Grateful – Continued

There are so many things that I feel grateful for from this past week alone. Firstly, my babes! From the day I went into hospital she was by my side. She would arrive in the morning from when visitors are allowed at 9 am, with her “mobile office”. She’d set up her laptop on one of the over-bed tables that we snuck from one of the empty beds. Then she would work there, even having Teams meetings at times with my earphones on. At lunchtime, she would go get lunch at the cafe and have lunch with me. The nursing staff got so used to her being there that they didn’t take “her” table away at the end of the day. At times they would ask her to leave my bed area while they inject me or other treatment, then she’d come back in after. My babes did everything for me. If I asked her, I’m sure she would’ve cut my toenails. I so depended on her being there by my side, that when she left at around 6:30 pm that was the end of my day. The nurses would ask me “are you going to sleep already?”  She really was my strength, the one that God had put by my side.

I am grateful for the team/staff at Morningside Mediclinic (no, this is not a sponsored ad). These guys were amazing. From my time in the ICU I was amazed and humbled by the way I was treated. Every nurse that looked after me, the ICU manager would pop by and say hi, and the facilities manager (I think that’s he’s role) became my friend. His name is Victor, and because he works in the hospital I started calling him Dr Victor (one of our local artists) and the nurses became The Rusta Rebels 😊. So every time he came past my bed I’d say “hello doctor”, and he’d reply “hello professor”. My doctors were great Dr Lazarus and Prof Sewlall. They were direct and thorough, but sensitive. When I was transferred to the general ward, I was treated with compassion. I was moved to this room with two beds. A gentleman was admitted after me, and placed in the bed next to me. When the doctor came to examine him he said to him “this is definitely bronchial pneumonia”. That freaked me out somewhat. When I mentioned it to the nursing sister she told me that she understood, and that she would go look for another bed for me. And she did. As for the food, my perception of hospital food was shattered. There was nothing wrong with the food. Every day they would come around and take my “order” for the next day. When they offered me coffee I told them that I’m a fussy coffee drinker and what they offered wouldn’t cut it. They then brought a bowl of Jacobs coffee grounds to keep by my bedside, so they would then just bring hot water and a cup. It’s still instant coffee, but that consideration meant so much to me. I had this incident where I saw a few bubbles going down my drip. I freaked out and called the nurse. When she came she asked what was wrong. I told her that I saw bubbles going down the pipe and I felt something cold go into my body. She laughed and said “you watch too many movies”. “The fluid in the drip will be cold/cool. Your fine”. She didn’t let me live that down even until I was discharged. The next day when she came to do me drip she said “now remember, it’s going to be cool” 😃. 

I’m grateful for the people I work with and for. I called my main client that I do the studio installations for. I explained to him what had happened. I expressed concern about what I’m suppose to do on our current project next week. He stopped me in mid sentence and said “dude! Forget about work right now and concentrate on getting better. We’ll make a plan. I want you around long term, and not just for this project”. The next day I received a WhatsApp from the end client for this project. He expressed so much love and support and also told me not to stress about the project. That meant the world to me.

I’m grateful for gratefulness. I know it sounds strange. I was brought up to say please and thank you. Also to show appreciation to people. While I was in hospital, just lying there. I see all these people fulfilling different roles. There was this lady mopping the floor, cleaning the toilet and wiping down counters. She would do it quietly, just minding her own business. At one point I said “thank you for what you do, Mma!” She looked up at me and got this smile on her face. Every time I had to go for a scan or X-ray or other test, a porter would come get me from my bed and return me after. They were so friendly, I started calling them my Uber. There was one particular porter, Takalani, whom I made a connection with. One day he asked me “are we treating you well, sir?” I told him that that was for sure, and he said “that’s what we’re here for, sir”. When I left he said to me at the exit “go well,sir. Hope to see you soon, but not here, at the mall”. That is uplifting. The guy in the bed diagonally across from me the other day called the nurse and said “can you wipe this stuff off the floor, it’s sticky”, no “please”. Firstly, she’s not of the cleaning staff. Also it turns out that he had spilled something on the floor. The nurse just said “sure sir! I’ll sort it out”. This is when it’s a calling and not just a job.

In the last month, in the space of a week I had to say goodbye to two dear friends of mine. At one point last week I thought that this was my exit point. A special friend of my family died a few years ago of an embolism. I am grateful that God saw it fit for me to stick around. I realize that a few people got a scare.  Obviously I had not been active on social media the last week. I commented on my dear niece in the UK’s social media post a few days ago, and I received this return comment “uncle Byron!!!” Happy to have her uncle back. While in hospital, a dear friend arrived one morning with three cups of coffee, for him, my babes and me. We had a little chat and off to the office he went. I did a post yesterday to update/inform my friends of what happened. The responses I received has blown me away. I am grateful for those in my life. I get a little emotional at times, but I guess that’s nothing new for me.  On Sunday morning I went through a bit of “I don’t deserve the love and support that I have received”. Then my babes and I sat watching our church service online. Suddenly my pastor says “don’t you dare say that you don’t deserve what you have”, or something in that line, “Christ died for you so that you can deserve…”. Let us never take for granted what we have and who we have in our lives. In God’s eyes you have been made to deserve. Let us live a life of gratitude!