Standing on my Soap Box

I am about to get on my soapbox today about a little red cup…

The second week in November, I was off to Calgary for an emergency trip. My Uncle was given just a very short time to live (48 hours) due to cancer, and I took my mom to spend time with him and my other uncle who was taking care of him, and the hard decisions that needed to be made.

My uncle was admitted to the Tom Baker ward at the Foothills in Calgary. I have never been involved in the Palliative care at our Cancer Care Manitoba wing, so I have nothing from here to compare with what I saw there. That being said, all I can say is – WOW! We had nurses there caring not just my unresponsive uncle, but also for us as a family. They were willing to bend over backward for us to be comfortable in our time of waiting. It was a tough place to be, but the staff there made it bearable, comfortable even. They had a fully stocked kitchen on the ward, and as family of one of their palliative patients, we were welcome to help ourselves. The fridge had puddings, juices, sandwiches, and fruit. The cupboard had three types of cookies (digestive, arrowroot and one other), and the counter top had a Tassimo and a Keurig, they had a water and ice  machine, sugar, sweetener, cream, honey, bread a toaster, etc…

I am not writing this for your sympathy, I do want to tell you a little bit about what I saw during my three days on the ward. A gentleman patient had nothing to do, so he paced the halls. He had a tube inserted in his nose, and I am not sure if it was his feeding tube or medication tube, but he and his IV pole walked the halls over and over again even at 3 in the morning.

On my last evening there (I had to come home to other family responsibilities and work), I ran into a woman in the kitchen. We did the “Hello’s , and the “How are you’s, to which we both said alright. I then looked at her and said, “You know, considering we are standing in the Tom Baker ward, I can take a  guess on how we are really doing?!” She then went on to tell me that she and her husband have moved to Calgary from BC to be with family. Her husband had a decision to make that weekend as to whether or not he should keep his leg from the knee down. If he chose to keep his leg, he had about 2 weeks left of this life on earth. If he choose to have it cut off he would then have 8 weeks (my guess is whether or not he wanted to be here still for Christmas). She was thankful that he was lucid enough to help with the decision.

And then, there are those of us who are healthy, who sit here and debate the meaning behind a simple red disposable coffee cup, while others are literally making life or death decisions, and others are caring for them, and their hurting loved ones. Let’s stop being a shooting gallery for the saints, and perceived other guys, and start being a “hospital” for the hurting. Let’s decide to be a light, and show others what Christmas and Christ is all about, and finally lets decide to show others compassion.

I don’t know about you, but I need to take a look at what is inside this cup (my body in Christ), as opposed to the outside dressings. Get a grip people! Others are dying, literally, their families are hurting majorly, and you are more concerned with a cup that has no snowflakes. Be the light, be the comfort, choose your battles wisely, and realize that a cup is a cup. but a soul who is hurting, that should be where our concentration lies.