spend 30-40 years there.
I may have to look into that as a suggestion, but I don't think even a US congressman would be stupid enough to introduce the bill! Actually, there is that guy who was worried Guam could get overcrowded and turn over....I need to get his name...
One time the remote control for the call button, TV, and lights fell on the floor. I didn't want to wake my wife to get it, so I used the skill of picking things up with my toes to my advantage. For years my wife has questioned why I would try to pick something off the floor using my toes instead of bending over and just picking it up. Well, this time all the practice paid off. It was still about a two minute activity because I had to get in just the right position and could only make one attempt, Thank heavens, I was successful.
I felt like I had performed one of those tasks astronauts do that always take so much time...
Medical care in the U.S. is the best in the world and I have no complaints about any of my treatment. The surgeons, nurses, techs, aides, and everyone else could not have been any kinder or more professional and that is not by accident.
I got what I needed when I needed it because our medical system--at least at the present time--is still allowed to function without TOO much government interference. I pray we continue to have access to this kind of care, I am so thankful that it was available to me.
Now, I do have to mention that in pre-op, before they start the actual anesthesia, they give you a little Versed-which is a conscious sedation drug.( On a side note, it is a personal favorite from various "scopes" I have enjoyed in the past.) There was only one slight problem...there was no Versed anywhere in the ENTIRE hospital...I thought it was very funny...I just hope it is not a peek at the future of American medicine!
(For those of you who were concerned, they had another drug that must have worked just as well, After all, there is a variety of anethetics up to and including ball peen hammers!)
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