An Unusual Thanksgiving

 With Ken just getting home from the hospital the day before and  still not eating much, Thanksgiving was unusual this year.  Our plans were to have Shonna and Blake and family come for the weekend, but their family all got colds and coughs, and with Ken's health being as it was, we felt it best not to expose him to that.  

Ken's sister, Lorene invited us to come to her feast at her home, but Ken really wasn't up for that yet.  So, she packed up a delicious Thanksgiving meal and brought it over to us.  It was so very nice of her.  Over the next few days, Ken was able to try most all of that delicious meal.

Everything was delicious.

Our friend Shawna brought us a delicious homemade pecan pie.  

Another friend brought us a strawberry cheesecake.

It was an unusual holiday for us, but we certainly offered thanks for Ken's improving health and for dear family and friends who so generously and kindly served us.

Gratitude

 After Ken was home from the hospital, he wanted to express his gratitude to all who served him there.  This is what he posted on Facebook on November 23rd-Wednesday.

(He also wrote a nice thank you note naming all of the nurses and aides who served him and took it to the hospital a couple of days ago, hoping they each would get his message of thanks.)

Kenneth Hinton

November 23 at 5:29 PM  · 

A heartfelt shout out of gratitude to my friends at the Saint George River Road campus of Intermountain healthcare. I have spent the last half-week in their care and keeping, having been released late this morning. I started a painful, scary fight with Diverticulitis last Wednesday, and have been struggling to regain any semblance of health since then. However, after being admitted in the hospital Saturday night, I have received the most professional, caring, compassionate, and thoughtful service I could have ever wanted. People went out of their way to bless my life and help me, even when it wasn’t on their personal job description. I am grateful God has granted me the health to return home. I am also grateful to all those heroes who are making life better for those of us who are currently down on our health. Happy Thanksgiving my friends!!

238You, Lorene Grant, Kendra Carlson and 235 others

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I shared his post and also shared my gratitude:

Kay Gabrielsen Hinton

November 24 at 6:50 AM  · 

Shared with Your friends

On this Thanksgiving day, I too want to express gratitude for all of those who helped and served us at our wonderful hospital. It was a rough week, but they helped us through it with their compassionate care. It is good to have Ken home. I give thanks! Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Excellent People

 

Excellent People by Anton Chekhov
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This very short story is thought-provoking, as are all of Chekhov short stories. This one, I think, is making a political statement about his country, certainly applicable to today’s Russia. Or maybe it is just about two siblings that grow apart. You decide.

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Mornings on Horseback

 

Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt by David McCullough
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a long, but very interesting book. I was surprised at how it ended as I didn’t realize it wasn’t going to cover Roosevelt’s presidency. I was impressed with the closeness of the Roosevelt family. I loved how they supported one another. I was impressed with the integrity and service of Teddy’s father, and how each of the children learned those qualities from him. The audio version was very well done.

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Jessie, the Nurse

 Ken was a popular patient in the hospital.  He learned everyone's name and called them by name.  He was kind and gracious to all.  

When he was admitted from the emergency room, they put him in a temporary room until a room on the surgical floor could be prepared.  When he finally got to his room in the West wing, his nurse told us that when they called from the temporary room and told her she had another patient, she explained that she was already full.  The temporary nurse said, "He is really nice and really sweet.  If you don't want to do it, I will come up and do it."  That sold her.

On the next day, Jessie was assigned to be his nurse.  She seemed drawn to Ken.   She stayed that afternoon and chatted, telling a story of how she had bonded with an indigent, homeless patient.  Her story was interrupted by a pressing need, but as she left, Ken told her he was impressed with her caring and told her she was very Christ-like.  Tears sprang to her eyes.  It obviously touched her very much.  She promised she would come back and finish her story.  That was on Sunday.  She didn't make it back until Tuesday night after her 12-hour shift.  She came in and sat down and finished telling us her touching story and visited for a long time.  She was obviously enjoying being with us.  Ken is not afraid to compliment and use uplifting words.  She confessed that she had gone through rocky times recently, but that she was trying to make her way back to God.  She thanked us profusely for helping her feel the spirit.  It was a sweet conversation.

Even when not feeling his best, Ken is kind and caring.  He uses words to uplift and help people.  He's a pretty good guy.

The Brown Cow

 There is an underground secret at the hospital.  All of the nurses know about it and all of the doctors, too.  But you will never see it prescribed or written on a chart.  It is called the brown cow.  

One of the requirements for getting out of the hospital is to have a bowel movement.  TMI?  When bodies are traumatized by illness, often our bodily functions are interrupted, and those need to be restored.  When it becomes a problem, nurses pull out all the stops.  They administer a brown cow.  This concoction works EVERY time!  It is a mixture of prune juice, milk of magnesia, apple juice, and two pats of butter.  Warmed together, it becomes a disgusting but very effective laxative.  

It is the hush, hush way nurses have of taking care of a frequent problem.  

If you are offered a brown cow, Ken's advice would be to run for your life.  Unless, of course, you really want out of the hospital.  Then take it with a smile and be sure you are close to the commode.  Just know that afterward, you will never, never, no never drink prune juice again!

Do You Think it Would Work on Me?

 While Ken was in the hospital, he walked the halls frequently.

He wanted to go home so bad.  A ticket to get out of the hospital was to have a bowel movement.  Once, as he came upon a nurses station, there were two maintenance guys there visiting with some nurses.  One of them had a plunger.  Ken stopped and asked the guy with the plunger, "That is for unclogging fecal material isn't it?"  The guy laughed and said it was.  Ken then said, "Do you think it would work on me?"  Quick as can be, the guy replied, "I don't know, but we can try."  Gesturing to a nearby empty patient room, he said, "Step into my office."  Ken ran for his life, leaving them all chuckling.