January 2, 2011: Providence comes in Sevens, pt. 5 of 7...

Don't walk too close to a rose bush with your umbrella...

Heaveno!

Time to tell you about another patient...

Seemed like everyone last Wednesday had a piece of information to give me, just as I had a piece of love to give them.  While I was in seeing the husband and wife in the morning, a nurse popped her head in the door to ask me if I was going over to the inpatient unit and what time, so I told her.  She left, but then returned a minute or two later telling me one of the patients was on the phone and would like to speak with me.

That was a little weird!

It was, however, good timing because I needed to get out of the room I was in as I was a little cornered by the husband.  As grateful as I am for him, he can out story-tell me!  So I went and took the call.

"Hi, Tim?  Yeah, this is (patient name) up here on 7.  I thought you were coming in on Friday.  I have family, friends, and the family lounge reserved for your concert on Friday! Are you not coming?"

Huh?

Turns out this patient was so impressed (yes - another patient I busted "Stairway to Heaven" on), that he automatically thought that I -  of course - would be back the next non-holiday Friday like most employees of a hospital.  So, he took the liberty of telling his friends and family to come back on that day and they'd all meet in the family lounge and I could play for them, too!

Next thing you know, I'll be charging cover and a 2 drink minimum!



Our last cheat meal before the diet begins tomorrow... sandwiches on waffles!  YUM!


Anyhow, I explained to him that my daughter was sick and that this was the day I could get grandma to babysit, so I am here today.  He sheepishly conceded that that was okay and understandable.  I assured him I'd be up on the unit today and that we could rock out some more Zep this very afternoon.  He was agreeable to that, so we hung up.  Phew!

So, later that day, we had our concert (for 1) in the family room, and at the end of it (yes, I played The Rain Song for him, too!), he asked when I'll be back...

Having to explain it was my last day for the umteenth time was a little tiring, but as I was explaining it, he cut me off and said, "Well, we'll just have to get you some more funding!  You know there is an organization that my family is a part of that dropped $3,000 my way when I needed my teeth worked on as a result of this cancer.  I'm sure they'd be thrilled to hear about what you do here.  Who do I contact here at UCI to connect you all?"

It was as if each and every patient I worked with that day took ownership in seeing that it wasn't my last day after all.  It just kept coming, and coming, and coming.

I really do have a feeling that I'll be back over there at UC Irvine before this very month is over.

In other news, Ali had a play date with our friends Sara and Ken Cooper and their kids Jack and Molly.  They all had a blast as evidenced by this photo collage.  The best part?  After watching Ali for us so we could get some work done on The Divine Planet and other stuff, Sara sends us these pictures and says, "Thank you for sharing Ali with us today!"  How cool is that?  It was I who called her with no notice asking if they could watch her for us today.  That is cool.  Thank you Sara!

The ceiling in the Wells Fargo and Starbucks in Old Towne Orange where we worked on Team Bella stuff today while Ali had her play date.


P.S.  for those interested, I put up the Team Bella page!  Check it out!  If you want to join the fun, just follow the directions on the page!  


God is SO good.  ALL the time!


God night.