Hospital Beds

I'm not quite sure that I should know the mechanics of a hospital bed as well as I do. They've all been different versions of the same bed. No matter how old or new - they all work the same way. The buttons have a slightly different appearance, but the buttons all do the same thing.

Up.
Down.
Up.
Down.

I'm not quite sure I'm supposed to be as comfortable as I now am, sitting at the end of a hospital bed. The hospital beds have all been in different rooms. The oxygen machines all hum and vibrate the same way. Today, it's an older version with a crank at the end that you have to spin and spin for it to move the right way. We've encountered the deluxe versions with hydraulics that don't require much physical manipulation. Those are much easier on your back. But still do the same job.

You still have to support the same way. Even with the fancy beds with hydraulics.

Lift from under the arms. Don't pull too quick - that causes pain.
One pillow behind the neck.
One just at the upper back to make breathing a little easier.
One on each side - so they can't slump over.
Make sure the pull sheet is straight and tight - to avoid bed sores.

This time our hospital bed is simple. It's old and the wheels are a little squeeky. It's not as wide as the fancy ones. That ended up being a blessing. If it were any bigger we wouldn't have been able to fit everyone into this tiny room.

But here we are again.

In a tiny room.

No matter what's happened before. Words that have been said. Hurt feelings, good feelings, bad moments or time passed.

Hospital beds in this family do only two things.

A hospital bed for this family brings us all back together to take someone away...


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

sour dough starter.

Heatwaves in our little 400ish sq ft dwelling were the worst. It was nearly impossible to keep it cool. The window AC unit and fans worked overtime and that just barely kept it bearable. The goal was just to make it through the hottest parts of the day - until the sun broke and started to set, there would be a slight late afternoon breeze - the cool, stillness of the night would be on it's way soon. Relief...  I loved our little 400ish sq ft dwelling more than humanly possible. And even though there were bees living in the wall and heatwaves felt like a literal sauna, I loved it. What I didn't like about it was cooking at any capacity when the weather was too hot. Because of it's size, the thought of turning on the stove or oven would have been literal torture. Pre-heating the tiny oven would immediately increase the inside temperature by a factual 1,000 degrees...  Summer of 2020. We were experiencing a global pandemic and a heatwave. Temps were well over 100 and quarantin...
Read more

LA, a love letter.

There are 3 views of the city that are my absolute favorite.  The first is on a corner across from LA Historic Park off of Spring Street. It also happens to be outside of our favorite place to drink beer on Friday nights. But the view of the Gold Line stop and the cityscape in the background is the best. It's just far enough away from DTLA to hear the slight hum of the city but close enough to feel the energy of late night commuters coming and going.  The second view is in the neighborhood behind Kenneth Hahn State Park. It's a view I didn't know existed until a few years ago but even when it's a little hazy, it never disappoints. On a clear day you can see the entirety of all the neighborhoods I love, you can see the lights from Dodger Stadium all the way to fireworks after events at the Rosebowl. You can hear the echo of children playing and softer booms from fireworks... The third view is a specific part of the 10 freeway. When you are driving east on the 10 through ...
Read more

Separation

Image
 After you send in a letter of resignation to a place of work, the word separation gets used a lot.  A separation of you and the place of business.   I guess to appropriately sum it up, that is the best way to describe it. I tried to figure out a more fitting word but couldn't seem to find one. In my particular scenario, it feels like an amicable break-up. A divorce of some sort because you both realize that your relationship was no longer serving you. You've grown, they've grown, and unfortunately that growth was apart from one another.  I think if we've all experienced anything over the last few years, one thing that a lot of people have done is a reprioritization of life things. The time we spend and who that time with spent is more important. If I've learned anything about myself recently, it's that I definitely did not have things prioritized in a way that was healthiest for me.  So, that's what I'm doing. Reprioritizing.  Reprioritizing and choos...
Read more