Wednesday, December 25, 2013

few thoughts on hospital life (from Martin)


Tak zase zpatky do nemocnice

Entering the hospital world again

Prvni den byl docela srumec. Na uvitanou me hned misto welcome drinku odebrali vzorky krve, jako predkrm byla sternalka, polivka na obed docela usla, hlavnim chodem v case obeda byla lumbalka (moje pater opet nespolupracovala..) a jako moucnik jsem dostal velkou kanylu pod klicovou kost. Pokud bych jeste dostal chemosku, pak bych mohl skoro rict, ze krome transplantace jsem vyuzil vsech sluzeb, ktere tu nabizeji J. Kdyz neco delam, tak uz poradne, ne? Nastesti padlo rozhodnuti, ze toho bylo docela dost na jeden den a tak chemoska byla odlozena na dalsi den. To byla opravdu MILOST a dost jsem si oddychl.

The first day was very busy. In the place of welcome drink, they draw my blood sample, as an appetizer they served a sternal puncture, had a decent soup for lunch, as the main course came the lumbar puncture (my spine was not made for it, that’s a fact now!!), dessert came right after that in a form of a long lasting port in my chest. I came very close to use all the services that they provide here (except the transplant!), but after going through all that a decision was made that I have had enough and the chemo can start tomorrow. They understand the word GRACE here!!

Odpocinek po vsech tech jehlach prisel vic nez vhod. Po lumbalce jsem musel lezet ctyri hodiny a nastesti ani ocekavane bolesti hlavy neprisly hned, ale az pozde vecer. Ctyri hodiny se nedaji zkratit. Cas bezi pomalu. Nic jineho nez cekat prakticky nejde delat.

Once all the procedures were made, I got some rest. I had to lay for four hours on my back after the lumber punctures and was expected some headaches that didn’t come until very late into the night.  There is no shortcut to laying on your bed for four hours. Time is ticking away slowly. I can’t do much. I can’t do what I want.

Asi nejsilnejsim zazitkem pokud se to tak da rict, bylo setkani s mym sousedem z detstvi, ktery je v soucasnosti na JIPce na stejnem patre. Pres nase rodice jsme se dozvedeli o tom, ze jsme oba ve stejne nemocnici. Po odpocinku jsem se citil docela dobre a tak jsem pozadal o “vychazku” a vyrazil na navstevu. Velice rychle jsem si uvedomil, jaka je “normalni realita” nas, kteri potrebujeme byt tady v nemocnici.

I don’t know if you can call it a highlight, but I met one of my neighbors from growing up who is presently at the ICU. It was through the contacts of our parents we learned of our own similar stories. Since I was doing ok, I wanted to meet him as soon as possible. The nurses gave me a permission for a short visit with him and I didn’t hesitate one second. The highlight lasted a very short time before it became the reality of the sick low.

Rozhovory v nemocnici jsou trochu jine. Na otazku jak se kdo ma, se odpovida v udajich vypovidajici o stavu v minutach, hodinach a mozna dnech. Dulezite je byt nazivu. A ta druha nejcastejsi otazka, “ Co delas? “ nebo “kde pracujes?” je naprosto irrelevantni. Kdyz jsme tak probirali co kdo mame a jake jsou vyhlidky, nadsene jsem se chlubil jak je skvely byt v kontaktu s klukama, ktere jsem tady v nemocnici poznal I mimo ni, jak se navstevujeme a volame si s Mykolou, Kostou a Robertem. Honza, ktery za posledni ctyri roky prodelal uz dve transplantace mi na to rekl tohle: Ja uz nemam zadny kamarady z nemocnice, vsichni zemreli.” To me dostalo. Tady se tomu clovek nevyhne, nemuzeme se zbavit bolesti a utrpeni, jsme ve valce, ktera je vetsi nez my. Je jedno jestli jsou to kulky nebo bomby co lita okolo nas. Budto zijes nebo ne.

One thing that is different about hospital conversations is that the “How are you?” question is not always answered by “Great” or “Good”. To be alive is a victory that counts for the next minutes, hours and days. And guess what, the usual number two question for men, ‘What do you do” might not even come up.  During our conversation, I mentioned to him the stories of my friends Kosta, Mykola and Robert and how we kept in touch for the past two years and I was able to visit with them during my time as the outpatient. Jan (John)- who has been diagnosed 4 years ago and had already his second transplant, said this sentence: “I don’t have any “friends” from hospital left, they are all dead.” It broke my heart again. We can’t push the pain and suffering away, we are in a war that is bigger than us. It doesn’t matter if its bullets or stem cells. You either live or die.

Nastesti tim ten prvni den nekoncil. Jeste se za mnou stavil muj kamarad ze stredni David, ktery mel shodou okolnosti sebou film s Brucem Willisem RED2. Nejen, ze to je dobre na odlehceni myslenek o smrtelnosti cloveka, ale videt Bruce jak se vyhyba kulkam a bombam bylo dostatecne inspirujici pro dalsi boje tady v nemocnici. Jinak je to film, ktery bych doporucil pouze v pripade, ze se nudite a fakt nevite co delat dalsi dve hodiny. Tady v nemocnici to neni ztrata casu, venku asi jo. To, ze si Bruce a jeho kamosi nataceni uzili, to je bez debat a je to na nich videt..

To lighten up the mood about the mortality of men, I finished my first day watching a Bruce Willis movie RED 2 with my friend from high school David. Watching Bruce Willis dodge from all the bullets and bombs was very inspirational and gave me a good boost to fight at the beginning of this month long journey. Great way to pass two hours in the hospital. In real life, Bruce and his friends had a lot of fun making the movie, you can tell, but I don’t know that I would recommend it, unless you really have two hours to waste.


The first day was hard for all of us, but we are constantly reminded by God’s goodness and grace. Overall (even while sick), we are well. It seems from some tests that the treatment from November has worked and I am encouraged.  Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers. And Merry Christmas!

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