Rehab: Part Hospital, Jail, Insane Asylum, 10

 

There is a scene in the NBC Series called The Village that takes place in a nursing home, where one of the main characters works and another lives. Enzio's roommate has just died. This was his life long friend. He get's a new roommate that he can't stand. Enzio's son asked the nurse character if his father could,d be moved. She tells him you din't get to pick your roommate. This is true. When you are brought into rehab you go where they have an empty bed to put you in and the roommate comes with it. I drew a terrible roommate at first, a man with some sort of dementia, who howled all the time. They did move me from there after a couple days and told me my new roommate was quiet.

     Yes, he was compared to the howling man.  We were introduced and his name was Frank. Maybe, I thought, this is a good sign. You see, my high school nickname was Frank. May former classmates still call me Frank.  In the 1960's when I almost became a Catholic, my confirmation name I choose was Francis. This Frank's given name was Francis. My maternal grandfather's name was Francis, but everybody called him "Brownie".  My paternal grandfather was Benjamin Franklin Meredith, as was his father and grandfather, and my ancestors tended to go by the name Frank. I had an Uncle, may dad's youngest brother, named Francis, as was my cousin. They were known as Big and Little Francy. So the names Frank and Francis reconated with me.

       My roommate Frank and I got along well. We could chat with each other intelligently. He had been the Assistant Superintendent of Brandywine School District, when he retired. He was also my same age now. He had been a science teacher in the high school previously. His only fault in my mind was he was a complainer. I am not someone who complains about much; he complained about everything.

       True, I don't have great sympathy for complainers.  I understand some things were honest gripes, but it is not helpful to always grouse.  I was not helping to not cooperate with the Therapists. It may seem as if they are sadists sometimes, but it will help you in the long run.  Every meal served all not be perfect, but most of the meals were very good.  It just was a continuous string of fault finding. It seemed beneath someone of his former status.

       But he said he was sent to rehab because of a urinary tract infection. My aide has told me that having an urinary tract infection that wasn't caught and treated quickly effected one's whole body and mind. This maybe what he was struggling with so much.  Trouble is his behavior was impeding his recovery. He came into rehab about the same time as me. They were having a meeting with him and his family and I got the impression he was going to go home sooner that I, but no, they were meeting to say how it would be if he came home. He was then told he would be there another 50 days, then they would check his progress and if it fell short he would be sent downstairs. Going downstairs meant you were being sent to long-term care, which could mean lifetime. 

      After 40 days I was discharged and sent home. At that point he still had trouble getting up and walking with a walker. He couldn't use the toilet on his own. He was having a number of needs.  Now I wonder had he is doing and if he is going home soon. We hd some nice discussions and I miss those. Overlooking the complaining, he was a good guy. I feel bad about his suffering. I also wonder what kind of new roommate he got. I hope it was not someone playing the TV too loud or the National Antham at 4:00 in the morning. I certainly hope he didn't get a howling man.