Monday, October 1, 2012

October 1 – “Indomitable Unkie”


Our day today started around 12:15 this morning.  That’s Mom’s usual roaming time, but she was actually in bed.  This time it was my phone that started ringing.  I groggily reached for it and promptly dropped it on the floor.  I forgot that it was plugged in to the charger.  That meant I had to get out of bed and pick it up.  Awake now, I realized the call was from my uncle.  He lives alone here in Galveston, and his children are in far-away lands like Florida, New Jersey, and Illinois – places well-beyond even Texas.  My Dad’s younger brother, he was only nine or ten when Mom and Dad got married, so they had quite a hand in raising him.  He has been good about stopping by every so often to check on Mom’s health, and his canal home in Spanish Grant is out family site for taking youngsters fishing. 

So what in the world could Uncle Jerry want with us at midnight?  I finally managed to get the phone off the floor and unplugged so I could answer it.  He sounded fine, but his unusual request was, “How would you like to do an act of charity tonight?”  That was a strange one.  Quickly I asked what was wrong, and he explained that he had been feeling lousy for a few days, and had not gotten more than a few hours’ sleep because of a bad cough.  Then yesterday his leg had started to swell up.  Then it started to really hurt.  He waited until midnight before deciding that he might ought to have it checked out.  I assured him that he was probably right.  He has had a blood clot in his leg in the past, so that’s nothing to trifle with.  He was on his way over and wanted to know if I would ride with him to the emergency room, “just in case.” 

Well, absolutely.  I got dressed in a hurry and waited for him outside.  Very cool night, by the way.  In the low 60’s.  We made to the ER with him driving, but after he parked in the garage, he didn’t want me to get a wheelchair for him.  As a result it took us a long time to make the walk.  He was moving awfully slow and wincing with every step.  We did finally make it inside, and we were rushed right into a room.  After the customary vital signs and urine samples and blood draws and visits by medical students and x-rays, the doctor finally made it into the room around 3:20.  He said they were most concerned about the possible blood clot in the leg, but to be sure about it, they needed to do an ultra-sound.  “Unfortunately,” he explained in his best, you-can-trust-me-I’m-the-medical-professional voice, “the people who run the ultra-sound keep banker’s hours.  That test is something we cannot do until the morning.  Well, later in the morning.  And since it is already after 3:00, we will just keep you here until after we can that done.”  He assured us that they would also check out his chest and get him something for the cough and for the pain.  Jerry took that as a sign that I should go on home and get some sleep, so he gave me the keys to his car and said he would call me later after the tests and I could come get him then.  And then he lay back on his bed and closed his eyes.  Apparently I had been summarily dismissed.  I chuckled and gathered together his jacket and shorts, asking him what he wanted me to take with me.  “Just the car,” he responded, and followed up with a heartfelt thank you for coming with him.  It has always been hard for him to admit any kind of weakness, especially to one of his nephews.  After all he was always the “Indomitable Unkie.”  That was our nickname for him when we were growing up.  Just the “Unkie” part, though.  No way we knew how to say “Indomitable” much less what it meant.  I gave him a hug and got back to the house around 4 or so.  Chris was awake waiting for me, so I filled her in on what we knew so far before we both fell into an unsettled sleep.  At least that was something familiar.  We see, to be getting used to this “unsettled sleep” thing.  I’ll check on Jerry again when we get back from Houston.  I have an appointment with my rheumatologist at 11:00.  More medical fun.

Psalms 33:6 says, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”

Father-Creator, please be with “Unkie” through this hospital visit.  Amen.

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