To the hospital
Timetables are useful, and so are routines. Which now include visiting the hospital most days to visit my Mum. I have driven myself there, but the difficulties of obtaining parking are almost insurmountable. (What do I do if, having reached the hospital, I can find no-where to park?) So now I get taxis and am grateful that I can relax in the back of the cab for fifteen minutes each way. If I time it right, I can avoid the worst traffic clutter and shorten the journey.
I really cannot fault my mother’s medical treatment at the Western General. Having such an apparently intriguing case on their hands, the treatment appears to be tiptoe kid gloves careful, and the staff are uniformly kind, helpful and easy to get on with. And I say that as someone who has good reason to loathe hospitals and to never want to go into one again.
Yes, I can identify with the tedium. It amuses me to hear my mother complaining of boredom and frustration, but I refrain from saying, “I do know, I do understand…” as that would only make her feel worse: without prompting from me, she remembers my hospital admissions, which she herself sanctioned, and concedes that yes, I do understand, and yes, I have been patient. That was nice to hear, today. (Increasingly, I find I can make a point by being silent and letting it speak for itself.)
So yes, I have reason to hate hospitals, but I no longer do. Which for me is not so much a turnaround as a revolution of cosmic proportions. A whole arena of paranoia that I have, apparently, let go. For which, yet again, I am immensely grateful to my Mum. Thanks be to mothers for the lessons they teach their children.
Please share:
February 7, 2019 @ 10:37 am
I imagine the wisdom of years past is also something to do with it Fran – as we experience more, if we are open to it, we allow our opinions and prejudices to change do we not. It’s good to hear that your mum is receiving good care.
February 7, 2019 @ 10:53 am
Yes, I think that change comes with ageing, though I have also seen opinions become more entrenched with age. I guess lots of things help me to see things differently – living more in the moment, not judging outcomes, just doing my best and noticing that in others… And also, holding on to past judgements is so tiring. Phew! It’s lovely to let the past go.
Yes, I’m pleased that the NHS is working so well. I’m now one of its biggest fans. :-))
February 7, 2019 @ 10:45 pm
Yes, Fran, but I also think that wisdom simply comes with years and experience and generations before us have experienced the same but we never know until we have experienced it ourselves…only then can we thank our parents, who in their turn have thanked their parents and so on….and yes, you have reason to hate hospitals, I agree 😀
February 8, 2019 @ 9:41 am
That’s so right. It’s like becoming a mum for the first time: All change! I do hope that I have learned lessons, also, about how I will *not* behave with my daughter. I will let her question me, interrogate me, argue, because she has that right. I rejoice in her bolshie-ness (knowing she is rarely bolshie). I see the whole hospital system working like a huge network, with thousands of people all doing their bit very well, and I marvel at that. :-))) ♥