Have you ever been sick? Have you ever been with someone that is dying? I am not sure what goes through peoples heads at those particular times. I was not sure what people thought until a wonderful person spoke to me tonight about just that and I am going to tell you about it.
I was lucky enough for the past three days to care for a lovely lady. Her family is very caring and concerned about how she is doing and spend a lot of time at her bedside. Now they had to make some very hard decisions about her care, leaving them heart broken and sad. In the whole episode, there was a nurse that I am priveleged to know. She was someone that was instrumental in getting done what the family had been trying to do for over a week. This lady is a god send and an angel disguised as a nurse. You know who you are, my glorious Ms. M. This is kind of the prelude to what I want to tell you now.
My wonderful(I had to say that cause she is going to read this) sister was on the phone with me texting like we do every night before she goes to bed. She had a rough day at work. Her and her husband had just closed the doors of their store for the last time. It was a heart wrenching day for her and her loyal customers. There had been hugs and tears all day long and she was udderly exhausted. The night at work had been slow and I did get to talk to her a bit more than ususal. We were kidding around like we usually do and she had me laughing like a silly school girl. We talked about our family and laughed about the things we used to do. She teased me and I her. Then I sent the text "brb going to check". When I came back she asked me what I had to check. I told her that I had a patient that was dying and I had gone to check on and turn her. Deb said something that threw me a bit. She said " I am going to be a patient sometime in the near future and I want you to make sure that my face is washed and my hair combed". You see my sister has Parkinson's Disease and she is preparing herself for what 'could' come.
Then she told me to go in and, "wash her face and comb her hair" to which I replied, "I already have". She told me that I astonish her. She told me that she loves me and is glad that I am good at what I do. She told me how proud she is of what I do and that I am her sister. She said a bunch of other stuff too that I can't write here (hahahahaha). My sister can also be 'full of it' after a couple of glasses of wine. We laughed about our kids and more about the family we come from and then she went off to bed and me back to work.
I had never really thought about what I can do to help patients through the transitions that are put before them. I guess I do certain things for them without thinking. It is strange hearing it come from someone that you know and love, so if your ever taking care of someone and your not sure what to do to help them or make them feel better, "Just wash their face and comb their hair", you'll probably get a great big smile.
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