New light - Thoughts under the stars

 The clock nears 2 a.m. I cannot see the stars, but I know they are above the clouds, each one singing its song in the symphony of the Universe.

Free image "Milky Way" by Pexels at Pixabay. 

I sit alone at my computer with only the sound of the refrigerator behind me and the peeping frogs of tinnitus pulsating in my right ear to break the silence. 

The dog, confused at my early emergence from my cocoon of blankets, watches me sleepily from the hallway. 

An open cookbook is to my left, a reminder that I will try that recipe for English muffins when I eventually start the day; hopefully I will have slept before that. To my right is a shiny white mug that I use to encourage myself to drink more water. 

I notice these things but I attend to my writing, to calm my racing thoughts. This happens occasionally, these bouts of insomnia that I have learned to accept and do something else until I feel tired enough to go back to bed.

My thoughts turn to the sleeping ones in my house. The cats of course - they sleep over 18 hours a day - and my husband down the hall, oblivious to my insomnia, snoring softly. I hear him whistle occasionally in his sleep, pent-up breath escaping like a distant boiling kettle. I imagine what it must be like to breathe all the time through half-congested nostrils. To have to choose between breathing and eating, for only one can be done at a time; his allergies make him miss so much of what others ... what I ... take for granted. I shudder.

My daughter stops by and checks on me. I explain my insomnia (or what I think caused it this time) and she brings me a heating pad for my aching belly - in this body I pay for every pleasure, it seems, with pain - this time it was a prolonged belly-laugh earlier this evening at some silly thing that happened. She and I understand each other's pains. She's a good person, one I am honoured to call my friend as well as my child. She goes back to her bedroom and wishes me a good night. The heating pad helps. Or was it just her love and care for me? Perhaps both. Definitely the love.

And in this relative silence, I sit and type out my thoughts. Blogging relaxes me; it gives me an outlet and orders my thought process so that it doesn't race along, pinging off the walls of my mind like some freshly-released pinball. Yet the thoughts this time are not regrets or flashbacks - those rip at my soul, but not tonight.

Tonight I am ... grateful, pensive, even (dare I say it?) happy. I am unaccustomed to this new way of being. The change came just this morning when I was watching old reruns of The Big Bang Theory. It was near the end of the series and Leonard, who grew up in a loveless home, realizes his mother is using him again to further her career, as she did when he was a child and all through his growing-up years. 

He becomes very angry ... and she gaslights him, ignores him until (she says) his tantrum is done. At the end, he finally decides to forgive her, and comes to tell her so. She hadn't asked for his forgiveness, and told him that. But he forgave her anyway. And his words (paraphrased below) pierced my soul to the quick. "I forgive you because ... I'm just going to have to accept you the way you are, and realize that you will never change. And maybe someday, you will learn to accept me the way I am."  She sits in silence for several seconds, and says, "That feels good. To be forgiven even though I didn't ask you to do it."  He is silent. And she gets up and for the first time in his life, she hugs him. And he hugs her back. No questions, no conditions, no ground rules, Just one simple act of kindness. 

And yes, I cried.

Free image by
Evgeni Tcherkasski at Pixabay.com

The scene reminded me that there are certain people in my life who need forgiveness and who will never change. And maybe it doesn't matter if they do. They need it anyway. And more than that, I need to give it to them. No questions, no conditions, no ground rules. Just one simple act of kindness, repeated over and over and over again, until the healing is complete.

I said to someone earlier this week that miracles happen every day. And a miracle is no less a miracle if it happens slowly and gradually. Just like my little light here that I shine is no less amazing than that of the stars that seem so dim but are really enormous and magnificent. That there even IS light is amazing. And just because I cannot shine as brightly as the sun (or as brightly as other people whom I admire) doesn't mean that I should stop shining my own light, or that I should even dim it. It could be that somebody, somewhere, might be just as inspired as I am by what little light I can shed.

I think I can go back to bed now.

Whether I sleep ... is immaterial. 

Puppy Love

It was a clear-cut case of love at first sight. And it couldn't have happened at a more opportune time. 

My brother had just passed away unexpectedly. He had been doing so well, and then, he wasn't. Just like that. And I never got a chance to say goodbye. And it was so sudden, so wrenching, so ... raw. 

I'd been initially planning to get a puppy at the end of 2020. But here it was, end of February, and I was scrolling through the 'puppies for adoption' page at a site I frequent. And there it was. Someone not 30 minutes' drive from me was selling puppies, of the breed I was looking for. I clicked on the ad. The mother dog had given birth to five puppies and they pretty much all looked alike - except one. I clicked on his picture. And he was standing there so pretty, so proud, so sure of himself, and showing so much personality and yet gentleness that my heart almost skipped a beat. 

After talking it over with my family, and given the current restrictions of Covid-19, I decided to send the breeder a note and see if I could set up a time to visit the litter (this was before the isolation rules started.) She said sure, and before long I and my daughter were knee deep in little dogs. All of them Pomeranians!! Some looked like the standard image I had in my mind: orange with big floofs around the face and a plume-like tail. But these were different. They were white with brown and black markings. Only this little guy was white with black markings, and just a touch of brown. 

I left holding him to the last... wanting to give the others a chance. But it was no use. He had stolen my heart from the first click. And when I picked him up, and saw how curious, interested, and confident he was, even though he did let me roll him over on his back - when I saw him not once ask to get back in the pen with his siblings - he sealed the deal for me. And I was absolutely, 100 per cent smitten. 

I reserved him with the breeder and waited for him to be old enough to come home with me. That would not be until another few weeks, after we had completed our 14-day self-imposed isolation. 

Bullet - born Feb 7, 2020, age 9.4 weeks

We picked him up last Friday. And it seems now like he has always been here. What a ray of sunshine in otherwise dark times! What a reminder that there is still some sweetness, light, and humour in this crazy climate of rules and distancing and fear! He's melted the hearts of all who have seen his pictures or met him in person (like the vet, earlier today). I've filled an album already on Facebook with photos and videos of him. 

He loves his harness. He loves his kibble. He loves his pen and his crate. He loves pleasing us and learning new things (like going potty outside). 

He loves his bully sticks. He loves his Miss Kitty, a soft plush kitty with a heart-beat inserted into her (which we can control off and on through a button on the unit). He loves me and my husband and my daughter. Plain and simple, it's a terminal case of puppy love, which is whole-hearted, unreserved, unadulterated, super-intense and highly focused, unconditional positive regard, for which there is no cure. He loves the way I want to love. With the passionate love of a puppy for everything and everyone in his world. 

And at this point in my life, I needed a daily, constant reminder of that kind of love. Perhaps it is no coincidence that d-o-g is G-o-d spelled backward. I'd like to think so. Because if any being on this earth can show the kind of love God does, it's a little, 2.2-pound ball of fluff who is right now chewing on his bully stick at my feet. He's happy to be with me, happy to be doing what he loves, and confident in my love for him. 

What a lesson. What a beautiful, soft, gentle, fun-loving, joy-bringing lesson to my heart. Live in the moment, love with all your heart, and keep doing that. What a gift! I am so very blessed.



 

Drinking it in

It's raining today: a steady, soaking rain. After a fairly dry summer - we had to water our garden to keep it growing - the trees, grass and shrubs are enjoying the rain.  They are drinking it in gratefully, the leaves perking up where they've been drooping and the grass seeming greener than before.

All of us need that experience of a good, refreshing, cool drink of water ... whether physical or spiritual ... to keep us supple and nourished inside and out. 

It got me to thinking today about what nourishes and feeds me. I have plenty to eat, and clean water to drink, which makes me far richer than over a billion people in the world.  I also have a roof over my head that keeps the extremes of cold and heat out, and more than one outfit to wear - again, more than what billions have - and most days, I take these things for granted!

Photo "Autumn Gold" courtesy of Simon Howden
at www.freedigitalphotos.net

But as Thanksgiving approaches, I find myself feeling gratitude bubbling up from within, for many of the things I normally don't even think about. 

I have so many blessings, not the least of which are those loved ones who live with me: my husband and family (including the four-legged kids too!) who always believe in me, and always look out for my well-being. As Dory said in Finding Nemo, "When I look at you, I'm ... I'm home!" I can't begin to express the degree to which their presence in my life brings me a sense of joy and completion. I only hope that someday they will get an inkling of how important and amazing they are to me.

Sharing the little events of each other's days, the joys and the sorrows, the ups and the downs: these are blessings. Living in the moment, just as creation does, loving every raindrop, every sunbeam, every bit of provision from the Creator, is curiously rejuvenating.  Experiencing all of this with the people I love is quite the trip, and yes, I am drinking it in, like a refreshing thunderstorm after a dry spell. It restores me, makes me whole, and gives me a boost to keep going. I need that, just like I need air ... just like the plants need rain. 

Keeping Christmas

"And it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us!" - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I know, I know. It's too soon to talk about Christmas for most of my readers. Notable exceptions exist of course (Anne, Stephanie, I'm talking to you wonderful ladies!)

I used the above quote because when people refer to someone as a Scrooge, they mean the miserly old skin-flint in the "before" picture and not of the "after." In the same way, a "Grinch" is a mean-spirited, selfish person who hates Christmas. Yet in the story by Dr. Seuss, "the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day" and he ended up being sweet and generous! 

Christmas 2014 - everyone gets in on the fun!

When I was a little kid, I heard stories of my dad waking my mom up at 3:30 a.m. just because it was Christmas. He couldn't wait to see our faces when we opened our presents, to see the wonder and hear the laughter of that day. It was his favorite day of the year. And he didn't get anything else out of the day. We had no money to give him a present. His joy, his Christmas spirit, came from giving to those who had no way to return the favor. 

What a wonderful feeling that is! I've had occasion - here and there - to experience that kind of excitement in anticipation of someone opening a gift that I have made or bought for them. It is truly magical. And it doesn't matter if it's for Christmas, or their birthday, or even "just because." I don't expect anything in return. It just blesses me to bits to be able to give to them something that they need or want - that they like - and that they will cherish and use. 

So, perhaps we can "keep Christmas" all year round. Wouldn't that be great? If everyone had that spirit of gratitude, generosity and goodwill all year, how much sweeter life would be! Folks would be much easier to get along with ... as long as there was no trace of obligation or duty involved ... and therefore, no mad rushing about in the stores, no impatience in parking lots, or any of that. 

How much fuller life would feel with that kind of attitude - to give is better than to receive - present not just at Christmas but every day? How it would transform each of us to find joy in giving to those who have no hope of ever paying us back (which isn't the point anyway)!! Hungry, homeless people, people with hardly two nickels (or tuppence) to rub together, could eat, be warm, and have their daily needs met through the generosity of those who love to give! 

Isn't that worth more than getting the latest gadget for ourselves? 
I'll leave that thought with you, as it has been burning in me. 

And happy Christmas to you!

Feeling ==> showing

Ever noticed how in some relationships, if you ask each individual, they feel lots of love for the other person but each person feels unloved? Parents and children, spouses, friends, brothers and sisters often fall prey to this seeming roadblock. We love the other person but we are not sure they love us.

The problem is not loving. The problem is SHOWING love. Let me explain.

A teenager loves his parents but they don't really talk much (no common interests, perhaps), and he doesn't know if they really love him because all they seem to do is tell him no. The parents love the teen but they wonder if the teen loves them back because all the teen seems to do is break the rules. Each of them silently asks the question, "Do you still love me?" What a tragedy. 

So on it goes. The problem is not that they don't love each other; they DO! The problem is that they have no idea how to SHOW that love. 

In his book, "How to Really Love Your Teenager", Dr. Ross Campbell, a child psychiatrist, describes this phenomenon and also gives the solution. The answer is in learning to communicate love in a way that the other person will understand. In our Western culture, his advice is sound. He gives three cornerstones to communicating love:

1. Eye contact
2. Physical contact
3. Focused attention

It sounds simple, doesn't it? Yet it can be hard to learn to do. I have learned, however, that it does work. Making the time to talk, and not being distracted by other things, can do a lot to bridge the gaps and repair relationships. Each person needs to know that they matter to the other. You can say it, and yes, please do, but showing it backs up those words. Establishing this kind of relationship early is the best way to ensure that the other person is secure in the relationship, but it is never too late to start.

I'd like to say a few things about each of these cornerstones I mentioned above. Perhaps by giving some examples, I can spark your imagination to try something that would be specific and meaningful to you. You can do them with family members (spouse, kids, parents, siblings) or close friends. They don't just apply to teens. (Everyone needs to feel worthy of love and belonging, as Brené Brown says.)

Eye contact - In our family, the 'wink' - even from across a room - can convey a special meaning. It can mean, "I notice what you're doing, way to go!" Similarly, it can mean, "I'm proud of you." And in certain situations where the person may be nervous, the 'wink' can mean, "I believe in you! You got this!" 

Okay, I know that these days, a lot of teens don't make eye contact well. But they will know that you are looking at them when they talk to you. And in some cases, it's a good bridge-builder to have talks while driving in the car. They don't feel threatened by your gaze, but you can talk about pretty important stuff when you have to be 20 minutes (or longer) in a car going somewhere together. 

But adults? Yeah, we were brought up to pay attention. In our generation, it shows respect when you look at someone who is talking to you.  So show respect. Please. It could save your relationships.

Physical contact - I get it that some folks are not touchy-feely. That's okay. But sometimes a hand on someone's shoulder when they are having a rough day can express in a non-verbal way that you care about their feelings. And nowhere is this more true than in families: with your spouse and with your child(ren). 

In our family, a hug goes a long way. Not just that sterile, pat-pat-pat type of hug but one of those fierce, heart-felt, "I'm with you" hugs. Life is tough sometimes! Hugs can help. They can communicate a feeling of solidarity, support, and caring. I've experienced hugs from one of my family members that lifted me off my feet - and aside from throwing me a little off-balance, those hugs told me that, as a teary Samwise Gamgee said in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, when the burden of carrying the One Ring got too much for Frodo to bear, "I may not be able to carry it for you, Mister Frodo, but I can carry you." And Sam picked Frodo up, Ring and all, and carried him the rest of the way to the top of the mountain. Such expression of love and support is hard to show with just a few Hallmark cards a year. 

Focused attention - In our fast-paced, information-highway world, giving someone focused attention takes something we don't think we have: time. Off with the TV, the cell phone, and/or the video game. Make a date. Go somewhere; it doesn't have to cost a dime. Our kids and I used to go to the local public pool; they would play in the water while I watched. Sometimes I would even go in the pool and splash around a bit. But I was always watching them, drinking in their enjoyment, knowing that at any moment they would look back to see if I was looking. And I was. "Watch me, Mommy!" means something to a child. It's important to him or her. I could have sat there with a book but it would not have meant as much as being WITH them, being PRESENT. 

Photo by it's me neosiam from Pexels

I lost track of the times we would go to the animal shelter and just visit with the critters. Our one family rule was that we were there to look and visit the animals, not whine and plead to take one (or all) of them home (unless previously decided.) I remember the folks at the shelter got to recognize us. We obeyed all the shelter rules (no running; ask permission; wash your hands after you handle the animals, etc.) and we had a whole lot of fun. And it never cost us a nickel (or in those days, a penny. We don't have pennies in Canada anymore.) 

I also can't count the number of times I have heard someone say to me about their spouse, "He (or she) never listens to me!" as they described a spouse totally absorbed in the TV or the newspaper, or a computer game. Or some sort of sport or hobby. It's a relationship. You can't have a relationship without relating!! Focused attention means that you give the person your undivided attention. And that needs to happen on a regular basis. I'm not saying not to read the paper, watch TV, or have a hobby or interest. Just make time for the people you love doing something you will both / all enjoy.

One more side-note about spending time together while giving focused attention. You know when you tell your friend, "Yeah, we really should get together sometime," and it doesn't happen for weeks? or even months? Ummm, "sometime" usually doesn't work, especially if you (or your friend) has mental wellness issues. Instead of "sometime," how about "WHEN can we spend time together (or have coffee, or lunch, or an evening)?" Nail down a time and a place. Put it on your appointment calendar. I'm just saying. And I'm talking to me as much as to anyone else.

As 2019 dawns, we might do well to invest our time in strengthening the relationships we have and making connections with the people who mean the most to us. It will be worth it. Trust me.

Slow leak

A few years back, our car went over an object somewhere and developed a leak in one of the tires. We were not aware of this, but one evening we drove home and parked the car. The next morning we got up and got ready to leave the house, and one of the tires was flat. Just like that.

Further investigation revealed that there was a slow leak in that tire from a sharp object. It hadn't appeared right away after the object went in, but over the course of a few hours, the air just went out of the tire. 

And fortunately, the nice folks at the garage were able to repair the leak. 

I guess I've been going through something similar in my mental health. I thought I was okay. And then I hit this bump in the road and it was rough, but I kept going and thought I could weather it. 

I was wrong. My emotions leaked out until I either felt the wrong ones for the circumstance, or I just couldn't feel anything at all.

Photo by Georgi Petrov from Pexels

It kind of dawned on me last night when I was watching a movie with my family. It was a really good movie, one I had never seen before, and I knew that I should have been moved to tears by it in a couple of places because the story was so compelling and the emotions in it were raw and passionate. 

But that's not what happened with me. It was like the depth of emotion I knew was there (or should be there) had lost its edge and felt blunt or weak. It was the equivalent of an emotional flat tire. 

Psychologists call emotions "affect" (pronounced AFF-ect). And one symptom of depression is what they call "flat affect". Nothing flickers the emotional needle. No joy, no sadness, no anger, no nothing! Life becomes one long monotone. It's flat! Motivation is gone. The silence is unending. The loneliness is real - but even that seems like just a fact and not a tragedy to be mourned. Depressed people can laugh at funny things - but there is rarely any real happiness behind it. We isolate from people because we don't feel like being around them. We don't see the point; why bother?  Everything - even eating or showering - is an effort. It's like driving on a flat tire. It's possible to get from A to B ... but everything feels skewed, the ride is bumpier ... and it hurts the tire even more. Some of us are in quite a mess before we realize (or admit) that we need help.

And there is no easy fix, no patch for the tire, no instant cure-all. Medications can help with the physical part of things, but that is only part of it. The leak has to be found before it can be repaired, and sometimes, the internal damage is too severe, and we need a whole new tire, a whole new way to look at life. And that kind of change doesn't happen overnight. It took a long time to get into this state, and it will take longer than we want to heal from it. And sometimes we need to call a professional, someone who knows how to listen and help us heal.

I wish I could give three easy steps to get rid of clinical depression. I can't. All I can try to focus on is to maintain regular routines in my life that focus on looking after myself, and look for outlets that get me outside of myself, doing things for others. And I take one day at a time. Corny as that sounds, it is helpful because when I stay in the now, it is harder for the mistakes of the past and the worries about the future to jump all over me and give me a hard time. 

I don't know how long this process will take. It will take however long it takes. But I am committed to walking through it and coming out the other side. And in the meantime, I see a professional and I take my medication, and I practice self-care. And most of all, I take the advice of a former manager I had once, and I will be gentle with myself.

Do not pass go

I had an experience on Wednesday of last week (October 17, 2018) and it has taken me quite some time to be able to put that experience - and my feelings about it - into words.

Those of you who know me well, know that for the last few years I have been working toward becoming a counsellor. In the last year, I struggled to find a practicum site in my own province and found nothing that was available, which would accept my university's requirement to have me videotaped while I was in session with a client (so my distance-education professors could see me in action). I ended up looking in a neighbouring province and found a placement there. I therefore moved to that city and leased an apartment, essentially doubling my monthly expenses (and more) with my salary reduced by half so I had sufficient time to spend on my clinical hours.  The practicum, I told people, would last for 8 months, followed by my part-time employment with the agency for another year at least. The plan was set - I was living alone for the first time in my life, and managing. But I was quite homesick, and it took a lot of energy to just function.

Without going into the gory details, of which there are many, the placement didn't work out for quite a number of reasons, and I was "let go" (read: raked over the coals and told to leave and not come back) a little over a week ago. The ordeal took about four and a half hours from start to finish; it was very traumatic and hurtful, and struck to the very core of who I am. I had thought that things were improving after a rough start, so this development blindsided me and left me in shock for days. 

Photo "Sad Woman Sitting Alone In Room" courtesy of
FrameAngel at www.freedigitalphotos.net

I have been pinging around in the stages of grief ever since that day. At the moment, I am bouncing between anger and depression. I know that it will pass, eventually, but going through it is no picnic. The whole experience made me realize that I have never fully addressed my traumatic childhood and its ripple effects in my current life (hypersensitivity, insecurity, fear, suspicion, etc.) If the experience highlighted anything for me, it was that until I can put these issues to rest, I will not be able to fully be present for any future clients I might have. Any hope of resuming my graduate program rests, therefore, on my own mental health, which at the moment is quite frail.

I have spoken with my doctor to ask him to refer me to a psychologist, which he has done. Fortunately, my health care insurance company will pay for 80% of the cost of any sessions I have (up to a certain ceiling amount) - and knowing the depth of my issues, I foresee needing long-term therapy to delve into some of these very difficult traumas from my past as well as their fall-out in my daily life. 

In a major way, I feel like I've gotten a "Go To Jail" card in the Monopoly game of my life (Go Directly To Jail - do not pass Go, do not collect $200). I cannot proceed until I receive my "Get Out Of Jail" card. Until then, I will keep rolling the dice while others progress on their own paths.

I have had a lot of reactions to what happened, some healthy, some not so much. In a sense, I am somewhat grateful that this surfaced before I screwed up with a client or something. 

In another sense, I want the ground to open up and swallow me. Shame is my constant companion. Grief (from losing my future career, quite possibly) crashes over me and I sometimes cannot even breathe, it is so intense. The circumstances of my loss fill my nightmares, attack my character, condemn me for my naivete. Basically, I am keenly aware that I mortgaged my future and locked myself into a planned early retirement to do this, only to fail. True that my supervisor was the worst possible fit for my personality, but that takes none of the pain away.

Everything is an effort, and there is much to do. I have been trying to extricate myself from the life I have built away from my home - putting my apartment on the market again (hopefully sooner than later), cancelling my flight to Alberta that I booked for school, cancelling an order for furniture for my home office, etc. - and coming to terms with having to go back home in disgrace.

One of my close friends in the grad program asked me to tell her what she could do to support me. While her question is a valid (and sweet) one, I honestly don't know what to tell her. I cannot say when (or if) I will resume my graduate program. I told my professor it would be next September; I hope so, but I cannot be sure of that. This experience has shaken me to my roots. It has demolished the core of who I am and made me question everything I thought I was. It is by far the worst thing I have ever had to endure, and that includes losing my daughter five years ago. For that admission, I feel guilty as well, but I have also learned that trauma is cumulative ... which means that the more unresolved trauma you have, the worse it affects you every. single. time. 

I know that a lot of people will judge me for my failure, and for my reaction to it. They will judge me for my choices. They will judge me for my feelings. But I also know that those people do not know what it is like to be me, because they have never lived my life. What I need most from the people who are in my life is understanding, and support, and empathy. I need them to build me up, not kick me when I'm down. I had enough of that - in the last little while - to last six lifetimes. 

I tell you this, my readers, so that if I talk about my journey, whatever form that takes, you will recognize that this is just one more layer of Getting Unwrapped. This is one more (painful as it is) phase in my growing process. And hopefully, someone somewhere will find my raw musings to be helpful. 

I have also learned, over the years, that most people don't want to hear about tough stuff unless someone has already gone through the tough parts and came through to the other side, and can inspire them. I'll be rigorously honest. Right now, I cannot do that. Right now, my spirit is bleeding, and tender, and disfigured. Right now, I am not fit company to be around because I am super-sensitive to what people say ... and especially to what they think about me. I am not able to "bounce back" from this kind of devastation without help. I cannot put on a happy face when everything I am is pulverized, when everything I have built my self-perception on is in question. 

What I can be is genuine. What I can be is open and willing to do what is necessary to rid myself of the things in me that hurt others. What I can be is what I am: broken. In my brokenness, in my vulnerability, I have asked for help from those who are trained to help. I do not expect my friends and family to "fix" me ... but I hope that they will be gracious and understand that I am doing what I can to heal. 

Echoes in Time

They come back to haunt me at the most inopportune times. The words I heard in childhood sabotage my present, insidiously creeping in and making me believe that I am "unworthy of love and belonging", as Brené Brown describes shame. 

Shame was an almost constant companion for me when I was growing up. Almost everyone chimed in. My brothers, my teachers, my peers, and my mother - especially my mother - used shame as a teaching tool. 

It worked. It worked to make me ashamed of who I was. It worked to make me feel bad for existing. It made me doubt my abilities, change who I was to make someone - anyone - like me, and lowered my standards on who I hung around with. I didn't feel as though I was worth anything more than to be with people who would use me. So that's who I attracted. 

I found this pic on pixabay.com
for free!

The echoes haunt me in my dreams - usually in my mother's voice.  

"Come over here, stand up and show us all the height of laziness."  (She usually said this when we had company.)
"What in the world were you thinking? don't you know ANYTHING?"  
"Don't you DARE say that - they'll think we're poor!" (We WERE poor). 
"How do you expect to clean those dishes in cold water?" (The water was as hot as my tender child hands could stand). 
(After I cleaned the dishes and wiped and put them away) "You didn't wash off the table."
"No you may NOT climb that tree! Nice girls don't do that!"
"What are you doing still eating? You should have been done five minutes ago! Get over here RIGHT NOW and help me with the dishes!"
"Take that red shirt off and go put something decent on you! You look like a streetwalker!" 
"Don't wear black like that - it makes you look like a witch!" 
"What do you have on your face? Powder and paint make you look what you ain't..."
"Just wait until I get my hands on you! I'll beat you within an inch of your life!"

As a child, my dreams were filled with images of monsters lurking in the dark, coming to devour me; I could not escape them. I woke in panic often, and the familiar shapes of clothing hanging up in my room - in the dark - seemed transformed into horrific faces ready to jump at me if I approached. It took all my courage to walk the twenty feet to my parents' room and stand there in the doorway waiting for permission to enter. When she acknowledged my presence and I said, "Bad dreams" ... she always wanted me to climb over behind my father. "You kick the stars off the moon."  Pinned between my father and the wall, in spite of his snoring, I felt safe and I was able to sleep until morning.

It wasn't until many years later that I realized where the dreams came from, and that I had actually awakened from the monsters in my dreams and walked to their source in the waking world to ask her for help. I was one messed-up adult. Clearly I needed someone to mother me. I had spent nearly thirty years of my adult life looking for such a person. I would "overshare" constantly, looking for validation, acceptance, acknowledgement that I was worthy.  So many people turned away from me during those years. It was too much for them, and rightly so. Still others took advantage of that dependence and tried to control my life. They did not care about me, but only wanted to feel powerful. I wondered if I would ever be free of those echoes - the ones that told me that I would never amount to anything, the ones full of self-doubt and self-condemnation. I thought that I could find someone eventually who would love me the way a mother should love her daughter. Unconditionally.

I also found this pic on pixabay.com - for free!

Little did I know that the person I had been seeking this whole time was - to my great surprise - myself. When I was ready to face the monsters (and believe me, THAT took decades!), and got some help from a counsellor, I discovered that I could tell myself the words I needed to hear echoing in my mind instead of the ones that had followed me since childhood. 

I needed to hear those good words, those kind words, spoken gently to the small frightened child still within me. 
"You are worthy."  
"People can like you for exactly who you are; you don't have to change for them."  
"You can do this. You can do anything you set your mind to doing. You are smart, and loyal, and caring, and you are worth getting to know."  
"What happened all those years ago was not your fault."  
"What matters is that you try. You don't have to be perfect at everything."
"I believe in you."
"Here, let me hold you close - no reason - just that I love you."
"It's okay to take your time and eat. The dishes can wait. They are not going to sprout legs and walk away."  
"It's okay to ask for help if you need it. People who love you won't mind helping you if you get stuck." 

Occasionally, I still have to remind myself of those new words, and let them echo in my heart and mind to drown out the voices of the monsters. Fortunately, I have the tools I need to do that, and the support of my best friend in life and love, and the encouragement of the lady who made me a mom. I also have some pretty amazing friends, more than I ever thought possible.  

I am so blessed.  I am so loved.  And I have learned - as difficult as it's been - to start to love me too.

Giving and Receiving

Today was a full day, especially because I didn't think I was going to be doing much at the start of it. All I wanted to do was head to Walmart and pick up some supplies / groceries for the rest of my 2-week stay in Calgary (I head back this coming Friday and today is the Saturday prior to that.)

It didn't start too well in a sense. The cab driver was wearing heavy scent, so I went to the store (an 8-minute drive) wearing my face mask. I tipped him for choosing the most direct route there... and then spent the next hour wandering the aisles of the store in my mask (lots of scent clouds, it was Saturday) looking for various items (the last one, pepper, took me ten minutes and even then I finally had to ask someone. It was in the meat aisle by the way...). I paid for my stuff, called a cab in a different company, and submitted to another drive back with my mask on, with another pee-yew cabbie who (again) took the most direct route and even helped me with my huge / heavy shopping bag. (I'm done shopping alone without buying a sturdy bag... last year was enough.)

After I got back though, had some food and took an Advil for the killer headache the scents gave me, and talked for a while on the phone with my brother, and then with my husband, I saw an email message from a classmate asking me if I would like to spend some time together. I agreed and she picked me up for a drive out to see the Rockies!

"The Three Sisters" - near Canmore, AB, July 15, 2017

Yes ... I took that picture only 2 hours ago. The peaks here are called "The Three Sisters" and I took the photo from inside the vehicle as we were driving!

Seeing the mountains up close like that was ... well, the best word I can think of is ... spiritual. 

I felt very connected to my youngest daughter, who saw these mountains in late September 2013, only 3 weeks or so before she died. It was like she and I got to share the experience of the majesty of that place. The tears started to fall as I could almost hear her say, "It's okay Mom. I'm okay. Everything is going to be fine."  And it was fine. 

My classmate gave me a wonderful gift, a gift that meant so much to me. And all it costed her was time. Time she took away from other things in her life so that I could have a good experience in Alberta. She had no ulterior motive. She honestly cared about how I felt. And all I needed to give her the joy of giving was to receive. Fortunately, I received so very much when Arielle first passed away - so much love and so many outpourings of giving, that I had learned to receive... and so I gave her the gift of my grateful acceptance of her gift.

The world is a funny place - and as much as it is filled with horrible, unspeakable things, it also has people in it like this lady, and my dorm-mates who invited me to come with them to the grocery store my first day here, who helped me take my stuff into the apartment and cleared a space for my food. And so many others here - the friends of my other daughter who met me at the airport and drove me to the residence (saving me $50 in cab fare) invited me to their place last Thursday night for the most tender sirloin steak I have EVER tasted, done via a "sous vide" method. WOW. And when they learned that tomorrow would have been Arielle's 25th birthday, they offered to take me to breakfast at one of the many Denny's Restaurants here (something we don't have where I live) to start the day off right, even though one of them has to work tomorrow at the other end of town (a 30 to 45 minute drive depending on traffic).  They are also planning to take me back to the airport on Friday. Could it get any better than this?

I feel so blessed.  It's a way better experience than I ever dreamed it would be, being in Calgary this time. And as I head to bed, I feel as though this has been the kind of day that restores the soul. Even though it might not have started off well, a simple gift - the gift of time - given and received, made all the difference.

Part of your world

I've been taking some well-deserved time off from my studies to rest, reflect, and recharge. As I ponder the various facets of my life, I find myself thinking about the people in my life and what they mean to me. I try to put myself in their shoes to empathize better with them, and when I got to my mother, I found something quite distressful.

My mom's life sucks.

She has dementia. All of her life, she always looked at folks with dementia and told us, "If I ever get like that, take me out in the field and shoot me." And now she has dementia. And she is watched, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. And she is medicated if she gets unruly. And she feels like she is alone: even though people come to see her on a regular basis, she doesn't remember that. She only remembers the last fifteen seconds.

Image "Crying Old Lady" by
imagerymajestic at
www.freedigitalphotos.net

If ever anyone lived in the moment, it is a person with dementia. However, feelings - even if someone doesn't remember the reasons behind them - remain. The feelings affect mood, and can make a person with dementia profoundly depressed. Or anxious. Or angry.

And what makes the feelings? Thoughts lead to feelings, even though the thoughts are no longer remembered. And words - whether spoken by the person or by those around them - create the thoughts. Combined with core beliefs about oneself - things one tells the self through decades of habit - a person who has dementia cannot reason themselves out of those feelings. Reasoning is useless. For someone (like my mom) who has prefronto-temporal dementia, the ability to reason and to make decisions and carry them out is absolutely GONE.  All that is left is the lizard-brain ... the limbic system ... the one that lives totally in the present, that is influenced by words and thoughts but that doesn't remember them; it just feels what it feels. 

So for those who think that it doesn't matter what they say when they visit a dementia patient because "they won't remember what i say anyway", think again. Their MIND may not remember, but their FEELINGS remember. So trying to convince them of the rightness of something about which they have believed all their life is wrong will serve only to frustrate and upset them without knowing why. And after the visitor leaves, it is the staff who have to deal with the fallout: the patient becomes agitated, distressed, depressed, anxious, or whatever, and needs to be medicated more just to make them "manageable." 

So - dear readers - leave your arguments and your opinions home when you visit a person who has dementia. Learn to enter their world - the world of the continual present - and even when they bring up your pet topic, refrain from discussing it. Distract the person toward the positive (not YOUR idea of positive, but THEIRS). If that means lying to them and telling them that it won't be long before they will be going home, then do that rather than tell them that they're going to a nursing home.  To many, including my mom, a nursing home is a horrible, torturous place where people go to be forgotten and to die alone. You can't convince her otherwise; it's too deeply ingrained. Don't even try. 

Phone them. Talk to them, let THEM talk. If you can't physically be there, phone them, send them cards and letters (happy ones!) and little gifts.  Do it often. The hospital / nursing home can be a lonely place. Don't forget them.

If you can be there, then BE there for THEM.  Play cards or board games with them. Watch TV with them. Encourage them, compliment them in every way possible. They are no longer part of your world; accept that. Be part of their world. Enter THEIR reality, the reality of seconds. Not days, not hours, not even minutes, but seconds. Leave your preconceptions and your grief at what they have already lost, and what you have lost with it, at the door. You are there for that person, not for yourself. You are not there to talk anyone else down or to win any arguments.  You are there to brighten their outlook. You are there to make it easier for that person (and for the staff who look after that person) to live a little more pleasantly. 

That is the way you visit those who are infirm, who live inside the prison of their own mind. Don't judge them. Don't judge those they love. Talk only of pleasant things, things that are pleasant for THEM.

Just be there for them, whether in person or not. Just BE.

All in - chronicles of an in-patient

It's been quite the unusual start to the year. My brother and I had surgery within 5 days of one another - his was for a resection of bowel due to stage 1 colon cancer, and mine was for a total hysterectomy due to pre-cancerous cells in the uterus.

In both cases, excellent surgeons (his in his province and mine in mine) removed the faulty plumbing (so to speak) and cauterized the blood vessels that were nourishing their respective areas. All is well. 

But the experience of going "all in", of committing to the process, of facing the unknown? That's terrifying. Literally. 

I would daresay that nobody knows better than someone with multiple health issues (not the least of which is obesity) the terror involved in facing the prospect of undergoing a general anesthetic (not to mention the whole notion of someone cutting into your body). They explain the risks to you in no uncertain terms; you have to sign a waiver releasing them of any legal repercussions should you die on the table. That's serious stuff, and not "just a formality." Needless to say, that should be enough to give anyone cause for concern.

Add to that my own private terror of The Needle (more specifically, the Intravenous) - the knowledge that not only is someone going to take a hunking two-inch-long steel needle and poke a hole into your vein, but then take a tube (which by definition is BIGGER in diameter than the needle) and slide it into the vein along that same needle - and the pain involved in that process (especially if they MISS), and you have a recipe for the screaming meemies!  As a matter of fact, THAT was the thing that scared me more than dying on the table. Let that sink in for a minute.

And even though they numbed the area with some cream in advance, the pain of their first attempt left me writhing and calling out for my higher power on the bed as they held my arm down and tried to force the tube into a vein in my hand that was no longer yielding blood. So they had to start all over again somewhere else - first the cream and then a repeat of that experience on my opposite forearm ... and with another nurse. This time, she realized that it was a dud with the tube only half-way in - and removed it. "We'll wait for the anesthetist," she stated. "He's really good." 

And he was. He told me what he was going to do and when, he took his time finding a vein, and true to his word, he used a pediatric (child-sized) needle - and from the time of the initial pin-prick until the tube was in, was only about three seconds and the most painless I had ever felt. My jaw just dropped - it was so the opposite of what I had endured the previous two attempts!! He told me that he was going to wait until I was under the anesthetic before putting in an adult-sized intravenous tube - for which I thanked him. 

And then I realized that this was it. That hurdle was behind me, and I was now caught up in a process in which the only way out was forward. There was no turning back now. I was all in. 

The too-much-information details

They had put compression stockings on me to keep me from getting blood clots - which only confirmed to me the fact that I would be "out" for longer than I had ever been before (an estimated 3 hours compared to the 1 hour in previous surgeries elsewhere) and that I would be on my back for almost 24 hours after that. And the stockings were still there, although rolled down a bit, when I awoke in recovery over four hours later.

My first thought - I'm alive! My second thought - I'm awake! My third thought - my mouth is so dry! I spoke that thought out loud, and a nurse moistened the inside of my lips with what looked like a tiny water-filled sponge on the end of a stick. After a while they gave me an ice-chip. It was glorious!

I was surprised how little pain there was - compared to my expectations that is - and I remember feeling some cramping in my belly area, about a five out of ten.  They suggested something for the pain - and I said yes - they mumbled something about Fentanyl as they pushed it into the IV tube (wow that stuff is strong.)  Apparently the 'good drugs' loosened my tongue (and according to the nurse who was looking after me, I was a "delight." Whatever that means.) And I noticed how much it felt like I had to urinate. "That's the catheter," someone said. "You're doing okay, just let it happen, it always feels like that." Oh. Oh good. Good to know.

This image, entitled "I Am Here To Help You"
is by stockimages and can be found at
www.freedigitalphotos.net

After I was settled in my room, which was in the maternity ward (oh how ironic since they'd just taken my uterus OUT) I remember them cleaning me up, using plenty of water to do so (one of the best, most decadently cared-for experiences I have had in a long time!), and then changing my sheets with me in the bed and the IV still hooked up to my right hand. That they could do this completely amazed me. (Obviously the Fentanyl was still having an effect on me...)

I remember my family suddenly being there and other sensations - the most disturbing of which was my panic reaction when the pregnant lady in the bed beside me got an ultrasound and I could hear the baby's heartbeat. I wasn't prepared for that fight-or-flight reaction. With all my heart I wanted to be anywhere but in that room. The emotions were raw, wrenching, horrific. With every beat of that baby's heart, I could remember the last time I had an ultrasound and heard that noise - all the while knowing in my current situation ... that my youngest daughter would never return to me. I was instantly transported into grief, as fresh as the day I learned she had died in that car crash over 3 years ago, and all I wanted to do was escape that noise: blooka-blooka-blooka... on and on.  I said something about earplugs - and my oldest daughter (who was visiting along with her dad) reached into her pocket and handed me a set of earplugs that so happened to be there. (I looked at her like she was magic, and inserted the earplugs. They stayed in my ears except for nurses' visits, until I gave up trying to sleep around 6:30 am.) My roommate was discharged the next day.

I did sleep a tiny bit that night, but only for five to fifteen minutes at a time - not enough for my body to get any rest. I was afraid that I would drop the call button (not realizing - because of the drugs - that I could tell them about that so they could tie its cord to the bed rail). In my mind, I was responsible for keeping track of that button because it was my lifeline to getting help, so I spent the whole night holding onto it. Not being a back-sleeper, I found that position very uncomfortable (even more so with that huge iron bar under the mattress at the level of my upper backside) but I could do nothing to change it. Makng any movement at all on my own was exhausting; I felt like I'd been run over by a truck or something. Everything was sore ... and I was so tired!  I remember once complaining about the bar underneath of me, and two of the staff moved me (sheet and all) up toward the head of the bed. Then they adjusted the bed to take the pressure off my lower back.It helped a little, but I am short, and gravity is a thing, so soon I was back down on the bar again. I would need to endure this for another 12 hours.  (Only today - four and a half days later - is the bone bruise from this iron-bar experience beginning to show through my skin.)

The next morning, around 7:30 am, they gave me a heparin shot - I stopped the nurse and asked what it was for before the needle went in - and probably I seemed a little paranoid about it (given my experience with sharp objects, it seemed perfectly valid to me!) Heparin is a medication that prevents blood clots - often referred to as a 'blood thinner' but it just stops the blood from clotting and doesn't actually thin the blood. The shot stung, but not as much as I expected. Then the nurse got this empty syringe and headed toward me. I asked her what that thing was for, and she said it was to take my "Foley" out (I had to look it up just now to understand what the syringe was for - thanks, Wikipedia!) I asked her what a Foley was and she said it was my catheter. She hooked the empty syringe up to the tube beside my bed (where the urine-bag was), withdrew some clear liquid, and then pulled out the catheter. Just like that. Interesting sensation, that was. It was no wonder I always felt like I had a full bladder. (Shudder!) Within three hours - since I was still on the intravenous fluids - I had to go to the bathroom!

The good, the bad, and the ugly

The good. I was expecting a fluid breakfast on the morning following my surgery, but they brought me toast, a boiled egg, some sort of shiny glutenous mass that looked something like watered-down oatmeal (it was.) They also had lots of fluids: milk, water, and hot water with a teabag and some sweetener, as well as some diced peaches. I could barely see over the tray because I was so far down in the bed that only my shoulders and head would raise when the head of the bed was raised.  I got someone to help me with that, and was finally able to see my food.  The peaches tasted good and so did the egg! I was grateful for the food and made sure to only eat as much as I would have eaten at home - which was about half of the toast, almost all the egg (which by then was tepid), all the peaches, and a few bites of the oatmeal (ugh! even with the teensy bit of brown sugar they gave me...) I used half the milk to make the orange pekoe tea easier on the stomach. There was no coffee. I asked for ice chips and ice water. 

I drank a LOT of water, and even more so after the catheter came out.

Medication time rolled around: the nurse gave me my diabetes pills, a large blue pill they called apo-naproxen that was supposed to help with the cramping, and there was also a stool softener. And at about 10:30, I saw the on-call surgeon, who apparently had assisted with my operation. He explained to me what they'd done, how I was going to be feeling, and when I might get discharged. He said it might be later that day if I was feeling up to it, and that if it was, the nurses could contact him for the paperwork.  (Given the discomfort I was in because of that iron bar under me, I grabbed onto that possibility like a drowning man grabs a buoy.) He drew me some diagrams and talked about the unexpected hernia repair they did - they had not known I had an umbilical hernia and that affected the length of the surgery since they had to check to see if they could still use my belly-button as an entrance port for the tube that contained the micro-camera. They could. Then after they were done doing what I was booked for surgery to do, they had to repair the hernia. The visit was very informative and I got a lot out of what he said. The diagrams helped. The biggest grin came after he said that I would never EVER have to have another pap test AGAIN! 

Soon afterward, the nurse came and blocked off the IV tube and put a "saline lock" on what was still attached and inserted into my right hand. If I would promise to drink water, she said, they could take out the IV tube in a few hours. (Another amazing motivator - since I'm right-handed!)

Every new step I took: getting out of bed, going to the bathroom, getting washed up [mostly] by myself, getting dressed, putting on my socks and shoes, going for a walk, sitting down, standing up, lying down, turning over in bed - all of it took every ounce of strength I had in whatever moment I was doing it.  I was (and HAD to be) totally committed to the task at hand, and when I would finish one small thing and feel "all in," I'd rest a while and then start another. 

There were a few bright spots. I had an amazing nurse and personal care worker.  Plus I surprised my husband and daughter by being dressed and taking a short walk in the hallway (more like an amble, really, quite slow!) when they came in to see me that day, the day after the surgery. Lunch came and they stayed while I ate beef barley soup, half a rubbery breast of chicken, diced carrots and mashed potatoes with margarine. No salt. And instead of the tea, I just used the hot water and milk to make a warm milk drink I used to drink when I was a little girl. Again, I was grateful for the food, and for the company. 

Shortly after that, they removed the nasal tubes they'd been giving me oxygen through. Having that thing off me was wonderful!

I discovered a little seating area in the unit - rocking chairs and a coffee table, by a south-east facing window.  I spent some time there, and even got a chance to visit with a friend for a few minutes - but had to do so outside the unit because at my invitation, she came during the rest period, which I thought started at 2 (it started at 1:30. She arrived at 1:45 and stayed until 2). 

The bad. By that time (about 2 pm), I was so exhausted from having been up (either walking or sitting) ever since 10:45 that morning, that I wanted to lie down. The level of bone-weary tiredness I felt gave new meaning to the expression, "all in." I wearily asked my friend if it would be okay if I went back to my room - and she walked me back to the unit and left me at the door. 

Every step - even though slow - was an effort. My belly felt incredibly tired. Sometimes it cramped with air - apparently when they do surgery by laparascopy, they inflate the abdomen with air. Some of the air gets trapped in there and somehow manages to work its way into the intestine, where it travels - not so quietly and definitely not painlessly - into the colon and out of the body. This is far from comfortable! And it had been happening ever since I woke up from surgery. After a while it just wears you down.

As I was saying, I wanted to lie down and rest, so I slowly walked back to my room, which was at the opposite end of the unit from where my friend dropped me off.  However, a visitor to my brand new pregnant room-mate was wearing some sort of artificial vanilla scented product (either conditioner or deodorant or hand cream or something) and she was sitting right in front of the bathroom door inside my room. The chemical was so overpowering to me that I could not even go into my room. 

I was at the breaking point. It ... wasn't pretty.

The ugly. With the discomfort, plus the frustrations of the previous day, the insomnia and the fatigue on top of it, this was when my patience ran out ... and I began to be what the nurses would have called "difficult" - but only when I was out of earshot.  I told them about the scent problem. "I don't smell anything," a staff member told me. I sighed. "It's not the smell. It's the chemical!!! I can't go in there. I'll have a reaction."  

I wandered the halls for an hour while my roommate and her visitor blithely visited with each other, and even after the visitor left. I even used the washroom in another semi-private (unoccupied) room - which for some reason upset them more than my complaining did! - and I got frustrated and sighed heavily.  I said I was tired of explaining my sensitivities to every single person (even though I had not explained it to the people to whom I was talking) because nobody understood what this was like for me. I felt like I'd explained it to so many people since being admitted the previous day, that something MUST be on my chart. It was on my allergies bracelet, I reasoned to myself. Were these people stupid or did they just not care that I'd been up for hours wandering around? When I rolled my eyes one more time and said I was tired of explaining my sensitivities to everyone, one of the nurses - annoyed - told me that I hadn't explained it to her.  I said that was true, but I felt like I had to explain it to every single person every single time, and I was tired of it. So ... she said that she wasn't going to ask me to explain it to her. (Yeah I guess I had that one coming, in hindsight.) 

Anyway, I mentioned needing a place to lie down, and possibly using the cot in the family room across the hall from my room because I still couldn't get near my room even though the visitor had left over ten minutes previous to that.  (The chemicals used in making fragrances, as I've often mentioned on this blog, linger long after the person has left.) Nobody said anything. I made my way to the end of the hall and turned into the family room. I headed toward the cot, wearily. I started to get on the cot. At that point, their frustration with me showed through, and the PCW told me that the family room was for use by new mothers and their families (nobody was using it at that time) and that I was not allowed to lie down on the cot because the cleaning staff would not be in until the next day. "You can lay down in your room," she said glibly. "No I can't. I can't get near that room."  "I can't smell anything in there, and I've got a good smeller," she told me. 

Sighhh. The "care" in "health care" seemed sadly lacking at that moment. It sucks not being believed, and I have had that experience way too many times with my chemical sensitivities.

I went to the seating area (at the opposite end of the unit) and sat for a while, close to tears, staring at the floor. The sun had gone around the side of the building, so it wasn't warm there anymore - not nearly as comforting as I thought it might be.  After about 20 minutes, I decided to chance another attempt, and walked slowly back toward my room, passing by the nurses' station on the way. My nurse was standing there and asked if she could get me to sit so she could take my vital signs since she had been getting ready to go to my room anyway. I sat and she took my blood pressure, temperature, and oxygen levels. I told her that I had been up ever since they got me up, and that I would really like to go home. She said she would try to get in touch with the on-call surgeon but that he'd been delivering babies all day, it might be a while before he was able to get away. She said she was going to take out my IV tubing once I got settled there. The IV tubing was only supposed to be in there for 24 hours. It had been about 27 hours at the time.  I got up and made my way toward the room. "I wonder if they will reach the doctor tonight or if I'll have to spend another night on that awful bed," I said to myself.

As I neared my room, I could hear the voice of my second pregnant roommate in a row. She was crying out, sobbing in pain, amid other female voices. At least two staff members were with her, trying to make her comfortable. The baby was pressing on her sciatic nerve, and she was in excruciating pain. I silently went into the room and tentatively tested the air. The chemical had dissipated. It was okay for me to stay. I grabbed my pillow, tucked it under my waterproof butt-pad, and then took my rumpled-up blankets and made a pillow with them for my head, and slowly lowered myself onto my side in the bed with one hip on the pillow area, laying on my side for the first time in over 36 hours.  

Illustration "Sketch Of Woman Crying"
by luigi diamanti at
www.freedigitalphotos.net

My roommate was crying aloud with her pain as they tried to find a way for her to get out of her bed and go to the bathroom without her pain intensifying exponentially. She was crying loudly and begging them to stop, to make the pain go away; ten feet away, beside her and unknown to her, I was crying silently in my own kind of pain. The frustration and tension of the day welled up in me and I wept - as uncomfortable as it was for my belly and as selfish as I felt (and ashamed as I felt for my selfishness) - on my bed. All I wanted was to go back home. So, I quietly sobbed into my makeshift pillow. My sobbing was muffled by my roommate's.

Nobody saw; nobody knew. Nobody. There was just me on one side of the curtain and two or three staff members with my roommate on the other side of the curtain. 

After my roommate got settled - about 20 minutes later - with some Dilaudid, I slowly got up and went out to the hallway. People were still busy. Nobody had heard from the doctor yet. I went back to my room and sat on the chair beside my bed. The food services lady came with my supper - that same beef barley soup, a couple of crackers, and the most disgusting macaroni and cheese. Still, it was food and I was grateful. I tried a bite of the cookie that came with it, but it had coconut in it, so I left it alone.

Around 5:30 or so, I found my nurse and asked if I could get a couple of extra pillows and a sheet or two for my bed, so I could lie down on my side and maybe catch a nap. At the time, however, all the staff were busy with a new influx of babies and moms, so she pointed me to the cart and showed me where everything was: pillows, pillowcases, and sheets.  So I took what I needed to my room - and I made my bed.  Me.  Not supposed to lift anything above 5 pounds, intravenous "saline lock" still attached to (and into a vein in) my right hand, and here I was, making my bed. Desperation does funny things I guess. Anyway, I got it done and I laid down again, on my side, waiting for my nurse to come in and keep her promise to take the intravenous tubing out of my hand.

I vaguely remember her coming to my bedside at one point, and asking me how long my doctor told me that I would be off work. I said, "Three to six weeks," and she said, "Awesome, I'll tell the on-call doctor..." and she was gone. My IV tubing was still in my hand. I rested my right hand on the bed in front of me. 

And so, this part of the saga ends... and another begins

I must have drifted off, because it was 6:50 pm when I opened my eyes and my nurse was sitting in front of me. "The doctor got back to me and I have your papers here, including your doctor's note for work."  I slowly sat up and she went over the post-surgical care information with me, after I texted my family to let them know I could come home.  They promised to be there around 7:30. The nurse finally removed my IV tubing. It felt so good to be free of that thing!  I was so grateful to be able to get out of there and to not need to spend another night on that iron bar!   

As I gathered together my belongings, I saw the young lady who had been crying in pain earlier. She seemed more comfortable but very groggy - her partner had been in and told them that they gave her twice as much Dilaudid as she was used to. The medication made her feel overheated, so she had a cold cloth on her forehead. We chatted for a little while, swapped stories. She wished me the best and I did the same for her.  

Soon afterward, my family was in the room and we were getting ready to leave. We stopped by the nurses' station on the way out, and they noted the time of my departure. My daughter insisted on wheeling me out in a wheelchair; I did not argue! My husband went ahead and brought the car up to the entrance.  We got me in the vehicle and my husband drove to our pharmacy, where the pharmacists know the whole family. My daughter went in to fill the prescriptions the doctor left for me. Then we drove home ... an exercise in enduring pain from jostling over the potholes and failed repair attempts that riddle our little city's roadways every few feet. When I finally got out of the car and slowly made my way through the cold, bracing air up the deck stairs and into our house, I was so relieved that my whole body relaxed so much that even my family noticed it.

I was finally where I belonged: home.