"Mr. Roman…..are you feeling
better?"
"Yes I am, thanks."
"Just hold still while I pack your right nostril so the wound
can start healing. You know, your blood work just came back from
the lab. Your red blood cell count is great, but you have a very
high white count. You have a nasty infection in your sinus. I am
going to admit you here at Columbus Hospital. We'll notify your
family doctor immediately. In the meantime, I am putting you on
antibiotics and a saline solution to stabilize you and to start
killing that infection."
I knew I had that infection and was already addressing it via
my family doctor when the nosebleeds took center stage. It sure
does make you gun-shy about snuffling your nose!
"OK Mr. Roman, your ride upstairs is here. Nurse, take him
to Room 428A and get him comfortable. Good luck!"
*********************************
"Mr. Roman…..good morning! How are you today? I have
a few more routine questions…..blah, blah, blah…"
"Were you ever admitted to Columbus Hospital before?"
"Sort of."
"Excuse me?"
"I was born here in 1949. Not this building of course, but
the original old brick one."
"So you know the Newark area quite well then!"
"Only lived about 8 blocks away from this bed, and now, still
only live about 3 miles away."
"Blah, blah, blah……"
*******************
Your mind plays tricks on you something crazy when you watch hospital
ward activity all day long with an IV stuck in your arm.
Looking down on the streets below I remember the names of kids
I knew from this area. The times my Dad and I fixed some TV sets
in the neighborhood.
I remember walking up and down Bloomfield Avenue to local stores,
delighting in those ethnic Italian smells that characterized every
nook and cranny of my boyhood. Each food store had its own special
aroma. Butcher shops with sawdust on the floor. Delivery boys on
bicycles constantly making their rounds. Huge fresh cheeses hanging
in store windows. Tom's Pork Store on 6th Street and Bloomfield
Avenue…..I feel better now just thinking of it and the incredible
smells that lingered there.
All of this mixing with the remembered smells of bakeries, pizza
parlors, the ever- present comfortable aroma of a small family-owned
neighborhood Italian restaurant…..and me stuck with this hospital
food. It's good food actually, but I'd kill for a plate of Mom's
meatballs. I am so grateful she taught my wife how to make my favorite
dishes.
********************************
"Mr. Roman……it's OK to walk the floors a little
bit to get some exercise. Hold onto the handrail and take it slow
for a while."
"Since when do I need a handrail?" I think to myself;
but my wobbly legs and unsteady gait betrays my now faded youthful
bounce-back from illness. I listen to the nurse.
Pausing at a window down the hallway, I see St. Francis church
looming, like it always has. Was baptized there, going through the
sacraments too. Lots of memories of choir, catechism, and things
liturgical in that lovely edifice. Remember talking about the Cuban
Missile Crisis on the steps one late overcast afternoon…what
was it…..1961?. Folks were scared it might be that dreaded
nuclear war. That's what it was, I had just come out of confession.
Where did that memory come from?
A Dugan's cupcake! That is what I could go for, with a big glass
of ice-cold milk. Ohhh, maybe a sub sandwich…….meatballs
with melted cheese! Man, am I hungry. Could pick at a few pastries
too, with some black coffee……quick someone run out to
Calandra's, Katherine's, Ferrara's or Di Paola's? I got this mighty
urge to eat something really scrumptious. Call down to Barney's
pizzeria and have them send one up with onions and pepperoni!
All these memories fade as my nurse greets me…….
"Mr. Roman, Dr. Frankenstein is here to take care of that
nose problem. He'll unpack your right nostril and cauterize it.
I have the wheelchair waiting at your room. When you get back from
your walk we'll go downstairs."
There it is, my last ride. I can almost smell the procedure as
my legs get noticeably weaker still. Cauterize! Back in my old neighborhood,
I knew kids that had their noses' cauterized. They screamed for
years afterwards, and whenever the moon got full, they barked and
scratched their necks with their legs. I want my Mommy!
***************************
"All done Mr. Roman. Take it easy for awhile."
"But what if it bleeds again Doc?"
"It could, but this one looks pretty good. Just pinch off
your nostrils for 10 minutes by the clock and that should stop it.
It might need to be cauterized again. It's one of those things.
Come and see me any time you think you are having a problem."
Right then and there I decide not to breath for a while. Don't
want no monster nosebleed again. Hey, that cauterization wasn't
so bad. I guess all that alcohol smelly stuff numbs it.
"Doc, what about that CAT scan you took of my head? Everything
OK?"
"Certainly. Don't worry about it. You are fine. Just a very
nasty sinus infection is what you had. Get some of that nice saltwater
spray for your nose and maybe a humidifier for your bedroom at night.
These nosebleeds are more common than you might think."
**************************************
As my caring wife loads me into the car after being released,
I shudder a bit in the cool, rainy air. Where did the time go? Those
old Newark memories seem like yesterday.
I can almost feel myself being swirled into that great medical
vortex of middle age-tests, more tests, high blood sugar count,
watch your cholesterol, blood pressure checks….on and on it
will probably go.
Glad I never smoked, nor drank much. It does pay off in the later
years.
"Hon……..take Bloomfield Avenue home. I want to
see the Christmas lights."
I feel a page turning in my life.
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