Many years ago in a small hospital in Ohio…

Dr. Diller hesitated outside the hospital room of his patient, Mrs. Laoma Wilson. A nurse had warned him that Mrs. Wilson wanted to be discharged. She’d given birth to a healthy baby girl, but he didn’t feel comfortable in sending them both home so soon. Mrs. Wilson was forty-five years old. She needed to stay longer in the hospital.

He sighed, knowing he’d probably fight a losing battle with his patient. He entered the room and said, “Good morning. How are you feeling?”

Mrs. Wilson gave him a brief smile. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m fine and I want to go home today.”

With her tired gray eyes staring at him, he frowned. “I don’t think that’s possible. You just gave birth on Monday and this is only Wednesday.”

“Dr. Diller, I can’t stay here and miss Thanksgiving with my family.”

“I can’t send you home yet. You should stay a few more days.”

With a frustrated look, she said, “I had home births with my first four children. If you hadn’t insisted that I had a hospital delivery this time, I’d be home right now.”

“At your age I didn’t want to risk a home birth.”

She shrugged. “Well now, the delivery is over and it’s time for me to go home.”

“Do you promise to take it easy?”

She nodded. “I won’t have to do anything. My daughters, Jean and Lois, are going to take care of me and the baby.” She grinned. “And I promise I won’t milk any cows.”

He laughed. “That’s reassuring. I couldn’t believe I had to tell you to stop milking while you were pregnant.”

She fingered her sheet. “Well, my husband carried the buckets for me. I hated for him to have to milk them by himself.”

“If you agree to go home in an ambulance, I’ll discharge you tomorrow morning, so you can be home for Thanksgiving.”

“Thank you.” She gave him a broad smile. “I’m so happy I’ll be able to take our new baby, Diane, home for the holiday. I have so much to be thankful for this year.”

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE! Enjoy the day with your loved ones!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 10:06 am and is filed under Diane's Posts, Real Life/General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.