Appreciating Little Everyday Things

Recently I spent eight long days in Mercy Medical Center!  I’ll spare you too much detail, but I ended up having emergency surgery for a ruptured bowl and had eight inches of my colon removed.  After the surgery, I developed some problems with my lungs.  Let’s just say, “NOT FUN!”

Throughout my hospital stay, I realized that we take so much for granted:

Breathing  --  that’s a big one!!  I had no clue that it is so much work to just breath.  As most of you know, I do love to talk…but for two days I chose to concentrate on breathing instead. 

Water  --  For four days, I could have no water or other liquids.  The only thing I could do was dip a sponge in water and swab my mouth.  When I finally got to have ice chips, it was better than handing me a million dollars.

Food  --  When you haven’t eaten for days, food (yes, even hospital food) tastes sooooo good.

Showers  --  On my fifth day in the hospital, I started to feel a little better and started asking for a shower.  Never got one!  I don’t blame the nurses; they are so busy.  Yes, eight days without a shower!  Thank you to my friend, Carmen, who came one day and washed my hair with some dry shampoo and gave me a “spit bath”.  That is the true meaning of friendship!

Going to the Bathroom  --  Every time I needed to use the bathroom, I had to push my nurse call button and wait for the nurse to come.  She would then have to unhook my IV and temporarily cap it off.  Unplug the oxygen from the wall and hook it up to a portable tank.  Then, when I returned from the bathroom, the nurse had to do all that again. 

I hope I am a changed person and appreciate all the little things in life so much more after this experience!