The people I met in California

As you all know, I haven’t updated the blog since we left California. Sorry about that. I’ve been consumed with taking care of Jon and returning to work. I have been meaning to blog about the people I met during our time in California, so here goes.

I spent no time thinking about what I would be doing, where I would be waiting and what I would encounter while Jon was in the OR. My first impression walking in the ICU waiting room was surreal. As I mentioned earlier, there were 3 groups of people sleeping when I arrived. In retrospect I find it interesting that when a group of strangers are under emotional stress they form a bond with others who are in the same stressful state. I met 6 different groups of people during those first few days in the ICU waiting room. If any of them mentioned their names, I don’t remember. However, I do remember their stories and who and what brought them to the ICU.

The first person I met was waiting for her aunt who had hip replacement surgery. She had been in the ICU waiting room for several days because her aunt’s hip wouldn’t stop bleeding after surgery. Her aunt who was elderly had 16 units of blood transfused into her system since entering the ICU. The woman was very worried about her aunt and she told me she considered her aunt to be more of a mother. She had lost her mother early in life and her aunt raised her. The woman was blond and about my age. She lived in Napa Valley and had just retired from their family printing business. Their business was designing and printing wine bottle labels for Napa Valley vineyards. I guess I never thought about wine bottle labeling as a business, I just like to drink the wine behind the label. I thought what very cool and interesting business to be in and wished I had asked more questions.

The woman’s aunt was moved to a regular room the day after Jon’s surgery. I saw her once more in the cafeteria. She said that her aunt was doing very well and would be leaving the hospital in a few days. The woman was happy and as we spoke she had a bright smile on her face. As the women’s stress was diminishing I could see that she was quite an attractive women, she kind of glowed from the inside.

I'll post again about the others I met soon (I promise).

deb