The Lighter Side

I've been so wrapped up in the scary parts of my dad's experience at the V.A. that I thought it would be somewhat cathartic for me to share a few tidbits of the lighter side of my dad's 10 day hospital stay.

When my dad came out of surgery at about 1:30 Monday morning the nurse assigned to his ICU room was a scruffy looking guy named Bill. My dad, in his drugged out state, spent all night thinking he was the janitor. I suppose in that state it would really weird you out to think that a janitor was hanging out in your hospital room. It was quite funny the next day when my aunt explained to him that Bill was his nurse- a little twilight zone moment for my dad.


Another funny moment came later that day. My aunt Shelly was in my dad's room when he pressed the call button for the nurse. Three cute female nurses assembled in his room to see what the problem was and my dad announced "I've got some bad news for you ladies- I've gotta go". Shortly after that my dad got to have his first, undignified meeting with a bed pan.


One final thing I will share is one of those 'funny in hind sight' memories. The night after the physical therapist was able to get my dad up on his feet for the first time he was given Ambien to help him sleep. I'm sure that most people are aware that Ambien can do some pretty weird things to you. My dad woke up at 2 a.m. thinking it was 2 p.m. He yanked his I.V. out, causing blood to spray everywhere, he got himself up out of bed and went to the bathroom. While in the bathroom he became convinced that he was in South America and was the victim of a conspiracy. Needless to say, this freaked the nurses out just a little bit.


In the end I really hope that these are the memories that stand out while the scary stuff fades away.