Hey--That's My Mom! -- or the Power of Touch

About a year ago, my mom nearly died from rare complications of Shingles (Yeah--I know--scary stuff!). She is the Public Health Officer for her county. She wrote about her battle with Shingles in this article that recently re-ran in The Antigo Daily Journal. 

 

In January 2009, my mom spent a week in Wausau Hospital dealing with it. I remember calling her one morning in the hospital before I went to work in my own hospital. I live about 2-1/2 hours away from her. Before they figured out what was going on, she was having episodes in between a stroke and a seizure. While I was talking with her, she kind of faded out and said, "I have to go ... I'm having another one ..." Meanwhile, I'm 100 miles away thinking, "Oh, my god! This could be the last time I talk with my mom--where she actually recognizes me!" At first I didn't know what to do. Then I called back, got the nurses' station, and asked that someone get into the room with her, that she was having one of her "fits." Whoever answered the phone must have been used to family members calling in distress. She said the nurse was with her ... I think she might have even walked into the room with the phone, as I could hear someone comforting my mom. When it passed, the nurse--who was calm as a soft southern rain--came on and explained to me what had happened, that they were watching these episodes, timing them, etc. to try and figure out what was going on. She did as much to comfort me as my mom.

What really hit me was that this nurse was right there holding my mom's hand while she was having this episode. I know how busy these health care professionals are, and how immersed they have to be in technology. I can't tell you how much it meant to me that someone as busy as a nurse in a busy hospital took the time to hold my mom's hand when I couldn't be there to do it myself. 

 

My mom herself is a public health nurse. I am a hospital librarian. People go into nursing and healthcare because we care about people. Most of us are service-oriented, caring people. But the nature of the business has changed such that it's easy to let technology take over. In some respects, that's good. Her doctors told her that if she had had this bout of shingles with these particular rare complications in the 1980s, she would have died. They just did not have the anti-viral medications to deal with it back then. As it was, they sent her home with a central line catheter, and a machine that administered her medications for 3 more weeks. My Dad got quite adept at setting up the machine for her.

 

Holding someone's hand seems like such a small thing--but it's huge!

 

Here's another tear jerker story for you :

I recently came across a story where a child was hit by a car. Sadly, she died before her parents could get there. A Police Officer on the scene took the time to sit and hold her as she died. That was a great comfort to the parents who could not be there themselves. As hard as it was to lose their child, they knew she had not died alone.

 

Learn more about Shingles and how to prevent it. I'm providing this link because I know there's a lot of MIS-information out there (I've seen and heard it up-close and personal) . My mom is on a public health crusade to get kids vaccinated with the chicken pox vaccine--that's the only sure way to avoid Shingles later in life. This is pain you can avoid. Finally, talk to a health care professional if you have concerns about Chicken Pox, the vaccines, or Shingles.