Posted on 05/29/2007 4:29:48 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
I’ve never seen THAT before!
A wonderful gesture none the less. Thank you for sharing the memory of your friend with us.
I first met John...when I was doing clinicals in a hospital in SoCal. He was, as he put it...a students guinea pig. Heck he knew more about the procedure I was attempting than I knew....
I will never forget how he helped me then. Firm but with a gentle "hand"...he told me the "how to's, and the do not's"
John had horrible lungs..from a genetic condition. Prone to repeated infections, oxygen dependent..etc..
Turned out John...lived not far from my house....a few blocks actually. And one day during a hospital admission he asked me if I'd be willing to sub for the group of people that came over to "help" him....I said "Yes, I'd be happy to"
Little did I know I'd get a call at 0200 in the morning a few days later....John asking me to come over and do chest percussion on him...while he took his breathing treatment....as one of his regular fellow church members couldn't.
I said, "I'd be there in 10-15 minutes.....Rode my bike over in the cool of the morning...and proceeded to "beat the snot" out of John..for two hours....
He never complained, and at every cough up of goop..he would say, "Yes, that feels better!" Funny thing is...I always felt like I was the one that got treated...when I left his house. He just had that way about him.... I ended up going to John's 12-15 times in the middle of the night...It was dual therapy..for me, and him.
Because of years of living hypoxic..( low oxygen...) over time his kidneys took a hit. Eventually...he needed dialysis...he decided that "wasn't for him"...and I was called to his house one afternoon to say good-bye....One of the hardest things I've ever done. The man was a saint. And I'm a better man for knowing him.......
Makes me shed a tear telling the story........A good man, a very good man.
Thanks OX2
That was the story of one good man helping another good man. I’m blessed by reading it.
GB
I’m sorry to hear that you lost your friend. Best wishes and prayers.
Sometimes when I come in late on a thread and see postings have been removed, I wonder what could possibly have been said to occasion the removal.
Thanks for the hint. Sad, for sure.
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