WAITING ROOM DRAMA PART II

 And, now, since inquiring minds want to know.....here is yesterday's continuation......   :)

I continued pretending to read my magazine, all the while sneaking glances at the threesome sitting in the corner of the room.  But, then, another fella walked in....whew...nope, not the other 1/2 of the ObamaCare Debate Team....this was a very concerned gentlemen who sat by down by the young girl and I heard her call him "Dad."  By this time, I was done with my what-was-the-now-very-boring magazine and decided to go and get another one...at the table nearest them.  But, before I could make my move, I overheard the woman asking the girl if she would like a drink.  Since I had my super-yummy "Prozac Tea" sitting right next to me, I offered my advice, "Go and get something to drink at the tea shop in the lobby."  The woman thought that was a good idea, and she and my "pal" (from Part I of the story) left.  Just then, the girl left to go somewhere and her Dad followed her.

So, it was back to just me, my tea, and my imagination.....I was just going into full "spy mode" and they all left.  I waited and bided my time....surely they would come back, wouldn't they?  Just as I was really going stir-crazy with nothing to do, the blonde woman and my Pal came back.  And so did the Dad.  But no Girl.  So, once again I eavsedropped read my book, and I heard the Dad talking about how the Girl was really super upset about the exam that she had to undergo that morning.  The Mom was also upset, for the daughter, and the Dad was trying to let her know that everything would be okay.  He mentioned some kind of infusion that she was going to have to undergo and I gathered that she either had just been diagnosed with (a) Crohns Disease or (b) Ulcerative Colitis.  Double Yuck for either diagnosis, by the way!

Pretty soon, I couldn't take it any longer.  The Dad had left to go find Girl, and I got up my courage to ask the blonde lady how her tea was.  I had to laugh, because she told me that she had gotten coffee and her husband, my Pal from the other waiting room, was the tea drinker.  Imagine That!!  He was a Tea Drinker!  We ended up having a lovely conversation about green teas and Earl Grey tea.  Quite funny, actually!  He was the step-dad of Girl and they were all very nervous about her outsome.  That's probably why he was talking so much in the other waiting room....he was nervous, so he talked....I was nervous, so I didn't want to talk.  Funny how people handle their nerves differently.  

They were telling me that Girl had just received a diagnosis of Ulcerative Colitis and had pretty much freaked out about the necessary exam that the doctor had to perform to properly diagnose her.  I felt bad for the Girl, I really did.  She was only 18 years old and to have this thrust upon her.....wow.....

I sat back down and started thinking about Girl.   I received my diagnosis of Crohns Disease when I was 19.  I had been alot like that girl.  I was young, with my whole life ahead of me, and I had NO IDEA what lay ahead of me, disease-wise.  I didn't know that the Radiology Department of the hospital would become my own personal version of "Dante's Inferno."  I never knew how much pain and suffering would be involved, nor would I have wanted to know.  I ended up becoming a very different person than I was before I was diagnosed.  It was inevitable....it happens....and I believe that I changed for the better.

Pretty soon it was my turn to go and see the doctor.  Mine was just a checkup...pretty routine, and all in all, a good visit.  I am stable, for now...surgery is "waiting in the wings" for me, but not now....not yet....I have too much to do before I go down that road again!

After I checked out and was leaving, I saw my now-new-friends (who woulda thunk it?) sitting in the original waiting room and I went in to say goodbye.  The blonde woman introduced me to her daughter, and as I was saying hello, it was almost as if I was seeing my long-ago self again.  I remembered....oh gosh, how I remembered....what it was like to be her.  And, I wanted to cry for her.  But, I couldn't, wouldn't, tell her what was to come.  I encouraged her to try the treaments and to just "hang in there."  The Mom asked me how old I was now (47) and she got this strange, almost panicky, look on her face.  I knew what she was thinking and I smiled and told her that the doctor appointments, while they lessen in intensity and amount, never do end, but you do get used to them.  You do get used to having a disease.  It's like my doc said years ago, "A life-long affliction-not a death sentence." The Mom thanked me for all I had done (Me? What had I done?)  and we said goodbye. 

I went to bed last night thinking of all of them: The Dad, the Mom, the Step-dad and the Girl.  I just prayed that Girl would receive the courage that she would need for what lay ahead of her, and that the medical treatments would work.  I also had to think:  Out of all the people in that first waiting room that I could have sat by, I ended up sitting by those fellas.  And, if they hadn't of been annoying talking, I probably would not have even noticed them.  Therefore, I wouldn't have noticed the one gentlemen when he came into the second waiting room. 

Hmmmm....there IS something deep about all of that, but for the life of me, I can't think of what it would be.  Because, if he hadn't have bugged me, I wouldn't have noticed him.  But, because I noticed him, I remembered him.  And, because I remembered him, I talked to his wife.  And, because I talked to his wife, I got to know all of them. 

Life is strange....I'm gonna leave it at that!  You can draw your own conclusions and tell me!!  ;)


A.Marie

And, I would really have loved to have told that girl that this should be her Motto: "Ulcerative Colitis (or Crohns Disease) is 2 words....not a sentence. Don't let it define who YOU are...."