Reflections From a Country Girl

I got a call in the wee hours of the morning.  It was a frantic call…a call from someone I did not know but who knew Jerry well and knew I could help if anyone could. 

“He’s in a coma at the county hospital and they need someone from his family to come quickly.” the anxious voice said. “You were the only one we had a number for.  Can you get hold of the family?  Can you come?  They won’t let me sign papers to treat him.”

“They say he will likely die.”

I knew Jerry was not on good terms with his family.  I didn’t know if they would really want to know since they had their own lists of life challenges. That was not for me to decide so I quickly tried calling the last numbers I had for each of them.  Most were disconnected.  Others I left a message on without knowing if the message would get through or not. 

I packed a few things and headed to the hospital two hours away.  

When I got there and explained how I was connected to Jerry, had called the family I had numbers for and was there to help any way I could, they asked me to come in and talked with me about the seriousness of the situation.  We discussed what they had done and the options left.  

I went to the intensive care unit and held Jerry’s limp hand. I told him I was here and that he was not alone … that he was in a coma and in serious condition but I knew he was a fighter and could pull himself out of it. 

Family did arrive and visited briefly.  They all had responsibilities they had to get back to at their homes some four hours away.  I was willing to stay with him and they agreed I would be the one to make the medical decisions for him.  I would keep them informed. 

“Is that you?” he said on the 14th day of his coma.  He was addled. He was not able to stand on his own…but he was alive.  He came in and out of consciousness.  He wanted to walk to the bathroom but could not go on his own without the help of a nurse.  

Through the days he was able to gradually get up and move around.  He was on his way to an almost complete recovery.  The doctors were amazed.  We all were amazed. 

“He’d be back up and moving around in no time.” he said.  

join me next time…

My wish for you today is that you help others in need whenever you can.  

~ Joellen

This entry was posted on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 9:48:am and is filed under Conflicts, Life & Events, Medical, personal challenges. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.