“She was a poor woman with great intelligence. Tell how she emerges from poverty into great
fortune.”
A DIZZY EXPERIENCE
© 2003 by Mae Ondracek
Martha swayed
to her feet. Hanging onto her bed, she walked unsteadily towards the
window. She kept thinking, ‘What is
happening to me? I’ve never been this
dizzy before.’
There was a
light rap on the door and it slowly opened.
Dr. Stone entered the hospital room, “Hello, Mrs. Green. Good to see you up and enjoying the view. The view of the lake is great from your
room.”
“Please call
me Martha,” she said as she slowly turned towards the doctor, “Doctor, why am I
so dizzy? I can’t stay here any
longer. You know I can’t afford
this. It is just too expensive for me.”
Dr. Stone smiled and said, “Well,
Martha, we still have one more test to do to find out about your dizzy
spells. Tomorrow morning we will do a
different MRI and more blood work. When
the results come back, we will know for sure.
I don’t want to frighten you with maybes, but there is something at the
base of your skull. We will know for
sure tomorrow.”
“Thank you,
Doctor.”
Dr. Stone
asked, “Do you want to talk about your home situation? Did you find a job, yet?”
“No Doctor,”
Martha replied. “Everyone says I am
under-qualified, even before questioning me about the work. I guess it’s the clothes I wear.”
“I don’t want
you worrying about anything right now.
You can worry about a job after you are feeling better. Get a good nights sleep and tomorrows test
should tell us what, if anything, is wrong.”
Martha managed
a weak smile and said, “Thank you, Doctor, I will.”
After the MRI,
Martha tried walking around her room because the anxiety of not knowing what
was wrong kept her from resting. Finally
her feet wouldn’t carry her anymore and the dizziness was returning, so she lay
down and was soon fast asleep. At one
that afternoon, Dr. Stone knocked softly on the door and pushed it open after
Martha called, “Come in.”
“Hello,
Martha. I have bad and good news for
you. The bad news is that what we found
earlier was a nerve pushed out beside your spine and it was being pinched,
causing your dizziness. We can operate
to push the neck-bone back into place and we might have to fuse two bones
together, but we won’t be sure until we are in there. All we need is your permission to go
ahead. We can do it tomorrow if you’d
like it done that quickly.”
Martha felt
great relief as she said, “You bet I do, Doctor. I am tired of this dizziness. Where are the papers to sign?”
Martha slept
like a baby that night and hardly realized it when they were wheeling her into
the operating room. She vaguely remembered
the nurse inserting the IV and talking with her, but her mind was at rest, her fear
had lifted, and she felt wonderfully at peace. Soon it would be all over and she could find
a job to help pay the doctor bills which were really piling up. She’d worry about that later, right now she
felt at peace with everything.
It seemed like
only minutes had passed when there was a soft rap on her door and it
opened. Dr. Stone entered and said,
“Good news. It wasn’t too bad and
everything went smoothly. You’ll have to
be careful when moving your head but a neck brace should help out. We’d like to
put this brace on you and help you get up to walk.”
“But
Doctor. Don’t we have to wait at least a
day for it to heal before I get up?”
Martha cried.
“My good
woman, you have really been out of it.
Don’t you realize this is Thursday and we did the operation Tuesday
afternoon? I have never seen anyone who
liked to sleep like you’ve been doing.
We were a little concerned at first, but then I realized what an uptight
situation you were in and this must have put you at peace. You were getting the rest you needed. Now we’ll help you up.”
“I’m sorry,
Doctor. I didn’t realize that much time
had passed. I remember only bits and
pieces of things. I hope I am going to
do just great.”
Dr. Stone
said, “O.K. Now the nurse and I will
help you all we can, but it’s up to you.
Start slowly now.”
Martha closed
her eyes and slowly stood up. Realizing
she wasn’t dizzy, she opened her eyes and smiled up at the doctor saying, “The
dizziness is gone. This is great.”
“We are glad
to hear that,” Dr. Stone said, “once more around the room and then back to
bed.”
Everyday the
nurses helped Martha walk and soon she could walk unassisted and without
wobbling. When the doctor visited her
the next day, her first question was, “Can I please go home now? I need to start looking for a job so I can
pay these bills.”
Dr. Stone
looked thoughtful and then said, “I’m afraid not yet. You have one more paper to sign and then
we’ll see about releasing you,” and he handed her some papers.
“But what is
this Doctor?” Martha questioned as she started to read. With a surprised expression, she reread the
paper and tears welled up and overflowed.
“Is this for real, Doctor?”
“Yes,
Martha. You need a job and we need a
receptionist. We’d like to keep an eye
on you and your neck.
Martha turned red as she wiped her
eyes and nose. “Why, Doctor, I didn’t
think you cared.”
“I care about all my patients,
Martha, and knowing your situation, we’d like to help out. Once you learn the ropes here, Dr. Roper, my
friend at Mayo Clinic, said his secretary/receptionist will be leaving in six months. I mentioned you and he gave me a thumbs up. So, if
you’re ready to get to work, you can start tomorrow, doing just a little of the
work, and gradually full time until we can get a replacement here. Mrs. Webster has wanted to retire and move to
Martha had to agree that it sure
was. Now she wouldn’t have to trudge up
and down the streets being told she was unqualified for a job. “Oh, Dr. Stone, how can I ever repay
you? I am so happy.”
“Well I’m sure we’ll think of
something. You get some rest now.”
“Thank you, Doctor, I will.”
The next morning at
“You bet I am; and then to be going
home without this brace. I feel reborn
and thank God for letting everything work out so well. Thanks for your help, Tina.”
Everything was going smoothly on the
job and Mrs. Webster remarked, “Martha, how can you remember all this when I’ve
only explained it to you once?”
“I’ve got a good mind, Mrs. Webster,”
Martha laughed, “and besides you are a great teacher. I’ll miss you after you retire.”
“I’ll miss you, too, Martha. It’s been great working with you,” and she
gave Martha a hug and wiped the tears from her eyes.
After two weeks, Dr. Stone stopped at
her desk and said, “I hate to tell you this, as we like having you here, but
Dr. Roper has set up an appointment for tomorrow afternoon and I said I’d bring
you over, if that is all right with you?”
“Of course, Doctor. That would be great,” and Martha’s face
turned pink and warm.
Dr. Stone smiled encouragingly and
patted her hand, saying, “Now, now, Martha, you don’t have to get
flustered. I told you I care about my
patients and now my co-workers,” and he walked away whistling, ‘You Are My Sunshine.’
“My, my, I do believe our Dr. Stone
has finally become interested in a woman,” Mrs. Webster laughed and slapped her
hefty thigh.
Martha turned even redder and said,
“Not like you mean, Mrs. Webster, this is strictly business.”
“Uh-huh! I’m sure it is; monkey
business.” Mrs. Webster laughed with
glee as she hurried into the Xerox room before Martha could throw something at
her. Soon she opened the door a crack
and said, “Can I come out now, Martha?”
“Of course, you silly woman, I know
you’re only kidding with me.”
Mrs. Webster just smiled and went
back to work.
Both Dr. Stone and Martha were very
quiet on the drive to the Mayo Clinic.
Martha thought of a hundred questions she’d like to ask him, but nothing
would come out except a cough. Finally
Dr. Stone patted her hand and asked, “Are you nervous?”
“Yes, I am,” Martha replied as she
looked down at his hand covering hers.
“I really hope this works out.”
“Everything is working out just
fine,” Dr. Stone said encouragingly.
With both hands on the wheel, and grinning like he had a big secret, he
started whistling, ‘You Are My Sunshine.’
Soon they arrived at the Mayo Clinic
and Dr. Stone held Martha’s elbow as he guided her to the elevator. Once in Dr. Roper’s office, Dr. Stone
introduced Martha to Dr. Roper and said, “I’ll leave you two alone to talk
things over. When you are done, let me
know. I’ll be right outside the door.”
Fifteen minutes later Dr. Roper
opened the door and motioned for Dr. Stone to enter. Martha jumped up and exclaimed, “Isn’t it
wonderful, Dr. Stone. I’ve been hired,
and all because of you.”
“No, Martha. It’s because you are a smart woman,” Dr.
Stone laughed and shook hands with Dr. Roper’s hand, “Thanks Roper, I’m sure
you won’t be sorry.”
Dr. Roper nodded his head in
agreement and said, “I’ll have her start here in two weeks, if that is all
right with you?”
“Yes, that will give Martha time to
break in our new girl.”
Once outside, Martha turned to Dr.
Stone and asked, “You have done so much for me.
How can I ever repay you?”
“For starters, you can call me Tom,
and have dinner with me Saturday evening.”
Martha gasped, “Oh, no! I can’t. I promised Mrs. Webster I would help her pack
on Saturday.”
“Wonderful,” Dr. Stone exclaimed with
a twinkle in his eyes. “I’ll bring
dinner over to her apartment to share with my two favorite women.”