The next 3 days that we were in the acute care wing of the hospital were busy and quiet days. Busy with physical therapy and resting. Lots of walking the halls and getting my husbands strength and balance back. Lots of naps from all the walking that exhausted my husband. Oh eating too. Getting back on solids again and giving his body fuel to burn. A good bye to our good nurse friend who was going off shift and then on vacation for two weeks. We didn't plan on being there when she got back. She didn't look forward to seeing us there either. Her trusted assistant and our friend was still there and made sure to visit a little bit each time he came to the room.
Looking back on our days there I wondered why I encountered the people I did. A mother that I happened to ride in the elevator with one morning spoke to me. She told me all about her daughter who had just had a pretty serious surgery. That it was really hard for her daughter right now and her as well. I let her talk. After she finished I shared that I understood how difficult things could be. She told me she knew I did because we were both with our loved ones on the same floor. I then told her our only option right now is to be strong. To dig deep and find our strength from the depths of ourselves because that is what we needed right now as well as our loved ones. She affirmed that and thanked me for saying it. It was exactly what she needed hear.
As I look back and go over my encounters and the events I realize none of it had anything to do with me personally. I was only a vessel. How things were handled, the quiet strength that others claimed they felt while in the company of myself and my husband, the encouraging words shared with strangers who were there doing the same thing I was.......it was all grace. Grace that had been prepared for me and given to me in perfect time. I had only to recognize it. Once I did, it didn't matter that I was speaking encouraging words even though I was going through my own challenges, or offering quiet strength for others to feel while I felt like I was running low because amidst those demands I had the quiet flutterings of reassurance, gentle grace and strength laid at my feet as my foundation to grow on. I just had to see it. I knew it now. I had to allow Grace to Unfold.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Grace Unfolding - Part Ten
Trusting Him. Having active faith. Christ already has a plan for us and knows before we do what we will need and the perfect time that we need it. Grace has been prepared for us. We just have to accept it and take the time to know it.
Day 5 in the hospital and 2nd day after the big surgery. Transfer papers from the ICU to the acute care wing in order. Patient prepared and moved to a transport bed. Our good byes to the wonderful nurses that cared for my husband in the ICU. The move up two floors and to the east wing of acute care involved literally stuffing the bed and people into the elevators and a maze of hallways and back entrances for moving patients though the hospital. Arrival to our room in the acute care unit was like a home coming. The two nurses and their assistants who had done such a big part of my husbands care for his prior surgery a few months before were there. Some coming on shift and others going off but all made it a point to stop by his newly assigned room. They were happy to see us but not under the circumstances. We had hugs all around and confirmations that the ones going off shift would be seeing my husband soon in the next days. Then it was our nurse who had become our friend and her assistant who had also become our friend left in the room with us. We visited and got caught up. I was relieved as well as my husband to know that we had these two to care for him for his first day in the acute care wing. We didn't have to tell our stories again about how my husband processed pain. They already knew and had witnessed it. They had seen my husband at his worst and helped me to process through it all. Kept me strong and bolstered my husband. We had prayed together, laughed together and cried together. We had become friends a few months before and now in their warm embrace and tender knowing care my husband was on the road to recovering again except this time it was with trusted friends. Grace had been prepared for us.
Day 5 in the hospital and 2nd day after the big surgery. Transfer papers from the ICU to the acute care wing in order. Patient prepared and moved to a transport bed. Our good byes to the wonderful nurses that cared for my husband in the ICU. The move up two floors and to the east wing of acute care involved literally stuffing the bed and people into the elevators and a maze of hallways and back entrances for moving patients though the hospital. Arrival to our room in the acute care unit was like a home coming. The two nurses and their assistants who had done such a big part of my husbands care for his prior surgery a few months before were there. Some coming on shift and others going off but all made it a point to stop by his newly assigned room. They were happy to see us but not under the circumstances. We had hugs all around and confirmations that the ones going off shift would be seeing my husband soon in the next days. Then it was our nurse who had become our friend and her assistant who had also become our friend left in the room with us. We visited and got caught up. I was relieved as well as my husband to know that we had these two to care for him for his first day in the acute care wing. We didn't have to tell our stories again about how my husband processed pain. They already knew and had witnessed it. They had seen my husband at his worst and helped me to process through it all. Kept me strong and bolstered my husband. We had prayed together, laughed together and cried together. We had become friends a few months before and now in their warm embrace and tender knowing care my husband was on the road to recovering again except this time it was with trusted friends. Grace had been prepared for us.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Grace Unfolding - Part Nine
Afternoon of day 4 and 1st day after the big surgery I was back in my husbands ICU room visiting him. His surgeon came to check on him and gave us word that if things continued going as they had been my husband would be transferred to the acute care floor the next day. I confirmed that he would be transferred to the same wing that we had been to on our prior visits. After the surgeon left, my husband asked if I could find out if the nurse that had been such a great help to us before was still there. I had also been thinking the same thing and told my husband I would do some investigating to find out if she was still there. But I had to eat first. I was so hungry.
As I was finishing my meal in the cafeteria I looked across from my table and saw a familiar face and wondered if he would recognize me. A nursing assistant who was also a very integral part in helping my husband heal a few months before from his prior surgery. I got up to clear my plate and then approached him. He did remember! He gave a big smile and put his hand out to hold mine. I told him we were back and just had surgery the day before. He asked if it was for the same thing and I replied that it was. Then I asked if our nurse was still there on the acute wing and he said that she was. We said good bye and then I took myself up to the acute care wing and sought out our nurse. I asked for her at the nurses station and they said they would call her. As she came down the hall it was like seeing an old friend. We hugged for a long while. She asked where my husband was and I told her he was in the ICU and would be coming to her the next day. She was sad that we were there again under the circumstances of surgery. I agreed of course. I asked her if we could request her as our nurse and she said yes but couldn't guarantee that she could be.
Soon after I arrived back at my husbands room in the ICU. That evening the fellow of the surgeon was in for a visit and confirmed that we would be making the switch to the acute care wing in the morning. I mentioned to him the nurse that we would like to have and my husband gave him the history of why. The fellow couldn't guarantee it but noted it in the transfer papers and said the transfer would take place by mid morning. I allowed myself to sleep in the next morning until 630a.m. and went and had a light breakfast before going to my husband. When I arrived preparations were underway for the transfer. The fellow came in and said that everything was in order. Then turned to me and said "I went ahead and called to the nurses station and told them what nurse we wanted on your husbands case. It's all been handled." Just like that. Just like grace.
As I was finishing my meal in the cafeteria I looked across from my table and saw a familiar face and wondered if he would recognize me. A nursing assistant who was also a very integral part in helping my husband heal a few months before from his prior surgery. I got up to clear my plate and then approached him. He did remember! He gave a big smile and put his hand out to hold mine. I told him we were back and just had surgery the day before. He asked if it was for the same thing and I replied that it was. Then I asked if our nurse was still there on the acute wing and he said that she was. We said good bye and then I took myself up to the acute care wing and sought out our nurse. I asked for her at the nurses station and they said they would call her. As she came down the hall it was like seeing an old friend. We hugged for a long while. She asked where my husband was and I told her he was in the ICU and would be coming to her the next day. She was sad that we were there again under the circumstances of surgery. I agreed of course. I asked her if we could request her as our nurse and she said yes but couldn't guarantee that she could be.
Soon after I arrived back at my husbands room in the ICU. That evening the fellow of the surgeon was in for a visit and confirmed that we would be making the switch to the acute care wing in the morning. I mentioned to him the nurse that we would like to have and my husband gave him the history of why. The fellow couldn't guarantee it but noted it in the transfer papers and said the transfer would take place by mid morning. I allowed myself to sleep in the next morning until 630a.m. and went and had a light breakfast before going to my husband. When I arrived preparations were underway for the transfer. The fellow came in and said that everything was in order. Then turned to me and said "I went ahead and called to the nurses station and told them what nurse we wanted on your husbands case. It's all been handled." Just like that. Just like grace.
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