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Thursday, June 17, 2004


Holding Hands

Two things come to mind immediately when I think about tonight's title. The first is that Myra feels on the cutting edge of the dating world. She told me last night that the most recent issue of Jane magazine has an interesting article in it about how to spice up your dating life. Apparently, a portion of the article made suggestions for different types of people to date to add interest and excitement to your dating scene and seminarians were listed as the number one choice! How about that? According to the article we're supposed to be kinky, but not good for the long term as we apparently have a propensity to ditch the dating partner when we realize we have someone higher to answer to. I don't know how that particular line makes me feel! I am honored, however, to be among the most eligible persons. How do my fellow seminarians feel?

The other thing that springs to mind is the ministry I did today in the ER. An adult Code Yellow x2 was called while I was down there - MVA (motor vehicle accident). I looked around the ER and I was the only chaplain in sight. Taking a deep breath and gathering my clipboard, I took my place just outside the trauma bay with the rest of the trauma team and awaited the arrival. (My hospital is so cool I think! In how many other hospitals does a chaplain serve as a permanent member of the trauma team? That's just excellent healthcare.) The paramedics arrive and bring the patient in - from where I'm standing she appears to be a young woman. She's conscious and talking/moaning. This was my first official trauma case, so I was excited and a little nervous. After the docs got done with their initial questions, I moved in and got the info I needed from the patient, who we'll call Laura. The docs handed me her valuables and I went to inventory those and look for ID and insurance cards. Once I had that done, I repeated the entire procedure for her fiance who was in a triage room, as he was much less serious. Securing his info and assuring him I would tell Laura he loved her for him, I headed back to her room. The docs had cleared out after making sure she was stable and immobilized to await the results of her tests (X-Rays, CT Scans, the like.) I went in and introduced myself and she was very receptive to my presence. I told her the info she gave me was very helpful and that while I couldn't reach either her Mom or Dad, I did get in touch with her sister and that her sister was on the way. She stuck her hand out and asked me to hold it and to stay with her. Glowing inside because I felt needed and that I was really doing the work of a chaplain, I got down next to her and we chatted for a while. Some nurses interrupted to install a catheter, which was very painful for her and she squeezed my hand about as hard as you would expect of Andre the Giant. She kept complaining of pains (of course! she was practically smushed in that car!) and alerted me that she "knew" both her feet and her left hip were broken. I told the nurses and they said they'd look into it (broken bones are not top priority in this type of case apparently). Then she said her foot really itched and could I scratch the bottom of it. I agreed; sometimes chaplaincy is doing the things most people wouldn't want to do. She seemed very grateful. I sat with her for about two hours until her family arrived and she introduced me to them as the nicest chaplain she ever knew and that I was just so sweet. It does a heart good to hear that. My work there done and God's grace shared, I exited. She is going to be kept at least another day, but moved to a different unit obviously. I will go visit her tomorrow morning to follow up and maybe get a few more laughs out of her. The first chuckles came when she was so uncomfortable with the cervical collar and the back board that she tried to get rid of them. I told her sternly that she couldn't do that and that she shouldn't try to move at all because she could injure herself more. Furthermore, I said, if you get out of hand with this, I'll have to hit you over the head and I don't want to do that. She smiled then and I knew she had both gotten the point and the humor. So, I'll follow up tomorrow as I said. The other Ryan was working hard on a DOA (Dead on Arrival) during all this, having some difficulty finding a next of kin. Group this afternoon was with Rabbi Kazan learning about ministry with Jewish patients. Now, I am just one footstep shy of exhaustion collapse, but I feel good inside. Real good.

-R

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