October 30 – “Negative”

The other phone calls came.  The first, the one from the hospital business office, came while I was on the way home from the Covid test.  I actually pulled over to the side of the road so I could take the call and get the information sharing taken care of.  Check on phone call number two.  And as it turned out, the one I didn’t expect until Friday came in while we were eating lunch.  That one was from the surgery suite.  I have to be at day surgery on Monday at 9 a.m.  I got the whole “no eating after midnight” speech along with the Covid questions.  And I could actually answer the Covid ones with authority, because the test results had already been posted and I had received a text letting me know that I was negative.  So … negative.  Guess I’ll have to work on my optimism, huh?

 

So back to the test.  I was all prepared for them to cram a six-inch-long Q-tip up to my brain, swirl it around, and pull out as much of the gray matter as they could hook.  In fact, when the lady asked if I had any questions before she began, that’s pretty much what I told her I was expecting.  She was … horrified.  She wasn’t sure if I was serious or not.  After all, we both were wearing masks, so she couldn’t see the wry grin on my face.  Just in case though, she assured me that it was not like that at all.  I countered with, “But that’s what I have heard.”  I finally let her off the hook with a chuckle that she could actually hear.  I really don’t like the whole mask-wearing thing, but I guess it can have its advantages.  And she wasn’t kidding about it being much easier that I expected.  The giant Q-tip was replaced with a long, pliable strand of filament with a swab on top.  She crammed it in my nose all right – both sides – but it certainly didn’t hurt.  It felt like there was a renegade gnat loose in my brain, though.  The best words I can come up with to describe the sensation are:  It tickled.  TeeHee.

 

I stopped by fire station two after the test.  Nobody was home.  Then I went by the Central Station.  Those guys were out on a call as well, but I hung out and talked to the admin people.  Really good folks.  I also went by station four later in the afternoon.  They had been on a call involving an 8-month-old baby, so I just wanted to check in and make sure they were doing OK.  All good.  Once again … I’m proud of those guys.

 

Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through him who gives me strength.”

 

Father, please be with that baby as he heals.  And use this situation to draw the parents toward yourself.  Amen.