Missionary Orthopod in the Making

About 2 days ago, I was in the hospital coming back from lunch. As I was waiting for the elevator to get to my floor, the doors opened at a lower floor and a man walked on, looking quite depressed. The only other people on the elevator besides me and that guy was a nurse. He looked at the both of us and said, “I’m telling you guys, stress kills.” I was silent because I didn’t really know to do or say which kind of sucks because after doing so well in my behavioral science class I would think that I would be able to pop out answers…sometimes though, silence is best. (Now, I want to remind you that this guy doesn’t know me or the nurse and we are on the elevator). So he continued to talk, “About 2 weeks ago my mother was admitted to the medicine intensive care unit (MICU), and just today my father was admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU).” At that point, all I could say was, “I’m really sorry sir.” He went on to say that the stress he is experiencing from dealing with this situation is going to put him in the hospital too. The elevator reached my floor, and the best I could do as I walked off the elevator was tell him, “I’m really sorry for everything that is going on. I will definitely pray for you and your family though.”

As I walked off of the elevator I was kicking myself because I really thought that with all of my missionary experience and all of my training in my behavioral science class that I would have something better to say. That night however, I really did pray for that man and his parents. I didn’t know his name, but I prayed that his parents would get better and that the man would realize that despite all of this tragedy, the God has been with him. I asked God to comfort him and lower his anxiety and stress.

So, yesterday morning, I actually didn’t have to go into the hospital because my 3rd year had lecture and let me stay home. But we do have a Clinical Skills test coming up so I needed to practice with my partner. So, we dressed up in scrubs and got on the elevator. The clinical skills lab was on the 6th floor so we had a ways to go. At about the 2nd floor a man got onto the elevator and he looked very familiar. I looked at him and said, “Hey, I remember you! How are your parents doing? I prayed for you and your parent’s a couple of days ago.” He stuck out his hand, smiled widely and said, “Thank you so much for your prayers man. My mom is out of the MICU and my dad is getting much better and will be leaving the SICU soon.” We arrived at our floor. He thanked me again for my prayers and told me to pray for all of my patients. My partner and I walked off of the elevator and I felt very happy. There is a high chance that my prayers didn’t help his situation, but instead that the great doctors in the MICU and the SICU did their jobs and helped his parents recover, but I don’t think that was the point. To that guy, and to myself, God became more real. Even though I was kicking myself about my silence in the initial situation, it seemed to work out for the best. Anyway, that just really made my day.

P.S.- As we were walking off of the elevator, my partner reminded me that I could have been violating HIPPA by speaking so freely on the elevator. The thought really hadn’t crossed my mind at the time. I suppose I should be more careful next time.