Thank God for Dave.
He was yet another diabetic leg amputee that was there to make sure he was healing properly and would then be sent home only to return in a few months to be fitted with a prosthetic leg.
I first ran across Dave in May when he was there for a short time and then again in August when he returned to get acquainted with a new leg. I did not have much interaction on his first go around. We got to know each other fairly well the second time. Dave is about four years older and helped me in ways that he did not know. Dave just made things better.
Even if you were someone I disliked I tried to encourage everyone I ran across. For all I knew some people may not have had any friends or family to visit them, or visit that often. I tried to be uplifting and tell people on my ward to keep at it. If they were in the same physiotherapy session I would tell them later I thought they were doing great. Whether I liked you or not, and vice versa, I truly wanted people to recover and do well.
On the main floor of the hospital there is a little shop that sells coffee, soda, and snacks. If I had a really good session in physiotherapy or if I reached a milestone, like walking up a set of stairs, I would go to the shop and reward myself with a Coke or root beer. My thought was I had to earn it.
Dave was in a different therapy block than me. One day Dave mentioned that he accomplished something in physiotherapy that had not done before. I told Dave that was not good enough and to meet me on the ground floor. I bought Dave a can of Coke Zero (for some reason they only stocked cans, not bottles) and I told him accomplishments have to be recognized and to tell me about it. This became a ritual with us.
The coffee in the hospital was not great. You could get decent coffee in the cafeteria that was only open from seven in the morning until two in the afternoon Monday to Friday. As soon as the nurses finished checking our vitals in morning we would meet for coffee. We also had breakfast there once a week. The hospital breakfast usually had scrambled eggs with the eggs likely coming out of a container and never any bacon. The cafeteria had a cook that cooked actual eggs and they had bacon. Life is better with bacon.
We tried to get others involved. A few guys joined us a couple of times at coffee or breakfast. We encouraged people that we knew on the ward, life has a patient can be depressing. Mostly there was about five guys in my room and visit. Nurses because to refer to my room as the frat room during this period.
Dave and I kind of fed of each other. He is an easygoing guy with a sense of humour. I know he had good taste because he enjoyed my company. Dave and I motivated each other and pushed each other in physiotherapy. Dave adapted to his new leg quickly and left about three weeks before I was discharged.
Dave had to come back for a quick follow up and dropped in to see me before I got discharged. He brought me chocolate chip cookies that his wife made.
We keep in touch on a regular basis.
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