by jphilo | Jun 21, 2012 | Three Thoughts for Thursday
For the past couple of weeks, my life has revolved around caring for friends and family – Hiram’s surgery June 12, a Camp Dorothy overnight last weekend, and taking some kids swimming so their pregnant mama could get some rest. Such circumstances rarely shine a light on my finest hour, but the situations did result in three care giving thoughts for Thursday:
1. I’m pretty sure the doctor prescribed a 5 pound lifting limit for a certain male patient who had back surgery to keep him from lifting more than 10 pounds.
2. Taking imaginative children to the swimming pool isn’t about going swimming. It’s about prowling in the water like a tiger cooling off on a hot jungle day, hopping in the water like a frog in a pond, and swimming underwater like a tadpole. But after 2 1/2 hours of prowling, hopping, and swimming, the tiger, frog, tadpole, children, and adult weren’t pretend tuckered out. They were honest-to-goodness, for real tuckered out.
3. I usually take Mom for her annual mammogram, but since it was the same day as Hiram’s surgery, my brother took her instead. She had a haircut the same morning, so during our Camp Dorothy overnight last weekend, I asked her, “Did you survive your big squish and snip morning okay?”
She shook her head and smiled. “It wasn’t squish and snip. It was press and tress.”
Yup, Mom’s still got her sense of humor!
Have you had any memorable care giving moments lately? If so, leave a comment.
by jphilo | Jun 14, 2012 | Family
Hiram is up and at ’em after Tuesday’s back surgery to remove the disk fragment pressing on his sciatic nerve. Since the source of his back pain was a disk fragment from the ruptured L4 vertebrae that migrated to the L3 region, I think 3 hospital thoughts for Thursday are in order. Here goes:
- We are very thankful for modified laprascopic neurosurgery and gifted surgeons who perform them. Thank you, Dr. Brandenberg!
- Nurses really are the worst patients. Especially if they’re
incarcerated being treated in the hospital where they work.
- Caring for a post-surgery spouse in the hospital is much easier than caring for a post-surgery newborn, toddler, preschooler, or adolescent child. May you never be able to make the comparison!
Do you have something to say about a recent hospital experience, either as patient or caregiver? Leave a comment!
by jphilo | Jun 12, 2012 | Top Ten Tuesday
Hiram’s surgery was at 7:30 this morning, but he had to be at the hospital at 6:00. With our early arrival, I quickly discovered 10 good reasons to avoid the hospital at such an early hour. Here goes!
10. The parking valets look like they’re either about to fall asleep from boredom or like they just woke up. In either case, should they be driving other people’s cars?
9. One trades a stunning sunrise for the glare of florescent lights. What a way to greet the dawn!
8. Television programming isn’t good enough to distract a patient worried about going under the knife in a few minutes.
7. Laymen can’t be sure if the docs and nurses are wearing scrubs or PJs.
6. Most people aren’t yet on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest, so it’s hard to find virtual thumbs up encouragement.
5. I’m not yet at my best for extreme hospital sports like hallway wheelchair races and the scalpel toss.
4. Walking the hospital hallways for exercise on a gorgeous June morning just doesn’t cut it.
3. The snack bar isn’t open yet.
2. Worse yet, the coffee shop (and it’s a good one) isn’t open yet either.
1. Who wants to be anywhere at 6:00 in the morning, especially in a hospital?
Now it’s your turn. Why do you avoid hospitals at 6:00 AM?
by jphilo | Jun 11, 2012 | Family
Less than 24 hours until the resident man of steel goes under the knife for back surgery, and I’m not sure which one of us is looking forward to it the most.
Okay, the above statement is false.
Hiram is looking forward to it most, especially in the night when he’s trying to find a comfortable sleeping position, and I’m sawing logs, oblivious to his discomfort. But my anticipation of the surgery which will relieve his pain and speed his recovery is a close second to his.
Why am I so eager for this to be over?
Because men, even those in excruciating back pain and unable to putter around the house or lawn, consider H-E-L-P to be a four letter word. Of course, in a surface level, numeric sense, they’re right. But a man’s deep aversion to asking for H-E-L-P goes far below the surface. In the past few weeks, when we’ve been obliged to ask others for H-E-L-P, I’ve come to believe this male trait is hard-wired. And God agrees with me.
How do I know this?
Because, and I quote Genesis 2:18, Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Notice, God doesn’t say, “Hey, Adam, looks like that’s more than one guy can handle. Want a little H-E-L-P?”
And why doesn’t he ask that?
Because them’s fightin’ words for Adam, and God knows it. He knows Adam will refuse H-E-L-P when offered. He also knows Adam won’t ask for H-E-L-P when he needs it. So God, knowing Adam did need H-E-L-P, put him to sleep and made Eve indispensable before Adam woke up and had time to object.
And what kind of helper did God make?
Not someone strong enough to do all the heavy lifting, but someone who recognized when a task was more than she and Adam could handle and would ask for H-E-L-P. Yes, it’s true that she looked for H-E-L-P in the wrong place once and caused all sorts of problems. But this post is about men’s defective hard-wiring, not women’s. Though if some guy wants to tackle that subject in a future blog post, I’m more than willing to accept the H-E-L-P.
Any takers?
by jphilo | Jun 5, 2012 | Top Ten Tuesday
My latest dual stint as care giver during Camp Dorothy and Camp Hiram reinforced a belief I’ve held for many, many years. I should never, never be a nurse. Here are the top ten reasons for drawing that conclusion.
10. A nurse’s uniform doesn’t make me look good.
9. I don’t have the patience.
8. Nurses shouldn’t get queasy giving a shot or putting in an IV.
7. I don’t have the patience.
6. Lifting wheelchairs in and out of car trunks hurts.
5. I don’t have the patience.
4. Nurses need good eye-hand coordination.
3. I don’t have the patience.
2. Blood and other bodily fluids are gross.
1. I don’t have the patience.
How about you? What are the top ten reasons you did or didn’t become a nurse? Leave a comment!
