About Kathleen

Yesterday,  I went to the doctor for my Covid booster shot. 

There is a required 15 minute sit and wait time, so I was crushing some candies and surfing the Guster fan Facebook page to pass the time. Like you do. 

I was the last patient in the office,  just waiting for time to pass so I could go. The nurses and staff were buttoning up for the day, laughing at the stations and offices down the hall. 

I then heard a woman calling for help. She was yelling into the front desk window, repeatedly, asking if someone could help her. One of the staffers came down the hall and I heard her buzz the door open. 

She was telling the story about how she  had fallen at the grocery store, and drove herself to where she usually would go. The KP building.  Surprised to find no one there at 5:05 pm. My guess is she probably wandered the first floor and then came up to the second, until she saw lights on in an office and called in for assistance. 

She was confused, they were triaging her and talking to her. She had hit her head, broke her wrist obviously. She needed X-rays but radiology was closed for the night. She didn't understand why, because she always came to this building for Urgent Care. Where is everyone? The staff explained to her that they stopped doing urgent care, closed the lab at 5pm daily, and had no more Saturday and Sunday hours, because of Covid. 

Side note - one of the reasons why we picked this insurance during open enrollment in 2018 was this location. The long hours for the lab. The Urgent Care. A mile from our house. All things in one location. Surgery, lab, x-ray, doctors.... a small building full of awesome stuff. And I've been equally angry about the diminishment of services "due to Covid" because, as Mike Birbiglia would say "Like fun I'm driving to Gaithersburg."

She was trying to call her son and got ahold of him but he was 2 hours away up in Frederick. I heard them on Speaker phone, and she kept apologizing to him for bothering him. 

"Ma," he said, "You're my ma!" he said.  Over and over. He was going to be there, as soon as he could.

 Listening to this all, the staff explaining how there was no 24/7 urgent care, and her refusal to ride in an ambulance for "something so stupid and simple" I finished my sitting time. 

I stood in the hallway. I could turn right and leave. I could turn left and go see who she was. 

Maybe I could help... 

Walking into the room, I found her bandaged and iced. I introduced myself and she asked if I was a doctor. No. I am not. I'm a patient too! But maybe I can help. I offered to drive her to the hospital. It is in my neighborhood. minimally out of my way.  

I talked to the staff, made sure that this was legal for me to give an injured person a ride from the doctor instead of her taking an ambulance (they assured me yes, since I was willing). I took her phone, called the son, and told him there was a change of plans. He was to meet us at the hospital instead of the doctor's office because he wouldn't get there until 7 and she'd be sitting alone on a bench in the cold.  

Knowing the building would be locked up, I knew I couldn't leave her sitting there. 

She was very worried about leaving her car. Was it going to be towed? Was it safe!? The staff got Security to come up and talk to her, and she had a card in her pocketbook with a picture of the car, the plate, all the info they needed. 

She said she sometimes forgets her car where she parks it, so this was how she remembers. Seems like a smart idea to me. Security said it was all set. If someone could help her get the car later, (ie: today) just go to the hospital and do not worry about it... It was settled.  

I got my jeep and then as I was driving it down the ramps it occurred to me she was short and hurt, and may not be able to get up in it. A nurse wheeled her down to the front door, we worked on it, got her in, cheered, and we were on our way. 

Her name is Kathleen and she lives in the north part of our town. She was at the supermarket when she wiped out. No one at the market would or could help her, and she tried to pull herself up with the shopping cart and it moved so she fell again. 

On our drive over I learned all about her. She's 80. Widowed, and has 3 kids. One kid (the oldest, female) doesn't speak to her because she's a raging alcoholic and a concerned mom is too much of a burden and annoyance. The son who was coming to help her lives even further up county, and is going through a divorce. He likes motorcycles. 

I asked if he was going to pick her up on his motorcycle and she laughed and laughed. It was fun keeping her mind off her pain. 

Her third, the youngest daughter, she told me she "also has a severe drug addiction that ruined her life. So she's in Gate of Heaven." I asked if Gate of Heaven is a rehab locally. 

She said "Oh, no, it's a cemetery."  

Oh. That's sad. I'm so sorry. She shrugged her shoulders. "I did what we could do." 

We drove past my house to avoid the main roads, and I pointed it out. She saw two large cardinals sitting on top of our holly tree. "Oh, so my daughter and my husband heard me talking about them, I see. Hello you two." 

I managed to get her to the emergency room, security came out and they helped me help her into a wheelchair and brought her inside. 

I moved my car and called her son, caught him up on why she wasn't at the doctors office, and asked if he knew where the hospital was. He said both his kids were born there, so yes. I asked if he was riding his motorcycle to come get her. He howled laughing too. 

I let him know the car was safe in the parking garage at the doctor's and which floor it was on. He said he was picking his daughter up so she could drive the car back for nana. 

Going back into the emergency room she was being checked in. She had told me she was so hungry when we were still at the doctors office, but one of the girls gave her a bottle of water and some crackers. I told her she would probably have a long wait, and asked the girl at the counter if it was okay for her to eat. The girl said yes. 

I patted her on the head, wished her the best, made sure she had all 3 of her bags, and went home to dinner. 

Turning around to leave, I noticed that since she was wheeled in, there were now about 15 people in line. We got there right at the perfect moment. Whew. Another 5 minutes and we would have been at the end of the line! I asked if I could take this picture to text to her son. She said "share it with all the people you know, so they know there are nice people on the planet still." 

Be a nice people on the planet. For Kathleen or anyone else. Note the Cheers sweatshirt, and, in your mind, please know she sounded almost exactly like Aunt Gayle from Bob's Burgers. Then you'll know how I spent 2 hours yesterday afternoon. Oh, you don't know what Aunt Gayle on Bob's Burgers sounds like? This but with more screaming.