Last night I took care of a 60 something year old hispanic lady who had an aggressive form of endometrial cancer.. She was my patient post-operatively and so I had to keep close watch on her as she was freshly post-op. I started her PCA (patient controlled analgesia) pump for her, gave her IV fluids, and did routine post-op monitoring. I made her comfortable that night, I attended to her and her daughter and made sure they were both well rested overnight. The doctors had told her the prognosis this morning and I didn’t get to listen because I was passing report to the oncoming nurse. I came back to her room to say goodbye.. When I was telling her that I was leaving, she had something to say to me and I could not understand a single word. Before I could stop her from continuing and tell her that I don’t know spanish, she kept going and about 30 seconds into her speech I knew that she knew that I didn’t know spanish.. She said to me what she wanted to say in spanish knowing that I wouldn’t understand a single word, but I listened to her with the utmost intent of listening and feeling her words. In short, she was telling me words of gratitude and giving me blessings. I heard the words “Dios” in there (which means God) and something about “corazon” which is heart.
She KNEW that I did not have to know a single word because I felt her words just by looking at her in the eyes and just feeling it. Those two words Corazon and Dios I can’t think of any other context they would be used in. When she was finished saying what she had to say, I looked at her in the eyes and replied, “gracias..” and she smiled and replied in acknowledgement that she knew I understood her, “Gracias.” Nurses aren’t supposed to do this for infection control reasons, but in the moment it was appropriate so I came down to her bed and hugged her..
These kinds of things happen for a reason. I call them signs.. They’re signs of clarity. I was reminded of why I do what I do. Why do I want to be rich? Why am I a nurse? It’s because I want to act in love. I want to spread the love of the holy spirit to as many people as I can. I want to take care of as many people as I can. I want to spread happiness, joy, and love. I believe in energy. I believe in God. Happiness, joy, and love are some of the highest forms of energy. That’s what I want to emit out to the universe!
I vow to spread God’s love for the rest of my life.