The pain was debilitating — bone rubbing on bone, wearing down any cushion of cartilage. Movement was excruciating. When my husband told me it was finally time to have his shoulder replaced, there was no hesitation – let’s get it done. I knew what my duties would be during his surgical stay and convalescence – chief nurse!
Now I’ve been a woman my whole life (that was meant to be a joke). As such, I’ve been caretaker to friends, children, grandchildren, parents, and hubby. As a child I had my own nurse’s uniform, cape and cap, and frequently administered shots with my plastic hypodermic needle while dispensing candy pills. I figured whatever I had forgotten would quickly come back to me. After all, caretaking is like riding a bike — one never forgets.
It was a very long day of surgery. Scheduled at 1:00 p.m., I expected him out of surgery at 2:30. However, there were delays and he didn’t get out until 5:00 and in his room by 6:00. Since the hospital was quite a hike from our house, I brought necessities to spend the night in the room. It was a very long, very sleepless night. Thank goodness for the nursing staff!
It wasn’t until we had checked out the next day and we were headed home that I realized there would be no shift changes at our house – I was the nursing staff – all 24 hours of it! Scary, but I was determined to be the best darn nurse my husband ever had. We got into a routine, I administered pain medication, and then tucked hubby into bed. I said, “If you need anything, anything at all, just holler!”
I don’t remember much after that except being awakened by my husband yelling, “Is anyone there?” He thought I had died and gone to heaven, because he had been yelling for some time and I didn’t answer. No matter what I could say, it wouldn’t be enough, so I vowed to prove that I truly could be Florence Nightingale, even though my nursing skills were rusty and the only correlation to the original Florence Nightingale was the fact that I happened to live on Florence Street.
I still thank God for nurses (and I’m wondering if the nursing profession is thanking God I’m not part of their professional association as well).
Matthew 25:36 “I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”
