March 8 – “Waiting on safety concerns”

I was starting out for a hospital trip to Houston yesterday.  Not to be admitted or anything.  One of our Seasiders had a Mom in the hospital up there, and one of the fire fighters’ young daughters was in the children’s version of the same hospital.  I had my chaplain shirt on my map of how to get there all set to go.  As I waited for a good time to leave that would avoid some Houston traffic, I checked out FaceBook for updates on the patients.  Good thing I checked.  The little girl had already been sent home the night before, so that meant just one patient.  No problem.  All was still set.  I could swing by their house in LaMarque on my way.  But before I could even get out the door, the phone rang. 

It was Uncle Jerry.  He wanted to know if we were going to be around for a while, because he had some “safety concerns” he really wanted to talk to us about.  Now how do you respond to a request like that?  With his medical history and no other family on the island, we assured him that we would wait for him to get here.  Sure enough, when he arrived, his “safety issue” turned out to be a medical one.  He lifted his shirt and pants leg to reveal a mass of bruises on his stomach, back and legs.  Small blisters had also begun to form in many spots.  Other than the bruises, it reminded me of the time I had the shingles, but he wasn’t in any real pain.  He had been in touch with his doctor, and she told him if it didn’t get any better he should let the emergency room docs have a look at it.  Apparently it had spread since that order, so we headed on over to the ER. 

They got him into a room quickly.  He told them he should have a private room reserved, as many times as he has been there the last few weeks and months.  I sent a quick message to Teri, the one I intended to visit in Houston to let her know it was not happening today.  She was most gracious.  Thankfully, it sounded like her Mom was progressing well.

And so we waited.  The first resident who examined Jerry was, well, not exactly a paragon of patient-centered bedside manner.  He didn’t introduce himself when he came in.  He never looked Jerry in the eye when he spoke to him, and only occasionally glanced up at me.  He even talked with his back to us several times, which meant I for one (with my hearing problems) had no idea what he was saying.  Several times he asked Jerry a question, and as Jerry was answering, he interrupted him.  About the third time that happened, Jerry was quite frustrated.  He re-interrupted the guy right back and firmly said, “Wait.  You need to stop right there and listen to me until I finish what I am saying.”  He finally left the room, never to return.  Probably a good thing, too.  Jerry had him in his sights.

After another waiting period, a whole team of doctors then got involved, and it became obvious that their primary concern was the bruising, because it indicated bleeding, and Jerry was on blood thinners.  After waiting for the blood test results, they returned with the news that the tests indicated his blood was thinning, but in a different way than would be caused by the medication he was on.  Strange.  Most definitely a cause for concern, and certainly cause for immediate admission.  They weren’t letting him go anywhere until they had a handle on what was happening.  So now the wait for a room to open up would begin.  Once they left, though, Jerry entered take-charge mode.  He asked me to make a trip back to the car and bring him the items he had packed up in anticipation of a stay.  And once he had what he needed, he insisted that I go on back home.  He assured me he would keep in touch.  I guess so.  Otherwise he would have no ride home.  And now, I wait for his call.

Psalms 33:20-21 says, “We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.  In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.”

Father, thank you for putting so many models of waiting in the Bible.  Makes me feel not-so-alone when I have to wait.  Amen.