A number of times, for myself and my kids!!
Last summer, I had a VERY BAD virus in my throat......
Could not eat or drink for two weeks......
Got VERY dehydrated.......
Ended up in the Emergency Department TWICE......
Pumped THREE IV’s into me and sent me home......
Lost twenty pounds.......AND my taste buds!!!
“Most” of the weight is back.......
The taste buds are still missing!! =-(
Within the past six months.........
I have been in a hospital for TWO of my children.........
Undergoing a major brain surgery........
A congenital defect that put both of them in extreme pain.......
A four to five hour surgery.............
Followed by five days recovery in the hospital........
Another one, this week, for my daughter.......
Related to the above condition.........
Eight hour surgery, to fuse some vertebrae in upper spine.........
Trust me, those hospital chairs are NOT the most comfortable........
To sleep in.........but I stayed overnight.........
To be there for the kids.........
“IF” they needed anything overnight........
Or help them with things they needed to do........
BUT, during the day, as I walked the halls........
I “WATCHED” people........
I “OBSERVED” their actions........
I “LISTENED” to what they were saying........
WITHOUT opening their mouths..........
I “LEARNED” a lot during those days!!!!
Did YOU know that clocks run SLOWER in hospitals????
Allow me to explain..........
My wife and I sat in a waiting room.........
After my daughter was taken to the operating room........
The neurosurgeon advised us.........
Could be a four or five hour surgery...........
It was about that long.......
Waiting to see her in Recovery was very long........
BUT.................
The very next morning, she told us..........
Her pains are gone.......
Headaches, backaches, vision issues, etc..........
GONE after all of these months........
The feeling of RELIEF just floods over us............
On a different floor of the hospital.........
A young man holds up his wife.........
Whispers encouragement in her ear.........
“Do your breathing exercises, Honey........”
“Push, Honey, push.........”
“Our baby is almost here........”
She is panting........sweating........pushing.........
Labor has been going on for HOURS.........
The contraction pain has been intense........
Been a hard pregnancy and difficult delivery.......
The doctor delivers the little baby girl..........
Cleans and wraps the baby........
Places the little baby on the young Mom’s chest........
The new Dad is smiling from ear to ear........
His eyes are moist with tears.........
The Mom kisses the baby and is teary eyed.......
The feeling of JOY just floods over them!!!
Yet, on another floor........
The surgeon comes out to the waiting room.......
Approaches the parents of the young accident victim.......
“Inspite of our best efforts and surgeons......”
“He was pinned in the wreckage for too long........”
“Blood was pinched off below his knee.......”
“We could not save the leg below that knee........”
“Amputation had to be done.........”
“We are sorry!! We tried!!”
The young high school track star’s Olympic dreams........
And college scholarships are now gone..........
The feeling of DISBELIEF just floods over them.......
Upstairs a couple of floors......
A family stands around a bed.........waiting..........
The eleven year old boy is breathing slowly.......
He has a knitted hat on his head......
Knitted by an older sister.......
It hides the fact that chemo took his hair.........
He had been fighting cancer for a couple of years.......
Recent weeks he got worse.......
No matter what the doctors and nurses did.......
The cancer was winning..........
Yesterday the doctor grimly told the family.......
“It is only a matter of hours for him, I am sorry!!”
Mom, Dad, and two sisters have barely left his bedside.......
The heart monitor is beeping slower.......
His breathing is shorter........shallower.......
Mom is holding his hand.........she squeezes it.......
He is unable to squeeze back............
The heart monitor gives a low, steady tone........
His breathing stops...........
The feeling of GRIEF floods over them...........
A hospital is an amazing place........
It is where life begins........
It is where life is restored........
It is where bodies are patched......
It is where cuts are stitched.......
It is where broken bones are set......
It is where eyesight is restored........
It is where hearts are repaired........
It is where hearts stop beating as well........
The people that WORK in them........
HAVE TO be amazing as well.......
To accomplish what they do.......
Experience what they experience........
See what they have to see........
Do what they have to do.........
Watch a life begin........
Watch a life suffer.......
Watch a tragedy change a life.......
Watch a life end.........
ALL of that without letting it destroy THEM........
(Maybe, think twice, before complaining about the high cost of hospital stays)
For those that do NOT believe in “A God”........
Should spend a day in a hospital........
Watch what is happening........
New lives beginning.........
Or ending........
Tragedies ceased........
Tragedies winning.......
Sicknesses clearing up........
Diseases taking over and winning.......
But, most of all.......
Watch the people.......
Watch the emotions.......
Read their faces.......
Listen to what they say.......
Without them speaking.........
They WILL speak VOLUMES.......
If YOU are open to listening........
IF ONLY the “emotional energy” expelled in a hospital........
Could be harnessed and converted to electricity........
We would need NO MORE Power Plants anymore!!!!
How about YOU?????
I am sure YOU have had similar experiences.......
Emotional “Highs” and “Lows”........
It IS a part of Life and WILL happen.........
You may NEVER know WHEN........
All I ask is that YOU are prepared........
While you are experiencing them........
People, just like ME, are watching YOU.......
Not to “mock” you........
Maybe to comfort you, if you let us........
It is just that “WE”, are open enough.......
To “SEE” you during this.........
And “LEARN” from it as well.........
In case YOU did not know this........
I am writing this WHOLE story.........
With LOVE for YOU , the reader..........
Because, I AM...........JASON NAGEL!!