Just Call Me Lady Einstein

Well, today I am going to take part in the first Life is Funny post that I have done in a while. It is still a bit hard to find the funny in my life right now, so I am going to go back in time a couple of months, when Momma was still in the hospital.

Momma had been in three different rooms in that hospital. That was because she was switched from different floors for different reasons. None of those rooms were set up the same way. The last room she was in there was set up rather oddly. You could not see the patient from the doorway, nor could the patient see anyone in the hallway. I probably should have asked for her to have a different room, but I was afraid to be difficult about the small stuff. I had no trouble being demanding when I saw that they did not give her the right nutritional supplements at meal times (she was taken Juven™ for wound healing, and sometimes the dietician forgot to send it), or demanding they call the doctor when she hallucinated, but I figured that this wasn't a hotel: room changes were up to them, not me. Besides, she was of sound mind (except for that ONE day...) and could make the request herself if it bothered her.

One thing I did point out to her is that her window reflected the hallway, so she could see if someone was outside her doorway and call out to them if need be. She had a call light, but you know how easy it is to misplace it.... You don't? Fine. Sometimes a CNA comes in to do something for her, and will FORGET to give the patient a call light. This is upsetting to a patient who can't get out of bed. A couple of times though, mom had the phone, and she'd call me that she needed something. I would then call the Nurse's Station on her floor and say "My mom needs her call light. Someone forgot to give it back to her again." I only had to do that three times. It seems they figured out the problem after a while...

Anyhow, this has all just been the set up for the funny part. The funny part comes one day after I'd been there a long time, and was very tired. I was next to mom facing the window with my back completely toward the doorway. I look at the reflection in the window and see my mom's infectious disease doctor.

Me: (in a tired, sing songy voice) Good evening Dr. McIntosh. I hope you are seeing some improvement .....
Dr.: (wide eyed and spooked) That was eery!
Me: What? Not bad news I hope....
Dr.: No, you. How did you know it was me?
Me: I saw you Dr. McIntosh.
Dr.: (Really spooked) How could you...... Your back was completely....You can't see from....
Me: (exasperated) The window, Doc. I saw your reflection in the window!


It was the first time I saw him smile the whole time mom was there. But not the last.

He was able to cure her infection, and she went on to Skilled Nursing Care for her wound. He was a good doctor, even if he couldn't recognize his own reflection. Hey, I hear Einstein had to look up his phone number in the telephone book when asked for his number. Which means I have a lot in common with Einstein. I don't know my cell phone number by heart. If you want it, I have to call you, and you need to use Caller Id. Just call me Lady Einstein...



How about you? You have any funny stories about when you or someone else was a real Einstein? How about sharing on your blog, and participating in the above blog carnival?