My wife and I spend a considerable amount of time on the fifth floor of St Joe's these days, where she is receiving treatment for cancer. Long hours just sitting and watching those drips from the chemo bags. As pensive as that thought is, that isn't what I am writing about. It just brings me to this.
They have this tradition at the hospital, whenever a baby is born, to play chimes over the P.A. system in a musical rendition of the Happy Birthday sound. It is especially poignant for those on the oncology floor that are dealing with end of life issues, to know a new life is just starting, somewhere in that facility. It kind of takes the edge off of our troubles. The birth of a baby has always been to me a joyous occasion. It's a start of a new life and hopefully a life that will do a better job then we did taking care of our country.
Then you think of the impossible task we have forced upon them and the luster of that new life suddenly gets grimmer. I remember when our children were born and how happy we were to bring them into a world where they had so much hope and opportunity for a good life, but they became enablers just like us and look where we are today.
There is always a glimmer of hope that the new generation will say enough and not follow our example, but recognize the problems that exist and correct them. My gut says it's a long shot. To the new baby born the other day at St. Joe's. Happy birthday little one, and sorry for the mess.
Mike Holst
Crosslake
Comments (4)
Add commentIt sure does bring a smile to
It sure does bring a smile to your face when you hear that little tune. Nice letter and sorry for the difficulties your family is facing. It sure is nice to hear some positive things about our wonderful hospital. So many others don't share the same opinion of St Joe's as you and I do, which is very unfortunate and a testament to how some people in this area don't respect and value the hard work that is done twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week at St. Joe's.
Redeemed in my eyes
St. Joes has redeemed themselves in my eyes. My Dad was brought in via emergency room a few days before Thanksgiving with a very low B/P and kidney failure.They didn't give us much hope for a recovery, let alone going home again. It wasn't looking like a good Thanksgiving for our family. To make a long story short, 2 days later we brought Dad home. He said "no more treatment, needles, anything." They got his B/P back up, kidney's functioning again. Entered the hospital taking 20+ pills, left on 4. He's home, walking again, back to his sassy self. Infact, we just celebrated his 82nd birthday. I can say "thank you" to Brainerd St. Joes for giving us more time with Dad. :)
Agreed
St Joes takes a lot of flack in our area and much of it is justified. However I truely believe that most of the individuals that work there are great people and work hard to make life better for every person that walks through the doors. Its an important point to remember when we hear all the negatives about our hospital.
state of the world
I was born during the depth of the depression. I assure you it's a lot better now.