—A Bachelors Christmas Part 3—
It was Christmas Day 2013, and I was in Huntsville Hospital.
Much like the rest of America, I was supposed to have gone to my family’s House for Christmas Day. That wasn’t happening, though.
I had several Infections in my body.
A bad Kidney Infection being one.
My White Blood Cell Count was in the twenties.
I’ve had Sepsis several times, and my White Blood Cell Count has been as high as 60 in the past. I wasn’t as high as that this time, and that gave me hope that my White Blood Cell Count could be controlled.
Then, as if that weren’t enough, I had Double Pneumonia.
The Doctor(s) had said that my Lungs had gotten scarred from the Pneumonia.
I lay in bed, trying not to move.
Any movement hurt and made it hard to breathe.
Getting choked on my Saliva was also something I had to deal with.
I had decided to stay as still as possible for the next week, breathe one breath at a time, and wait.
Mom and Papa sat with me in my room.
I held Mom’s hand.
To communicate, I had to write on a Dry Erase Board.
On Christmas Night, my Dad and Older Brother visited me and brought my Nephews.
Being so young, they did not understand what was going on with me; they just stared at me.
I couldn’t speak. So, I just looked at everyone. I smiled when I could.
I breathed in and breathed out.
I would sometimes hold my hand on my Oxygen Mask like I was defending it with my life.
And, in many ways, I was.
Double Pneumonia is not fun and does kill many people each year.
I had never had Pneumonia before, and until then, I didn’t know just how painful or deadly it was.
I felt like all of these infections and Pneumonia were killing me.
I write on the Dry Erase Board: “This is serious. If I didn’t have this Oxygen, I’d die. I have to make sure and swallow my spit, or I’ll get choked and die from strangulation. —I’m scared.”
“Each day will get better than the day before,” Mom would tell me.
Papa and everyone else left for the night, leaving Mom to stay with me.
She held my hand.
I lay and stared up at the Hospital’s Fluorescent Lights just as I had so many times before.
The next day was the 26th.
That night, I met the Night Nurse that I would have for the next several nights.
I don’t believe in coincidences, so when Mom and I learned that our Night Nurse had a Daughter who was born with Spina Bifida, we were not shocked. We knew that God had planned for us to meet one another.
Her Daughter was a Child under ten.
She was Paralyzed from the waist down and also had some mental issues. She threw temper tantrums daily.
During a tantrum, she would throw anything within her reach. Communication was also difficult for her.
So, our Nurse and her Daughter got put on our Prayer Lists.
Mom and the Nurse would talk nightly about having a child born with Spina Bifida.
They would console one another.
They would bond.
Mom felt her purpose at the Hospital was not only to be there for me but also to be there for our nightly nurse.
Each day, I did get better.
Each day was better than the day before.
And by December 31st, I could talk, move around, and even enjoy eating.
I was returning to my Old Self and knew I would live.
Around Noon that day, a Team of Doctors came into my room.
I had seen Interventions before in my life, and that is exactly what this looked like—an Intervention.
“Oh, crap,” I thought. “This can’t be good.”
The Doctors began by expressing their concerns for me living alone.
Then, their concerns for me living so far away from my Birmingham Hospital and doctors.
At this time in my life, I was a Bachelor. I lived alone in a small Garden Home in Huntsville, Alabama.
All of my Doctors were in Birmingham, and my regular Hospital, which was the Hospital my Doctors used, was also located in Birmingham.
They then discussed their concern for me living so far away from my family.
All of my family members were closer to the Birmingham area.
In fact, I had no family in Huntsville.
As for Friends in Huntsville, I had just a couple.
And, I realized that this was, indeed, an Intervention for me.
They wanted me to move back home and not live alone.
—Conclusion on New Year’s Day 2024
