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Thanksgiving Dinner: Nurse Stories, Part Eleven (By Genevieve M. Voisin, R.N.) by Karen Lynn Vidra, The Texas Tornado
Friday, July 16, 2004
Rated "PG" by the Author.
Even during the holidays, nurses have to work and deal with the sick, the injured, and the dying.
I shall never forget one Thanksgiving Day; it seems like that I wouldn't ever get a chance to eat some of the turkey dinner that my family so lovingly prepared for my husband, George, and myself.
That day was, as I recall, quite busy, which was quite unusual; but given the weather conditions, there were chances that people could get involved in accidents or some other mishap, or there could be fires or whatever cropping up. The day held true to its word: the day was cold, rainy, and ugly out, not fit for man or beast, and that night the weatherman was calling for a chance of sleet or even snow because temperatures were forecast to dip below freezing.
I was looking forward to going home after a busy night; and I was looking forward to spending a slow, relaxing day with my husband, George, and our kids, who had come up from Louisiana to spend Thanksgiving with us, and of course, our lively grandchildren. I was looking forward to watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on NBC on the television, and I was also looking forward to catching up with my children's lives and of course, spoiling our grandchildren, Megan Lynn and Tee-George (George, Jr., named after his grandpere').
But then the boss of the hospital asked me if I could stay that day because they were shorthanded; some of the nurses had come down with the flu, and they needed our help. They said that they would pay us double our usual pay rate, and as good as that sounded to my ears, I was also quite disappointed, because I would have to spend my day working instead of spending Thanksgiving Day with my family and my husband. The thought of a tasty turkey dinner with all the "fixin's" all of a sudden disappeared from my mind, and I was hoping and praying that the day would be slow.
The day wasn't. There were several big car accidents that injured people, from cars sliding on the slick roadways or their not paying attention to their driving; and there were also a few housefires because of an electrical short in one and the other, the person attempted to try to cook a Cajun fried turkey in his oven, and he had it set too high; and the damned ol' bird done caught up in flames and started a grease fire that quickly went out of control. Thank God the guy wasn't hurt, but he did have some minor smoke inhalation, and he was embarrassed as hell. There was also a little kid involved in an overdose (seems that a little curious three-year-old girl got a hold of her grandmama's heart medication, and she done took it, thinking it was candy, but she ended up becoming very sick instead), and two college-age kids who got into a shouting match that quickly turned violent. The one kid stabbed the other in a throat with a butcher knife after the other kid made designs on the first one's girlfriend. (The kid who got stabbed in the throat didn't make it. He died despite our best efforts to try to resuscitate him, and the other one was arrested at the hospital as he awaited word on his friend.) The little three-year-old pill popper nearly died too, but they managed to save her, and she was now in PICU, recovering from a pumped stomach and the effects of the poisons in her tiny little system. She would be sick for a while, but in time, she was to be okay. As for the guy who nearly burnt his house down and had the smoke inhalation, he would be okay in a few days, but he would have to be watched in the hospital and be given oxygen to help his injured lungs heal and rest.
As for the car wreck victims, some were minor, and some were not. The one driver had a broken neck, and he would probably end up paralyzed for the rest of his life, and one died of a lacerated liver; but the others eventually recovered from their injuries.
The day was a mixture of tragedy and some joy, and it was so crazy I didn't get out of the hospital until 5 that afternoon. By then I was so damned tired I didn't care if I got any damned turkey or not; all I wanted to do was go to bed and SLEEP! It was a day from HELL, and I vowed NEVER to work another Thanksgiving Day as long as I lived! And forget about Christmas shopping the next day: I was going to spend Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, SLEEPING and eating left-over turkey dinner when I got out of my nice, warm bed!!
those in the medical profession will thank you for this well written write--they have to forgo a lot of meals, and holiday time with their families--bless you
I shall never forget one Thanksgiving Day; it seems like that I wouldn't ever get a chance to eat some of the turkey dinner that my family so lovingly prepared for my husband, George, and myself.
