In Honour of Nurses

I'm not feeling all that creative tonight because I'm tired, thinking, "Do I even have to think of a title for this post?" So I'll randomly update you on my day. First of all, it's Melanie's birthday today. Gerard put up our traditional garlands and Happy Birthday signs. We were planning to have a family dinner together at home, but instead Gerard, Henry and Melanie (Her dad stayed in the lobby) stopped by the hospital to say "Hi!" on their way to meeting the rest of the family at a Mexican restaurant for dinner - Melanie's choice because it's their family's tradition that the birthday person gets to choose what's for dinner.We are so thankful that Melanie is part of our family and it's great to get to know Henry, Melanie, and her dad better now that they are living with us for a few months while their house is being renovated. So in a way I'm sorry to be missing the birthday dinner, but at the same time I'm quite happy to be here in my hospital bed in a quiet room. I can't imagine being in a busy restaurant right now. While I'm talking about Melanie, and the fact that she is a nurse, and Alida is too, I must say that my respect for the job nurses do, or what is required of them, has sky rocketed since my recent hospital experiences, especially this stay. My favorite nurse is on duty right now and we talk together quite a bit. She told me that either nurses love, love, LOVE oncology (many of them have personally experienced cancer) or they can't handle the job and switch to another area of nursing resulting in a very high rate of turnover with oncology nurses. First of all, the patients are dealing with life and death issues, which results in a lot of stressed out people in one place. On top of that, some of the medications used in treating cancer seem to bring out memories and so patients are confronted with issues from their past, like childhood sexual abuse. So nurses do a lot more than check vital signs and hand out medications. They are at their patients' beck and call for their entire shift, adjusting IV tubing and machines, adjusting beds, getting drinks and linens,etc. They're also the listening ear and comforting mother figures who hear the stories and see all the tears of the many patients who are feeling so emotionally fragile and vulnerable. Yesterday there was a group of staff members (both medical and housekeeping) laughing uncontrollably in the hall just outside my room. it was so funny that everyone in our room was laughing and I was thinking "laughter therapy" and "this looks like a fun/great place to work". Then my nurse said, "It's more like a way to deal with the stress of the job." - which offered me a whole new perspective. Thank you, Lord, for nurses - Including Melanie and Alida; my sister, Anneke; my late sister, Tina; and my mom! who was a nurse in the late 1930's and early 40's! Please offer an extra prayer for nurses today. Well this post took a whole different turn all by itself, so I changed the title from "A Restful Day" to "In Honour of Nurses". I did receive my second spinal infusion today and spent most of the day in bed resting. They're keeping me here over night for observation following the spinal chemo and are expecting that I'll be on my way home tomorrow. Good night! - Posted using BlogPress from my iP