THE MAN.........and the cold washcloth.

I dedicate this blog entry to my husband, John. He is THE MAN! What man would get up in the middle of the night just to hold a cold washcloth over his wife's face as she throws up?.....THE MAN! Of course, I had to scream his name several times before he actually woke up. But when he did, he stumbled into the bathroom, ran cold water on a cloth and held it to my face as I threw up. Then he walked me back to bed and put the cloth over my forehead. The reason he does this is because I did this for the kids when they were sick because my mom did it for me when I was sick. What is it about a cold washcloth over your face when you're vomiting your guts out that makes you feel better and is comforting? Anyway, after the third time throwing up and doubling over from abdominal pains, I said, "Take me to the ER." Now this conjures up bad pictures in John's and my minds of the recent past ER visits. Luckily, I was the only "customer" in the ER, in the early morning hours Sat. I answered all the questions, signed the papers and was put in a holding room in the ER. Who else would walk with me when I looked like death warmed over, holding me up and carrying my purse (which didn't match either mine or his "outfits.") .....THE MAN! John sat with me in this room and we reminisced about the other ER visits I've had in the past couple of years. Some quite humorous and some very serious. A nurse comes in to hook me up to an IV. In other words, JAB a needle in my vein , miss the first time, and do it again. I'm making faces at the nurse and she is giving me no sympathy as she continues to move the needle around in my vein. (Mental note to myself, ask Beth if she's nice when she's doing this to her patients.) John is sitting right there with me, reading the paper in an uncomfortable wooden chair, looking tired and waiting on the "hospitalist." (i.e., a doctor who only sees patients that are in the hospital, like Dr. Taylor Brownlee). I'm sure if there had been a washcloth around John would have run cold water on it and placed it on my head because .....he's THE MAN!

Let me give you a little background to this story. A few hours before I ended up in the ER, John had to attend a dinner without me. This wasn't just any dinner. It was the rehearsal dinner for Drennon Platt and Will McMurray at The University Club. What man would attend a rehearsal dinner without his wife unless he didn't know what he was doing or the person it was for meant a great deal to him? Not very many men would, but........THE MAN did! He even sat at a table where he didn't know a single person. Luckily, Beth and Ben's table had 1 empty seat and he moved there to finish out the dinner. A few hours later, we were in the ER. Back to the story, when I was moved to my room (on the 7th floor at St. Thomas) John went home, got some things for me and brought them back to the hospital. He stayed with me (helping me roll the IV stand back and forth the bathroom) until it was time for him to go home, take a shower and get to the wedding. What man, with his wife in the hospital, wouldn't use that as an excuse to get out of going to a wedding?......THE MAN! He went to Drennon's wedding, by himself and then to the reception, by himself. After he got home I asked him to call me and give a report of the evening because I was having to miss such a special occasion. Now, I love THE MAN but he's not into details, which is what I wanted. "How did everything look, how did Drennon look, how did Beth look, were the flowers pretty, how was the music?......these are a few of the details I wanted. THE MAN'S answers were the same, NICE! So much for details. Now when I asked him about the food, he could give me details of each piece he put in his mouth!! Thus the old saying, "A way to a man's heart is through his stomach!" At least at wedding receptions!

On Sunday a.m., I called John to wish him a happy father's day. He went to class, then church, then home to pick up the paper and bring it to me at the hospital. He stayed a few minutes, (helping me roll my IV stand back and forth to the bathroom) and then went to lunch at my sister's house to celebrate Father's Day. What man would go to lunch with his wife's family when the wife wasn't even there?.......THE MAN! (or anyone that wanted a free meal, including my kids!!) After I had a CT scan (twice) and they had taken half my blood volume out, I was told they couldn't find the exact cause for my abdominal pain and vomiting. With a CT scan you have to drink 2 water bottles full of water with "contrast"(weird tasting) in them. Then they put you through this round, open machine while pumping dye into your veins that makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over (until you realize if someone shined a black light on you you might actually glow green!!). I had this done twice in 2 days. If you see me out and I have that "glowing look", I am actually GLOWING from the radiation!!! Who would want to go to the hospital to pick up a person that has been radiated twice, lost half their blood volume, has had NO SLEEP, you could grease your car with her hair, smelled like hospital antiseptic, has black and blue marks on both arms and then bring her home with you?.......THE MAN! Because after all I've put him through the last few days, really the last few years, he still LOVES ME!!!! And I know he'll have that cold washcloth ready for my head the next time I get really sick...........who could ask for more!!!