"No collection of people who are all waiting for the same thing are capable of holding a natural conversation. Even if the thing they are waiting for is only a taxi."
- Ben Elton
It was close to 11 A.M. by the time I arrived at the hospital this morning. Nan was here early and I had intended to get here sooner but I seemed to be stuck on slow speed. Not that I missed anything. No one had spoken to Nan. Not a doctor. Not a nurse. Around 11:30 the doctor from Mom’s nursing home stopped by to check on her. She was alarmed that Mom hadn’t been to surgery yet. I talked to her about the lack of care Mom had received and about my concern that her pain was not being managed. She went to the nursing station for a chat. Mom’s level of care immediately changed. Within a half hour, Mom was bumped to the top of the ortho surgery list. They told us we could expect surgery sometime after 3:00 P.M. We were surprised when they came for her at 1:45. We accompanied her to the surgical floor and kissed her goodbye. I fought hard to contain my tears.
We are in the surgical waiting room now. It will be a couple of hours before the surgery is complete and the doctor comes to speak with us. The room is a zoo. On one side of me a large, boisterous group is waiting for a family member to come through surgery. There are eight of them in this small room. They decided to throw a party, complete with party snacks. They are laughing and chatting and telling stories. They are very loud and very cheerful. I feel like throttling them. On the other side is a sari-clad woman. In front of her is a suitcase. I don’t know if she speaks English. For the first ten minutes after we arrived she chatted non-stop on her cell phone in a foreign language. She looks weary. A few minutes after we arrived she slipped her shoes off, pulled up a chair and put her dirty feet on it. The few other people in the room are quiet. They all look concerned. I suspect I’m not the only one who isn’t very happy about the party going on. It seems disrespectful. I wish there was somewhere else to wait.
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