September 12, 2016
-
Looking for Release
Liz had been in gymnastics since she was old enough to walk. She was built for it being only 5’1”and having a slight build. Some would have said she was “just a slip of a girl” but the perfection of hand springs and cartwheels had strengthened her arms and legs and back. She was small but mighty. She used to be small and muscular. Now she was tall and lanky and completely uncoordinated! Dr. Hawk wanted to do a CAT scan to look at her bones and see how the muscles and tendons were attached. Her personal and personable doctor wanted to do more tests. She would have said yes to nearly anything he asked. They had talked for several hours after dinner. They shared her dessert of a slice of chocolate meringue pie. He let her know that he couldn’t date her as long as she was his patient. Of course if she were to be released and no longer under his care that would change.
This was some powerful motivation to get back on her feet. It took a good week to be able to walk to the bathroom alone. Finally she called Mr. Jacan and explained that she was in the hospital. He muttered about needing reliable workers. In the end she was uncertain if her call had secured her job until her return or if she had been terminated. All she could do was shrug and turn her focus to her present situation. Her most current concern was clothes. She didn’t have any. They were destroyed when they were cut away. She decided she needed to call her parents. She was loathe to do it but there weren’t any good alternatives. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her family; it wasn’t even that she couldn’t rely on them to help her. It was, just, she didn’t know. Maybe she was too prideful or stubborn to ask for their help. She wrestled with the decision until the nurse came in to give her the good news, the doctor had said she could be released as soon as the results came back from the spinal tap and the blood cultures. The idea that she would be released with nothing more than a hospital gown and a pair of disposable incontinence underpants spurred her to make the call. Her urge to hang up built until the sound of her mother’s voice on the other end dissolved her resistance.
Comments (6)
I remember after our car accident being aware that they had cut off our clothes too. The bummer was that I had been wearing a brand new bra, bought just that week, and it was cut in two. My son was sad that he lost his favorite hoodie, given to him by a friend, but overall, we are most thankful to be alive and back to functioning normally! Luckily we had someone that could bring us new clean garments, but for the weeks in the hospital, the gown was fine. I wasn't trying to impress anyone, and putting on clothes would've been difficult and painful.
Yikes! That sounds horrific! I'm glad you were able to recover without permanent damage! I guess it isn't that uncommon to have the emergency responders and emergency room personnel to sacrifice clothing in favor of expedited care!
Liz seems to be recovering remarkably quickly. I hope the results of all the tests show that to be true! There's something about calling mom for help ~ ~ ~
She seems to be making a full if not odd recovery. Let's hope her parents are a help and not a hindrance to her recovery...
I love how you tell a story.
Don't some hospitals actually have a source for clothing it people don't when discharged? Or have I watched too many TV shows? lol
Thank you for the lovely compliment! Yes, some hospitals do have a "lost and found" where clothing that never went home can be distributed, others have a "fund" that the social workers can access to go buy specific items/sizes. I don't think I'd want to wear a dead person's cast offs....
Comments are closed.