Hospital Visits

I think for many people, hospitals are not the most pleasant places to visit. You have sick and dying people being treated and not all of them are able to live, sadly. Luckily for me, I haven't had to enter our area hospital all that much. I've made a couple of visits there to see my grandma, who has been through numerous surgeries and procedures. My sister works at the hospital here in town as a nurse and one time when I went to see my grandma, she happened to be working, too. She was working on the pediatric floor and I happened to see a young child laying in a bed, being carted to a closed-off area. It was such a sad sight, seeing someone that young having to endure the misery of being sick. Not only do hospitals have that sterile smell, but it also has that sense of illness and pain about them. I know it leaves me uneasy everytime I enter the place.

I'll be going to see my mom at the hospital in about an hour or so. Now, it's nothing major, but she needed to have surgery to correct a hiatal hernia. It had been bothering her for some time and the doctor said she may have had it for up to ten years. She's a strong woman and puts up with many of her aches and pains. We all believe that this may have been a contributing factor to her not feeling very well for awhile. And although she was nervous about the procedure as anyone would be when facing surgery, she knew it needed to be done so that she would ultimately feel as well as she has in a long time. The good part about the procedure was that it was done laprascopically and she didn't need to be cut open as severely, so the recovery should be quicker. Still, she will be sore for a few weeks and will need to take it easy in the meantime.

You know, my mom has never been through any kind of major surgery. Back when I was about five years old, she had one of her knees scoped and was off her feet for a time. I can't even remember much about it anymore, just that she was on crutches for a time. Other than that, she has been relatively healthy. One time she was with my dad in a restaurant and instantly passed out onto the table. He brought her into the nearby hospital where they did a few tests on her, but didn't really find a conclusive cause to her just randomly passing out. Then about a year ago or so, she was on medication that was making her very sick. Whenever she'd take the pills, she'd come down with a flu-like illness. I know it really concerned everyone, especially knowing that they really couldn't find anything wrong with her, no matter what tests they did. Eventually they found out that the medication was causing her to be sick all of the time and that she was allergic to it. Only a very small percentage of the U.S. population is allergic to this medication and she was one of them. So needless to say, she's never been back on that certain medication since.

So the hernia procedure was something corrective to take care of an ongoing problem and it will really help her overall health. I know she was thinking about warmer weather to come before going in for this procedure, but now is better than later. As soon as she heals up, she will feel as good as new. She'll have to stay off her feet for awhile as the incisions heal, but it will all be worth it in the end.