some stories to share
on monday, i was volunteering as usual… actually, lets start with today. its funnier this way. anyways, i volunteered at the hospital again today. i found out that i have other emotions besides “happy” and “angry.” theres this guy that has a broken neck or something and the nurse asked me to help clean him up, since he cant move his limbs. (this is kinda gross, btw) she hands me a towel thats been soaked in soap water and i start scrubbing his arms. i can tell that they dont really clean him that well since he reeks of BO. wanna know where its comming from? his feet. they dont clean between the friggin toes. just cuz he cant feel it doesnt mean you skip it! i felt kinda bad so i started scrubbing. and flakes of skin fall off… with the smell getting worse. how the hell do you skip that? i digress. the one thing that got to me was this little old lady who couldnt have been more than 80 lbs. the nurse asked me to help change a wound dressing on her abdomen. she had a hole there! (which was pretty cool to see, actually). anyways, the nurse finishes up and goes about her business. im helping the old lady get comfortable when she sees a lady push her husband (another patient) in a wheel chair. she says to me “i wish i could do that. walk around the halls” in a feeble and melancholic voice. “are you allowed to walk around?” i ask inquisitively, thinking i could walk her around. she shakes her head and replies “no.” with a sad sad smile accompanied by a sense of acceptance of her condition. here she is, wasting away in a bad and all she wants to do at the moment is get out of the room. and what can i do? nothing. i think its called sympathy. or empathy. something-pathy.
on monday, even more sad stuff =T. there was a young male patient that could barely move his arms. the charge nurse asked me to see if he had a phone since someone was callin him. i go to his room and check his phone, asking him if it was disconnected (since i assumed that was the reason why the nurse sent me in there). he looks to me, barely raising his arms, and says “i dont know. i cant even pick it up.” i tell him ill help him out and ill be right back. as i was leaving, i heard him say under his breathe, out of pure frustration “i hate my arms!” damn.
later on in the day, i was helping a physical therapist (the rapist for 200 haha) with an old guy. seemed like he fractured his knee or something. the physical rapist needed help since she was a woman. kidding! the patient was a pretty big guy. probably 6ish and around 250 lbs. did i mention he was old? yea. so his wife and brother (i guess) come in and see us trying to get the old dude to move to the edge of the bed. unfortunatley, he was unable to even move. he was in alot of pain and couldnt do anything, which made me feel bad since he was hella thirsty afterwards. i came in earlier in the morning to give him water but didnt help him drink since i thought he was sleeping. when he opened his eyes, he didnt say anything to me so i got irritated and left. i know, Sar is an asshole. big surprise there. anywho, his wife started crying, muttering “hes so weak…he was just fine a few days ago…” oddly enough, ive been hearing that quite often at this hospital. maybe theyre doing something to the patients… conspiracy theories at another time.
Lastly, (almost finished! hang in there!) as my shift ended on monday, i had some time to reflect on my experiences while i was waiting for the elevator on the 6th floor. as i got on the elevator, i thought to myself “wow, i have compassion” as well as many other deep thoughts when i let a huge one rip right as i got one. it was a delayed bomb, since i wasnt able to smell it until the elevator stopped at the 5th floor and a middle aged couple stepped on. i chuckled to myself when i thought “theyre going to be breathing in my filtered fecal gas.” i could feel them staring at me with accusing eyes that said “you bastard….” well shit, i was feeling kind of down and farts always cheer me up. farts and burps. theyre extremely amusing, especially when i make paui suffer through them =D
