I was assisting with a patient at work. She was a 'attempted suicide' so she was under 24 hour companion monitoring. That means she was not allowed to be alone, so she would not harm herself. Since the floor was understaffed guess who got put with the woman? Yup, me. Personally, I don't like suicidal patients cause they tend to, "Want others to feel the pain" that they are feeling.
So I sit there quietly, and let her go thru all of the screaming, crying, insults, etc... After all something happened in her life so terrible, that it drove her to end her life, or at least try. Well, I guess she was too loud and the nurse comes in with the "syringe of silence". Medical people know what that is, but I said, "No, let me talk to her" Can you believe the nurse told me, "You have 5 minutes" ***! Then she says "good luck, she won't even talk to the Psychotherapist. "
Anyhow, I start talking to her. Of course she does the blank stare into space. Then I asked her, "you have any children?" Then a switch came on. She said "3", her records have 2. I asked their ages and she said "4, 3, the oldest is 6 months" Now I'm like "you mean the youngest?" She said "no, the oldest, he died."
So long story short. She had a photo album of her son that died and never looked at like it since his death. She said she forgot how he looked, smelled, etc.. because she tried to block it out. Turns out her scumbag boyfriend removed the album, because he wanted to start a new family, and didn't want her past to interfere. So she freaked out and figured she would kill herself to see her child again. That's not the end...
One week later she is still in the hospital and I'm on the floor. She sees me walk past and calls me in the room. She is beaming!!!!! No companion!!!! She tell me she is going home today, and she is glad she saw me, cuz she wanted to say thank you. I go into, it's no problem, etc.... She said "No, they wanted to knock me out, and you wanted to listen, I appreciate that" Then she tells me this beautiful story.... *gets kleenex* When I left she fell asleep and dreamed she was walking thru a elementary school and she couldn't figure out why she was there. For some strange reason 'room 221' was the room she was sent to. She goes to the room and it's a class of 1st graders. She opens the door and the teacher says, "Evan, your mother is here" At that point a little boy runs up to her and hugs and kisses her. The little boy is he son that passed, and 221 is his birthday, and he would have been 6 and in the 1st grade. She he told her he is a big boy now, "they" take good care of him there.
She then says "I couldn't remember my baby cuz he is a little boy now". She said she smelled his scent again...... She said some more things and we talked for a hour, but I just had to share that story....
