Roommates

I’ve had a new roommate each day. They are either released the next day or a few were transferred to other units. The most difficult was the guy who was hard of hearing and his wife who wasn’t there had all the answers. Why did you go to the ER? Leg pain. How long have you had leg pain? A while. How long is a while? My wife knows. Weeks ? Months? About 6 months. Then why did you go to the ER tonight? My legs wouldn’t walk. This went on all night.

My favorite guy I felt so bad for. Freak accident with shorted out heating blanket burned through his foot. Down to the bone. He was a few months into healing. Knew everything about his meds. What doses and what doesn’t work for him. He thought he was developing an infection which the doctors confirmed. He was on the surgery floor because there was an available bed. They moved him to a medicine floor the next day.

A few quick roommates with laparoscopic procedures. Today I watched reruns of Seinfeld. I swore I was on candid camera. My roommate was Mr Mandelbaum. The son, not the father or grandfather. Looked and sounded like him. Acted like him too. “I don’t need those meds. I don’t need a wheel chair, I can walk. The Mandelbaums were on a few Seinfeld episodes. Otherwise you may not appreciate the reference.