Afection & Afirmation: Antidotes for All

April 21st

Well it´s now 11;10pm . It´s been a full day.....basically full with being with Abu in the hospital and driving backwards and forwards to the hospital!!!

After dropping off no 3 to school at 9:00am Deb and I drove to Alcalá to visit Abu in the hospital. He was to be operated this morning on his elbow, which he broke quite badly after a fall. He needed to have a nail and wire put in it...(sounds like we are building a fence or fixing a radio rather than a human body!!!) as the elbow articulation was pretty messed up.

I finally was able to lay the theory aside of my studies this week, and put it into practice by visiting with Abu to comfort and encourage him in his fear of the op and the anesthetic. God was gracious and Abu ended up only needing a local anesthetic and not a general as was first expected.

Abu was actually called upf or the operation before the designated time and so Deb & I were able to accompany him right to the operating rooms (hey my English is going to pot....I can´t think for the life of me what the correct word is...oh well you will just have to forgive me!!!!) .

We had the privilege of waiting 2 hours there in one of those lovely hospital waiting rooms. Which I have to admit that here in Spain is a lot more lively than anything I have experienced in the land of the Britons. Spanish people enjoy everything at a higher volume level than the rest of the world, so it makes even the hospital not feel so drab and dreary...which is a great blessing...especially when the heating is on "broil" . That, plus the quiet hush in English hospitals, is enough to drift anyone off to "lala" land if you ask me..... Why do they do that ? I mean, isn´t warmth seducive to like bacteria and stuff? Aren´t there people out there who study this and then apply the knowledge into a hospital situaion? Anyway, back to the plot...

To my immense frustration, I had forgotten to take a book with me or any kind of sustenance, (we didn´t think he would go in before we left...) so I had to amuse myself with the vending machine (pressing buttons to "win" a bottle of mineral water) and ask fellow "waiter" (as in she was waiting too and not as in cafeteria serve you coffee...haha...boy am I so funny!!!) for permission to read their nice glossy magazine on the latest gossip about the rich and the famous.

Actually it was Debee who humbled herself to do the "begging" of the above mentioned mag.... I was thinking about it for a while...but hadn´t built up the courage or reached the extent of boredom that pushed me to perform such a humble activity!! Sadly for us though, this spark of excitement was short lived because the kind "donators" were called away just minutes after we got the mag. Hey so much for that...

The surgeon who operated on Abu finally called us 2 hours later and told us that everything had gone like "clockwork" and Abu would be taken up to his ward within the next few hours. Of course at this stage...we had barely enough time to buy a birthday present for the Birthday party No 3 would be going too this afternoon, and to pick her up from School.

After a quick lunch and run No 2 to football training and back(accompanied by literally SHEETS of rain) .....we were back on our way to the hospital to check on Abu again. We found him already well enveloped by visitors (which was a good thing as we weren´t able to be there when he was brought back up to his ward) and he was in good spirits.

We also were able to encourage his fellow roomie. A Portuguese Carpenter (it was the room of the carpenters....and I don´t mean the 1970´s bro-sis duet singers!!!) who had had a run in with a machine and cut some fingers. OUCH!!! Yes, pretty nasty stuff. The guy was in tremendous pain, as you can well imagine. I asked the nurse if she could bring him a pillow as the poor guy didn´t even have one....

It´s sad when the staff are so busy doing their job that the "human/social" side of medicine goes out of the window and these things go undetected.

As is spanish was somewhat weak, Deb was able to use her Portuguese skills to cheer him up a little. We later found out that he was just in Spain working for a few weeks before this happened....his wife and children are back in Portugal and they didn´t even know he was in hospital.......................Everyone has their story....

Anyway, we were able to leave Abu well, in a bit of pain, but well and with strict instructions to ask for a painkiller to help make it through the night. The anesthetic was wearing off and he was in obvious discomfort.

I am more and more convinced of the tremendous importance for human affection and emotional support as a vital part in treating older people and any "people" for that matter. With out which, medicine is just half a science........a very weak response to a very real need.

Well I am going to get off my soap box for today!!!!

It´s late, but I feel like I made a good investment into a few lives today....

Tomorrow will be busy too

sleep well
ally