Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Missing Mom

I worked the day before Mother's Day. I saw that a fellow nurse had gotten a new patient via ambulance and went into the room to help out. I looked at the patient and knew immediately that he would be admitted to the hospital. He was a really down-to-earth older gentleman and fun from the get go.
I grabbed some supplies to start an IV and draw labs.

The doctor (who has a personality larger than life and hyperactive to boot) comes into the room like a whirlwind, talks to the patient for a minute and declares that he's staying and will be admitted to the hospital.

The patient starts crying. I'm talking about a big sobbing bawl. The doctor leaves the room and the primary nurse collects her paperwork and leaves too. I'm left alone with this large, crying man.

"Hey, hey, hey....you have a chronic disease, this isn't the first time that you had to be hospitalized. You knew that you would stay here, right?
The patient agreed.
"So, what's going on with you?"

"Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I wanted to be there for my mother. I knew I was getting worse and tried to hold out until Monday."

I looked at the patient's age on his band and thought his mother had to be an impressive age to still be alive.

"She's dying and I wanted to be there on this day." More crying.

"Do you visit her on other days?"

"Yes, everyday I see her. But tomorrow is Mother's Day."

"Well, I'm a mother too. My first priority is to make sure that my son is healthy and feeling well. And if he wasn't, I would want him to take care of himself. I would consider every day that my son visits me as Mother's Day. Don't let this one day take away from all the time you spend with her. You know your mom understands and appreciates and loves all of your visits everyday, right?"

He stopped crying and considered what I had said. He thanked me for making him feel better.
My heart broke just listening to how badly he wanted to see his mother on that Sunday. I have no doubt that when he gets out of the hospital, his first stop will be to see his mom.



8 comments:

  1. Such a bittersweet story!! Great job calming him down and making him feel better!! :)

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    1. My heart broke for this guy. He really wanted to be with his mom - it was palpable.

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  2. This made me cry. You're wonderful for making him feel better.

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    1. I couldn't leave him like that. I would hate it if he was a relative of mine and no one helped him. That's what it is all about, isn't it?

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  3. I have an award for you over at my blog (if you would like to accept) :) I love reading your stories! This one is cute ;)

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    1. Yes! I just read your blog and am tickled to death. Thank you so much! :-)

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