100/50 WORDS
We Do Need Another Hero
Thrifty word challenge 100: #15 and 50: #36: Heroes And Heroines
I found myself back in hospital last week after I had a myasthenic crisis. It was a bit of a shock, I really thought I had been pacing myself and taking it easy. Alas, I had overestimated what I am able to do. No more climbing stairs for me for a while.
Given that I had been in hospital only two weeks before, the health professionals were keen to take new actions to help me. It was decided to try me on a treatment of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg).
Once I got my head around the fact that I would need to stay in hospital for five days for this infusion treatment, I decided to relax and rest up.
The view helped, but what I found most amazing was the care and attention from the hospital staff.
Everyone I had contact with was conscientious, kind, and dedicated. From introducing themselves and explaining their role in my care to administrating that care, they all conducted themselves with professional devotion.
And it wasn’t only the doctors and the nurses; it was also extended to the auxiliary staff; the cleaners and the caterers. I was completely bowled over; there was one health care assistant (HCA) who took my hand and sang me a little ditty based on my name in her language (Romanian).
On my earlier hospital stay, where I celebrated my 60th birthday — the staff clubbed together and got me a cake. Then they gathered around my bed and sang ‘happy birthday’. So moving, it brought tears to my (wonky) eyes — their kindness was extraordinary.
My favourite person was the phlebotomist; there is an art to inserting a needle into someone’s vein without hurting them that not every doctor possesses. Thankfully this one did, making her totally my heroine.
What about you? Do you have a personal hero or heroine? Have you had help or intervention from someone who went above and beyond the line of duty? Don’t hold back, share — but keep it thrifty!
Heroes And Heroines — 50 or 100 words — GO!
Please choose either the fifty-word or 100-word challenge, not both. See the guidelines for your chosen challenge below.
Remember, in order to be considered for the challenge, you need to write exactly 100 or 50 words (contractions such as ‘you’ll’ and ‘y’all’ count as one, as do articles ‘a’ and ‘the’ and all 23 auxiliary verbs ‘am’ ‘is’ ‘are’ etc. Hyphenated words count as one word.) The editors reserve the right to add or remove words to ensure the exact word count. Please keep an eye on your tags as laid out in the submission guidelines above.
Please use the kicker 100 WORDS or 50 WORDS and ‘Thrifty Words 100 Challenge #15: Heroes And Heroines or ‘Fifty Word Challenge #36: Heroes And Heroines' as your subtitle and submit by 6:00 pm.EST on Friday, 7th May. All stories submitted by the deadline will be released the following morning in the weekly roundup.
Need inspiration? Here’s last week’s roundup, and watch Tina Turner belting it out.
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