Open Dialogue

Hospital Stories

Five weeks ago my brother-in-law Bill had a heart-valve replaced. This was his second one in five years. Last week he went in the hospital with an infection. This happened last time as well. I don't think invasive surgery is his thing.

Yesterday afternoon my sister Nancy called me to tell me that Bill was going in for emergency surgery. They had transferred him from Mercy Hospital to Lutheran Hospital. This was confusing, but I wasn't going to ask questions and went over to Lutheran Hospital.

When I got to the hospital, the volunteer (Mr. Sloan) showed me to the ICU room. He knew where he was going as he had recently taken Bill there with my sister following along. "He's a feisty one," Mr. Sloan stated about Bill. I agreed and he referred to Bill and Nancy as my "parents". This is not uncommon and I find it amusing. Nancy is 16 years older than me and Bill is 19 years older.

When we got to the ICU, Bill wasn't there--they had already taken him in for surgery. So, we walked down to the surgery waiting area. This gave plenty of time for me to learn about Mr. Sloan.

He volunteers at the hospital on Monday with his wife. The rest of the week he takes care of his house and his sister-in-law's house as well. Turns out that his wife and her sister have MD. He said that in addition to that he has a life as well. I like Mr. Sloan, he has a good sence of humor.

I asked Mr. Sloan what he did before he retired. He told me that he taught high school science and farmed because he couldn't make a living teaching. His farmland was in Waukee and he sold his property to developers. He said he feels a little bad to see his property being developed. But, then again, he paid $300/acre for it and sold it for $10,000/acre.

By now we had located Nancy who was sitting in the surgery waiting area with family friend Jeffrey.

I got the update on Bill including why he changed hospitals. There was a leak in the roof over at Mercy. This trickled down to the operating room and comprised it's sterility. I realized that we are having a heat spell here after all the snow. It was a balmy 35 degrees outside and the snow was melting like crazy.

After I got all the updates, I told Nancy that the volunteer thought that Bill and her were my parents. She's gotten used to this as well and we had a good laugh. I assured her that she looks too young to be my mother even though she is so much older than me. She told me that she thinks my hair will turn white instead of gray as I age. I told her to keep on dying hers the color she has been because it is flattering on her.

Soon Bill was out of surgery (only 2 hours!). Things weren't as bad as originally thought and they did not have to cut through his sternum. We thanked God and went to his room.

posted by Susan @ 10:42 AM