Sharing

We have been in Bethesda for about 180 days.  We have met some fabulous people.  People who work together to get to the new normal with grace, civility and kindness.  But then there are others.  I met an other today.

Derek has been using a special prone cart to take a shower.  He is not comfortable in the typical shower chairs due to his balance issues and wounds.  When a former patient left, I will call him Jack, his prone cart was left behind because it belongs to the hospital.  It has Jack's name on it.  When they were looking for something on which Derek could comfortably shower, they brought the prone cart.  It was a lifesaver.  Derek was finally able to shower comfortably.

A couple of weeks ago, the other ward where Jack had been came looking for it because they said they had a patient who needed it.  We were told that when Derek needed it, we could simply request it.  Yeah.  Right.  Not so much.

Derek's nurse and I went looking for it today.  He finally has his stitches out and can take a real shower again.  We found it sitting at the entrance to someone's room with their stuff piled on it.  We were told it was specially made for that patient.  We were told it belonged to them.  Really?  Then why is Jack's name clearly on it?  After a bit of a battle, we got the cart.  We were told this patient isn't even able to use it yet.  Then why the battle?

Now i am concerned that if we send it back, it will be used as a shelf again, and when Derek wants to shower tomorrow or Monday, it will be another battle.

Why is it a battle? Aren't these specialty items for the patients' comfort?  Shouldn't all of the patients get the benefits from them?  When we were told that another patient needed it, we willingly sent it down.  He is not even using it.  Why can't we use it?  Now I'm going to act like a kindergartener - We were here first.  We had it first.  We are willing to share, but you must, too.

But this is not typical.  It is just an aggravation we had today.  Most of the patients and families work together and help one another. 

This is not going to spoil our views. It's just one Mom having a difficult time and wanting it all. We need to work together.

The TVs went out today because of the weather, they believe.  Because it is the weekend, no one is available to fix them until Monday.  They were able to come around with some portable TVs that have limited channels and a DVD player.  However, because it is the weekend, the Red Cross is not around to give out DVDs for the guys to watch.  Not a problem for Derek.  He has a large stack of DVDs and BlueRays, and he willingly shared with the other patients.

We had wanted to go out today, but Derek wasn't up for it.  Maybe tomorrow.  Now that we have the van, we can go out any time he feels up to it!  Hopefully, it will be more and more as he gets stronger.

Climb to glory!  Go, Derek!