{"id":602,"date":"2009-01-26T09:48:16","date_gmt":"2009-01-26T13:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=602"},"modified":"2009-01-26T09:48:16","modified_gmt":"2009-01-26T13:48:16","slug":"down-and-out-in-south-carolina-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=602","title":{"rendered":"Down and Out in South Carolina – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

I got a call in the wee hours of the morning.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in a coma at the county hospital and they need someone from his family to come quickly.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the anxious voice said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You were the only one we had a number for.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you get hold of the family?\u00c2\u00a0 Can you come?\u00c2\u00a0 They won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let me sign papers to treat him.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They say he will likely die.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I knew Jerry was not on good terms with his family.\u00c2\u00a0 I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t 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.\u00c2\u00a0 Most were disconnected.\u00c2\u00a0 Others I left a message on without knowing if the message would get through or not.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

I packed a few things and headed to the hospital two hours away. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00c2\u00a0 We discussed what they had done and the options left. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

I went to the intensive care unit and held Jerry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Family did arrive and visited briefly.\u00c2\u00a0 They all had responsibilities they had to get back to at their homes some four hours away.\u00c2\u00a0 I was willing to stay with him and they agreed I would be the one to make the medical decisions for him.\u00c2\u00a0 I would keep them informed.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Is that you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said on the 14th day of his coma.\u00c2\u00a0 He was addled. He was not able to stand on his own…but he was alive.\u00c2\u00a0 He came in and out of consciousness.\u00c2\u00a0 He wanted to walk to the bathroom but could not go on his own without the help of a nurse. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Through the days he was able to gradually get up and move around.\u00c2\u00a0 He was on his way to an almost complete recovery.\u00c2\u00a0 The doctors were amazed.\u00c2\u00a0 We all were amazed.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be back up and moving around in no time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

join me next time…<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

My wish for you today<\/strong> is that you help others in need whenever you can. \u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

~ Joellen<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I got a call in the wee hours of the morning.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in a coma at the county hospital and they need someone from his family to come quickly.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,16,40,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conflicts","category-life-events","category-medical","category-personal-challenges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}