When I was in the hospital the first time I was there for 2 days in the CDU while they found a bed for me upstairs. Once I was transferred to the 5th floor I was placed in room 531 and had a nice window seat with a view.
When they moved a roommate in a couple hours later, a woman in her 50’s. I didn’t think much of her until her crazy started showing. I told her I was going to take a nap because my headache was pretty intense. This is when she decided to make a few phone calls. 9 total. Including one for a mani/pedi for Friday. Plus, to make matters worse she was a loud talker. You know THOSE people. I now knew more about Loud Lynn than I ever wanted to know from this hour of what was supposed to be nap time. She then tried to tell me that I was screaming,”Don’t hurt her!” in my sleep. Even though I wasn’t sleeping. She began complaining to Nurse Brian that it wasn’t fair that I could get around without help and she had a restricted diet. She was in tears and Nurse Brian told her to worry less about others and focus on herself (what a pro!). When a friend came to visit me with her young daughter she interrupted our entire conversation whenever she wanted to including at inappropriate times like when we were discussing my friends grandfather’s funeral the weekend before. Her comments were inappropriate and unwanted but we were kind to her none the less.
After the delusional incident I immediately texted my husband Nurse Brian’s direct phone number and begged him to to tell Brian to move me ASAP. I couldn’t deal with Loud Loony Lynn any longer. I was nervous about how the process would go down, but Nurse Brian is a total pro. About an hour later he peaked around my curtain and said, “oh Jill! We are going to need to move you closer to the nurses station because of the heparin you’re on.” I gave him a huge double thumbs up behind the curtain and mouthed “thank you” and said, “Oh, OK.”
That’s when I was moved into room 527, not a window seat but I didn’t care. I just needed a nap and someone normal. My new roommate was a young lady, pretty blond, maybe 30ish. She had obviously been there for some time, she had a ton of flowers, balloons and plants on her side of the room. She had the prettiest blanket on her bed too which reminded me of the blanket that I had gotten for a birthday present that year from my coworker. Mental note, tell hubby to bring it next visit. She seemed normal but so did Loud Loony Lynn at first.
Quickly, I found out that her name was Amy. She had so many people coming in and out all day (poor Loud Lynn didn’t have any visitors). If she had this many caring people in her life I was pretty certain she wasn’t crazy and maybe this was a good change. It couldn’t be worse than Loud Lynn.
The evening came and went, the next day I snooped and found her last name on her empty IV bag that was on the counter by the sink in our room. I stalked her Facebook page and found that we had 2 mutual friends, one nail tech and a mom of the kids’ friends. I said, “So Amy, I stalked your facebook page and we have 2 mutual friends!” I asked her how she knew the two people and discovered that we had so much more in common. She was also a singer, had worked in a nearby salon to mine, and knew many people from a local church that we also knew. Our friendship began to bloom in that very moment.
Amy was there for pancreatitis which was a result of her Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction. She’s been dealing with the dysfunction for over 14 years now. She was in a ton of pain and had a feeding tube since she couldn’t eat anything without pain. She had been there for over 40 days.
We got Campus Passes which allowed us to roam freely throughout the entire hospital, (IV poles in tow) including being able to go to the cafeteria and the outdoor courtyard for fresh air. We would go “downtown” (downstairs) and go to the “mall” (the gift shop) and to Starbucks for a latte. Anything that made us feel more “normal” made for a good day. We became well known downtown, enough that they stopped asking us for our Campus passes!
We introduced each other to our family and friends who came to visit. Some I got to know better than others like her parents and best friend who came almost every day. Some mornings I had to threaten some if they woke her up after a rough night the night before. We even got pedicures in the room together! We had become hospital bffs.
On day 11 I had a feeling the next day I would be sent home. As much as I wanted to be home with my family I knew I would miss Amy terribly. We cried that night as we both sat in her bed and her dad prayed for us right then and there. It was confirmed in that moment that God had brought us together for a reason.
I was finally being sent home the next day, we said our goodbyes, and promised to stay in touch. I made sure her nurse knew that Amy was to have my IV pole with the cool tray/handle too (those things really need cup holders!). I was glad to be in my own bed and get uninterrupted sleep (no one to change the trash bag at 5am and roll the scale in to weigh Amy at 5:30am!). It was definitely weird being away from the hospital and Amy. We texted a lot and I went to visit her in “our room” the day after. We joked about me returning never thinking it’d actually happen. The next day some of my symptoms returned and there I was in the ER once again and guess who came downstairs to greet me?! Yup, Amy!
I spent a day in the CDU and 2 days in a room on the 2nd floor without a bathroom and a shower. On that third day I was still waiting to be admitted (or not!) and was able to get another Campus Pass (no one in that wing had ever heard of such a thing!). I snuck to Amy’s room to shower while we waited for the news. Her roommate had just been released and the bed was empty (there’s God working again!). We had already asked the floor nurses if I could get my old bed if I got admitted again. Amy wouldn’t let it go and really worked hard to make it all happen. Once we got the news that I had been admitted all the pieces fell into place and we were back together again in room 527!
It was business as usual for the next 7 days. We became closer and closer and thanked God for bringing us together. It was the day before Thanksgiving when we were both sent home but that wasn’t the end of our story. We see each other regularly and talk often. It’s never a dull moment with us. The #hospitalbffs!
Healthy Michigan Mama 