Roommates

Well when you are sitting in a hospital bed, as you can imagine time seems to go by very slowly. What really helps is a good roommate. Note: names have been changed to protect the innocent.

 The first roommate I had when I moved to the 5^th floor from ICU was Mr. Lewis.  Mr. Lewis was a 69 year old from Trinidad who had live in Toronto for 34 years.  Problem is you can’t see who your roommate is because you are bed bound and there is a curtain and I can’t turn my head. So a roommate is just a voice on the other side of the curtain. Mr. Lewis when we first moved into the room would talk very loudly and go on for several minutes talking to himself Darcy wondered if he had a mental issue. As it turned it out Mr. Lewis was using his ranting as a distraction from his pain. Once I got to know him we had lots of nice conversations about many things including hospital stuff like peeing and pooping as well as keeping positive and staying on the road to recovery.  Mr. Lewis was shipped to scarborourgh General and when I was in my chair I managed to see him and shake hands with him on his stretcher before he got on the elevator to leave.  Note: names have been changed to protect the innocent.  What I will remember Mr. Lewis for is when I first got into the room I was having trouble with my pooper and he over heard my conversation with Darcy and all I heard from the other side of the curtain was (in a thick Caribbean accent) “Free your mind mon, and your ass will follow”  hmmm pretty good philosophy for life.

My second roommate in room 108 was an older gentleman who had surgery on his lower spin because he could no longer walk. And when I an arrived in his room he was bed ridden immediately after his surgery. The day after his surgery they got him up and told him he could walk to the washroom which happened to be right past my bed.  Using a walker HE took mini steps the first day  (this is a guy prior to his surgery could not walk at all) by the 5^th day I changed his name to the road runner as he was no longer using a walker but simply using a cane and he was not only walking to the washroom he was walking all over the hospital, it was fantastic to see his progress not only the progress, the determination with which this gentleman took on the task of relearning how to walk. Not only do you meet he roommate but you also meet family and friends of roommates. Road runner’s wife, was just a hoot she was a nationally ranked diver in the Czech Republic in her youth. So we had all sorts of conversations about athletics, she would get frustrated with the nursing staff and the dr. who didn’t provide her with the information that she thought she needed. Before she would leave at night she would always come and see me with an infectious laugh she would say I’m going to the bar to have a beer.  A funny story was  her husbands hospital gown was open in the back was always showing off his butt so she brought an old pair of pj’s from home for him to wear. However the elastic was shot in the waste band so she followed him around holding up his pants.  Then I found out that she was a smoker but she said she was a healthy smoker because she never smoked while eating meals. I got on my anti smoking high horse of course.

Third roommate after being moved back to room 116 a young fellow came in suffering from sever migraine headaches he stayed fro 3 days till they managed to figure out some medication that resolved the problem. He too was an interesting young fellow and he was very interested that I taught martial arts as he had taken some kung fu when he was younger, and mentioned had he  continued with his martial arts he probably wouldn’t have gotten into as much trouble as he had as a youth. Seemed like a great kid.  But he too would disappear for a cigarette, so back on my anti smoking high horse. We had a great conversation, while he was waiting to be signed out.

My next roommate wasn’t as great as I was unable to build any repose with him, asked several times how he was doing and got no response. And his voice seemed to have a reaction with my drugs. As he was constantly talking to his mother in a language other than English. That was a very tough three days, as roommates become sounding boards. You explain your problem they explain theirs, discuss medication, treatments, the staff, and almost any topic is game for discussion, sometimes it’s even, I felt bad because I had no shoes until I met a man how had no feet. It doesn’t matter how bad you feel there is usually someone out there who is worse off.

My next roommate was an older gentleman who had a stroke and could not speak very well, despite this we did have short conversation which also helps pass the time. Even though we did not have long conversations just know he was there and would talk was reassuring. 

My present roommate is just a great guy. He too had a sudden onset ( I don’t know the medical term) but it seems he had a bleed into his spinal column and the swelling caused some nerve damage. And he can not walk. He has had surgery and hopefully there will be a full recovery. He too must go through many months of rehab.  The hard part for him is that he is a small business owner and needs someone to run his business, fortunately he seems to have a great support network similar to mine (not quite as good though) we have had allsorts of discussions about everything. Sometimes at 4 o’clock in the morning, sometimes its 6am sometimes at 9 pm sometimes at 11:30 pm he has great friends and family who I feel very comfortable having conversations with.  I was feeling really sorry for myself particularly at the time when the plane was leaving for France, then I found out that my roommate is also missing a great trip, him and his buddies (30 of them) were having there motorcycles, his being a Harley, transported  in a large trailer to Colorado where they were going to tour the grand canyon, and surrounding areas, on their motorbikes. So I’m not the only one missing a great trip.

Roommates have something in common and there seems to be a little bond formed that really isn’t formed with other visitors, friends and family, as you are both in it together.

~Glen