LOVE DEFIES ALL MEDICAL PREDICTIONS less, and her arms fell back to her sides. Moments later, her eyes flew open to the three of us standing over her. I don’t know what possessed me, but I asked her as soon as she smiled at us, “What was happening to you?” Twenty years have passed, and I still remember her startling an- swer. “I was going up to heaven and I kept bumping into stars.” Then she laughed and closed her eyes and never opened them again. Submitted by Mary McCollough on life support. She’d been on her way to her senior prom with her boyfriend when a drunk driver swerved into their lane. They were hit head-on. Her boyfriend died at the scene, and the patient was left in criti- cal condition. Then the girl’s kid- neys shut down. A neurologist told the parents they needed to discuss turning the ventila- tor off. The parents refused. They were convinced that their daughter would walk out of the hospital. ears ago, I was called to the ICU to set up a dialysis machine. The patient was a 17-year-old female Several months passed without improvement. The mom and Y
dad took turns sitting vigilant- ly by their daughter’s bed. I watched as they read her favor- ite books to her. They told her stories and sang her songs. On her birthday, the ICU allowed her friends to bring in a cake, gifts, and sing happy birthday. The love of all the people who refused to give up on her packed the room from wall to wall. Then one day, we heard both parents scream, and we watched in amazement as they pointed to her moving hand. The room filled with medical staff as she opened her eyes and used her hands to communicate. The young lady was using sign lan- guage, which she had taught herself before the accident. She had always wanted to become a nurse, and since she had a niece who was deaf, she had a love for deaf children. A few days later, she walked out of the hospital on her own, just as her parents predicted. The love that emanated from that young girl’s room was something I’d never witnessed before. All the odds were against her, yet the love from her par- ents, friends, and hospital staff filled everyone’s hearts. Love can defy all medical predictions. Several years later, that young woman stopped by the hos- pital to let us know that she’d become an RN. Submitted by Kathryn Clatworthy
EVERYTHING IN ONE CONVENIENT PLACE you need
GET CONVENIENT, UNLIMITED ONLINE CONTINUED EDUCATION FROM ELITE.
39 THE EVERYDAY NURSE
Powered by FlippingBook