Quite an Inspiration

Pam Update

A Chair!!! 

Pam is slowly improving.  She is able to breathe with a lower dose of oxygen and was able to sit up in a chair for a while today. (Hooray!)  We joke that this is the worst case of allergies ever.

We are beginning to think about next steps in her treatment.  She only has one more day of chemo, and we are assuming that her respiratory problems will improve rapidly afterward.

Unfortunately, she still can't see many visitors because of her fatigue and her compromised immunity.  I call her parents at least twice a day, and even though I know they understand, it breaks my heart to tell them that I don't know when Pam will be up to having visitors.

I am spending a lot of my day either sitting in the waiting room, or sitting in Pam's hospital room.

In the hospital room, when Pam is comfortable and sleeping, I read a book.  When she is awake, all I can do is little things:  rub her back or feet, get her a Kleenex, grab a pillow, move the bedside table, entertain her and the nursing staff with humorous anecdotes and hilarious jokes, things like that.

Hanging around in the waiting room I try to get some work done and accomplish very little.

The Hospital Community
There is a sense of community in a hospital that I have almost forgotten existed:  patients, families, loved ones, nurses, physicians, volunteers, cafeteria workers, maintenance, security, and others all form this small community with it's own unique set of written and unwritten rules, rituals, and mores.  Everyone has a story:

She Calls Me Buzz
One elderly gentleman who is at the hospital day and night will talk with anyone in the room about his critically ill wife.  He always has a smile on his face and tries to assure everyone around him that even though his wife is very ill, she will pull through and return home with him.  I asked him why he was sleeping in the hospital waiting room instead of using the inexpensive nearby housing for families of critically ill patients:  "My wife always calls me Buzz or Buzzie and I am afraid she will wake up and need me. You see, Buzz isn't my real name, so I don't think the doctors will know she wants me.  I just know she'll call me Buzz.  I just don't want any confusion."

The Little Volunteer
A little lady with a cane, a lot of rouge, and a blue hospital volunteer uniform works in the waiting room every Friday, as she has for 30 years. Any day but Friday, a visitor can pick up a phone in the waiting room, ask if a patient can see a visitor, and be let in remotely. On Friday, the process changes and the phone system goes out the window. If you make the mistake of trying to use the phone as you were previously instructed, she will politely but firmly forbid it.  Instead, she personally walks back to the ward to seek permission for your visit on your behalf.  "It is easier on the nurses this way." she says.  She also reminds you to wash your hands and not stay too long.

The Persians
The patriarch of a family that immigrated from Iran after the Shah was overthrown in 1979 is very ill.  The family has flown in from all parts of the country to be by his side. They are all accomplished professionals:  an architect, a dentist, and a PhD computer scientist.  The patriarch was a Pediatrician and was pursuing another degree in English after he retired from medicine. One member of the family is always on duty in the waiting room.

It is all pretty inspiring, but I still wish Pam wasn't sick.