"Today, we feast!"

When I'm not out on the floor working with patients, part of my responsibilities include supervising the playroom at our hospital. Today, there was a little boy standing outside with his parents that had to be coaxed in the door. They had never been to the playroom and his parents had to drag him out of his room. He was scared to see what was "out there". Once he came in and saw how big our playroom is (6,000 square feet) and how much stuff there was to do, he appeared too overstimulated to even know where to start. The playroom filled up and so my attention had left him until I heard this little voice yell, "today, we feast!". He had completely set the table at the play kitchen with everything from chicken to corn on the cob. There were quite a few other adults in there and all we could do was giggle as we all seemed to stop and watch what was to come next. He continued with his feast and invited other boys and girls to join him. When it was time to go, his parents could hardly get him out the door. He definitely appeared to being having too much fun to want to leave.
It all made me think about the joy we find when getting out of our comfort zones and see what else is "out there". The things that scare me the most, in the end, seem to bring me the most joy and satisfaction. 2005 brought a huge shift out of my comfort zone. Granted, I had no choice in it all, but once I finally accepted what had happened, the blessings and joy seem to come everyday. I woke up to my absolute worst nightmare on September 17th. I had undergone surgery on the 8th of September that, unbeknownst to me, had lots and lots of complications. I woke up 9 days later in the ICU with a trach and stories of how close I had come to death. No sooner than I had been told what I had been through, my surgeon told me I had to have the trach for 90-100 days. The first thing that ran through my mind was, "NO WAY! I'M NOT DOING THIS". It was a little ironic that I then found myself going through the exact same things that I provide preparation for and support through with my patients. Not only did I have the trach, but my chin was sown down to my chest, I had a feeding tube in my nose, a central line in my groin, a foley catheter, IV, PICC line, was expected to start getting out of bed the day after I woke up and begin my own trach care (suction and lavage) almost immediately. It has been such a crazy 4 months but like I said earlier, the blessings seem to be non-stop everyday. I now have a bond with my patients, that otherwise, never would've happened. I'm so excited to share my testimony about the "feast" that I found once I got out of my comfort zone!