Monday, April 11, 2016

Finding the good about a tiny red bug, noisy alerts and a TV that doesn't work

Seemingly moments after responding to some negative comments on Facebook by writing "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" -- and not long after my husband left to spend the night at home instead of with me in the hospital -- a couple of things happened that I really wanted to tell someone about, along with something that had happened earlier. 

My blog philosophy is I prefer not to post about an experience unless I can find something nice or uplifting to share. 

Does two out of three count? Or maybe I'll just post about the one that qualifies. 

After eating lunch, I noticed a tiny red bug crawling on the side of my tray/bed stand. Not sure what it was (and having already had Gene squash it), I typed into my iPhone search bar "tiny red bug in a hospital." And it came up with text about and pictures of bed bugs. 

Now, I don't have much experience with bed bugs, but that was not what I expected to see in response to my search. But I thought the picture looked pretty much like what I had seen -- and according to the Internet, immature ones can be that tiny and red. Alarmed, I started searching for others and was surprised but not really comforted not to find any.

While I was still puzzling over this and thinking I was itching more than ever (I had already taken Benadryl for itching I attributed to stress), Gene shared with me the result of HIS Internet search. The picture looked pretty much like what my Web search came up with. But the description was much different. And much more acceptable. 

Red spider mites!!  

I asked him what he searched for to find that, and he said "red mites." And one of the first things he noticed in the description was that they like roses. And guess who had gotten a fresh bouquet with roses a little earlier in the day? And guess where they had been sitting until just a short while before that tiny bug was observed and eradicated??  

What a relief!!

Another positive about that experience was to realize that I am being pretty vigilant about anything that could jeopardize my recovery. Before surgery, they asked if I have any history with any of those nasty infectious situations I'm not even going to name, that sometimes occur at hospitals.  I said no -- and I want to keep it that way!!

As for the TV and remote, I don't need to be watching tonight anyway. (I thought I would already be asleep at 9:30, but then I started writing.) Rangers baseball didn't come on until late, and I certainly don't need to get caught up in that tonight. And the IV bell has been silenced. Except for those two incidents, the nurses and aides have been very prompt, in addition to being gracious and good at their work. (And even in these cases, they were gracious. They've just taken longer to resolve than anyone would have liked.)

So, it's been a good day, in ways much more significant that what I've written about here (but these were more fun to write about).  I've prayed a lot along the way, and so have many others regarding the surgery and recovery. As usual, God has blessed me beyond anything I deserve. I am grateful beyond my ability to express for His mercy, love and grace. May I live to His glory. 

No comments:

Post a Comment