A Night Under The Stars... (5-22-06)

I had a run yesterday that I'll never forget. And I really don't want to.

Some people are going to think that I'm being over emotional about it, and maybe I am... Maybe I don't care.

It was paged out as a routine run, a transfer. Pick the patient up from Hospital A, take them to Nursing Home B. Then go home and go to bed.

Since we're already at Hospital A, we find the patient, who's sleeping in his bed in the ER, and his wife who's doting on him... I make small talk with his wife, who appears to be my mom's age...

Pseudo Dad goes off to find the appropriate paperwork.

After several minutes of conversation, our patient's eyes open and he makes an effort to look at his wife.

A huge smile crosses her face..... She places her hands on his face and speaks gently to him. He makes some unintelligible noises. At this point I realize I have no idea what this patient was being seen for.

He's in a coma. He's in a coma and he just responded to his wife's voice. She's gleeful. Apparently he's been in this condition for about two years, they've been married for 30. She's stuck with him, even moving from their home into an apartment several hours away just to be near him while he's in acute care. (Thanks to insurance crap he can't stay in a home near his home or even in his own state...)

She speaks to him as if she expects him to answer her, as if he's the same person he was the day his heart stopped beating. And I understand that, I've seen the medical shows, I've seen the movies where the nurse takes the spouse aside and explains that the patient may still be able to hear you....

On the way out to the hospital, she encouraged him to look up at the stars... Then she told me that he doesn't get much opportunity to see them... I had to bite my lip to hold back tears...

Once he was safe in his bed, I had a nice talk with his wife... Apparently he's making some progress lately... It's slow going but promising. I could see it in her face... The love she has for him... Wow... It broke my heart for her, what they've been through, different nursing homes, the nightmares that go with that, so man hospital visits.... Her being accused of having "unrealistic expectations"...

She's a special kind of person... They're lucky to have each other.

I learned... once again... to be so very grateful for every little thing... Even just a night out under the stars.