Life is precious
Today I helped a patient out of her wheelchair and into bed. She is such a sweet lady, but sadly she has aphasia, which means that she has lost her ability to speak and her ability to understand language. This is a result of a recent stroke. Anyway, as I put her into bed a laminated wedding picture floated onto the sheets. It was almost like a gust of wind had blown it into the room. I picked the picture up, looked at it and flipped it over. On the back, it said her name and the name of her late husband and the date of February 26, 1950. As I looked up, I saw that my patient had tears in her eyes. I handed her the picture, pointed to the woman and then pointed to her….she nodded her head and cried some more. All I could do was sit on the bed next to her and hold her hand while she cried. I wanted so badly to hear her story, I wanted to hear about her husband, I wanted to talk, but there was nothing to say.
I have spent many days in the clinical setting and I have worked with many patients. I have talked to several of them about their pasts and I’ve held someone’s hand as they passed away. But today, sitting with this woman, I felt helpless. Words may be cheap, but sometimes they help us express even the most difficult feelings. This lady sits in her room day in and day out, with no ability to speak or express her grief to others. She can’t tell anyone how much she misses him or how happy he made her. I know, she can express this through tears, but can you imagine having so many thoughts in your head and not being able to verbalize any of them.
I found out from the charge nurse that her husband had passed away a little under a month ago. They were an active couple in the facility. They decided to move there because they both had conditions that required nursing care and it was just easier to have constant help. The charge nurse said that the last words she ever heard her speak were “Where’s John? What happened”. They told her that he had passed and the next day they were calling 911 because she had suffered a severe heart attack and stroke.
There are so many beautiful things about life…I consider this to be one of them. What a gift it is to grow old, to spend 60 years with someone, to have a family and to have clearly loved so much. One of the first rules of nursing is that “Life is Precious” and today I truly felt the meaning of that.
I have spent many days in the clinical setting and I have worked with many patients. I have talked to several of them about their pasts and I’ve held someone’s hand as they passed away. But today, sitting with this woman, I felt helpless. Words may be cheap, but sometimes they help us express even the most difficult feelings. This lady sits in her room day in and day out, with no ability to speak or express her grief to others. She can’t tell anyone how much she misses him or how happy he made her. I know, she can express this through tears, but can you imagine having so many thoughts in your head and not being able to verbalize any of them.
I found out from the charge nurse that her husband had passed away a little under a month ago. They were an active couple in the facility. They decided to move there because they both had conditions that required nursing care and it was just easier to have constant help. The charge nurse said that the last words she ever heard her speak were “Where’s John? What happened”. They told her that he had passed and the next day they were calling 911 because she had suffered a severe heart attack and stroke.
There are so many beautiful things about life…I consider this to be one of them. What a gift it is to grow old, to spend 60 years with someone, to have a family and to have clearly loved so much. One of the first rules of nursing is that “Life is Precious” and today I truly felt the meaning of that.
