Think Before You Speak

We have had such wonderful nurses here.  We get a new nurse every 12 hours.  Shift change is 7am or 7pm. You get spoiled in the ICU unit.  Each nurse has only two patients so the attention we get is exceptional.

In the beginning days, after our nurse finished up with his or her shift and left for the day (or evening), I would hope so much that he/she would be back for Kyle.  Sometimes we did get the same nurse, sometimes we didn't.  But after awhile, I stopped wishing for the same nurse. Why?  Because each time we got a new one, he/she was just as wonderful as the last. They are mostly young, always smiling, caring, and excited along with us about Kyle's progress.  They all know us now, and if they are not Kyle's charge for the day/evening, they will pop their head in to see how he is doing and say hi to us.

There is one exception though.  Greg and I like to call her "Nurse Ratched."*

*For those too young to know,  Nurse Ratched is the antagonist in the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest.  She is a former army nurse and head of the hospital ward, who rules her ward with an iron fist.

She does just as good a job of taking care of Kyle, but needs a little guidance in the emotional/sympathy department.

I told her that Alex was not here because he was competing in a Tough Mudder.  She proceeded to tell me that two years ago a participant was brought to this hospital who had died from drowning in the mud.  She went on and on about how dangerous they were, that the obstacles were not manned well, and that they were so overcrowded.  She actually looked me straight in the eye and said,  "Anyone who does one of those has to be crazy".

Now just imagine, I am sitting looking at my one son who is severely brain damaged, while this nurse is looking me in the eye and telling me my other son is crazy.  Why would she do this to me?  I almost spent the next two hours worrying, when I should have been imagining the blast that Alex was having. To the rescue though, were the most reassuring words from the most understanding people who are helping us through this.  I thank you all.

We need to remember the impact our words can have on one another.
 Remember to think before you speak.

Alex did have a blast!  With his two wonderfully supportive friends, Hollis and BonGiovi. :)  This one's for you Kyle!

                                                                                         #PrayForKyle