Back Issues, COVID-19, Civil Unrest, and a story of humanity

Last week I was kicking the soccer ball around with the kids and managed to slip a disc in my back which ultimately resulted in an ambulance trip and a hospital visit for two days. This post isn't about me, though, it's about a nurse that I met while being cared for.

I spent one night in an emergency room hooked up to pain medication where I spent most of my time watching the crazy chaotic scenes happening on TV and reading new articles on my phone. There wasn't too much sleep to be had between the pain in my back and the heart rate monitor constantly going off because my heart rate consistently went below 50 bpm (with a low of 42 bpm). Apparently that's not a huge concern for athletes. Did you know that you can drop your blood pressure during a BP test simply by relaxing and meditating? The second day, I was moved up to the 5th floor with a more private room where I did pretty much the same thing as before, but free from the sounds of the other patients experiencing their own degrees of agony. I met many nurses come and go through their shifts, but it was Mimi who I will always remember.

Mimi was my last nurse I met during my stay and she explained that the 5th floor had just been cleared out of COVID-19 patients the day before. The cleaning staff had just gone through and thoroughly cleaned every inch of each room. I was assured that I wouldn't have to wear a mask even though every employee at the hospital had to. The previous day I had the joy of experiencing a COVID test which includes having a slim, long cotton swab shoved up both nostrils until they practically reach the back of your skull. Not the most joyous feeling especially after being poked by at least five needles at the same time dealing with my screaming back.

Every single hospital room on that floor had a hole cut out of the window where a vent had been installed so fresh air from outside was circulated through the room rather than using the centralized HVAC. This was to ensure no other parts of the hospital would be exposed to the rooms where COVID-19 patients resided.

Mimi explained all of this to me when I brought it up. I have come to realize during our time in the pandemic how much I rely upon being able to see people's mouths when they speak. It becomes especially challenging when someone has a thick accent which happened to be the case with the majority of the nurses at the hospital. It is funny for me to say that the majority of the nurses who tended to me were minorities and English was a second language. Please note that I could care less as they were all wonderful and it really forced me to focus on what they were telling me in order to make sure I understood.

After Mimi gave some insight about the 5th floor and that there was nothing to worry about, I asked her how she was holding up caring for COVID-19 patients. This is where she paused to reflect a bit and I could immediately tell this was a challenging subject to talk about. She told me the hardest thing was sitting with a patient who was terminal and providing comfort without being able to convey optimism short of praying for a miracle. Even the comfort she could offer was minimized due to the fact that nurses aren't allowed to hug or hold COVID patients. It tore her apart knowing that family members can't be present to comfort. This puts such a huge burden on nurses. Many times after Mimi's shift was over she would have to go home, isolate herself from her family, and simply cry alone in a room. My heart was breaking and I told her so. She teared up and I teared up. I'm tearing up just writing this. She told me the only way to avoid these scenarios is to isolate and mask up. Please take this to heart, my friends!

Even though Mimi has had some gut-wrenching days she always knew that nursing was her calling. It was at this point in our conversation, she shared with me her amazing story.

Mimi was born in Ethiopia to a well-off family, but left her home at age 16 due to civil unrest. I'm not sure if it was unrest in her house, community or entire country, but she got out and made her way to Egypt where she got a job working for a rich German woman as a house cleaner. Even though the woman and her husband were extremely well off, they treated there workers extremely poorly. Mimi was given only a few utensils to eat all of her meals with and was forced to sleep on the hard floor. Her breaking point was when the husband attempted to rape her and the woman turned a blind eye to it all. Mimi packed up all of her belongings in a plastic garbage bag and pretended to be taking out the garbage, but instead ran away. In the process she managed to get a few scraps of paper which she used to write down that she was looking for work as a house keeper and began handing them out to strangers. Her saving grace was an American man who agreed to hire her. She worked hard for the American and soon developed a good reputation as a hard worker. The American worked at the embassy in Egypt and unfortunately had to leave the country, but not before recommending Mimi to other Americans at the embassy so she could continue to work.

At some point she was able to save up enough money and move to the United States where she could finally realize her calling of becoming a nurse. To this day, she still keeps in touch with the American who helped her out. Mimi met her husband (who is also from Ethiopia) in America. He is an electrical engineer and is also an American military veteran. Apparently her husband was so grateful to become a US citizen that he joined the Armed Forces to give back to his adopted country. Wow.

Mimi, her husband, and her two children (age 4 &6) live on Beacon Hill just south of downtown Seattle. If you're not in awe of this woman yet, Mimi also runs an assisted living facility where she is the primary medical operator. She only accepts Medicaid for her services since many of her residents are below the poverty line. One of her residents used to be homeless for many years before he moved in.

I could not hold back telling Mimi what a wonderful human being she was especially with all she has gone through and is going through. Her response was "America has been so good to me and given me so much opportunity to realize my dreams. The least that I can do is give back." What a truly amazing human being.

I started thinking about all of the protests around the world that are going right now in support of the protests here in the United States around racial injustice. Why are other country's citizens upset about our problems? Why do they care about the United States especially when we have become so isolated the past few years? It dawned on me that stories like Mimi's may not be all that unique. The United States is still viewed as the 'city on the hill' to many people throughout the world. We definitely have problems (especially now), but there are so many countries that are so much worse off in how their citizens are treated. Even though we're not perfect the United States continues to set an example for the rest of the world around democracy, freedom of speech, freedom to protest, and the ability for citizens to rise up peacefully in order to force change. Many countries don't afford that luxury.