May 29, 2005
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J Went Home Today
The doctor took the last chest tube out of the 17-year-old boy that I've been sitting with in the hospital at around 10:45 this morning, and J was in his dad's truck and on his way home by 11:10. Today was his 26th day in the hospital, and he was so ready to go home.
Ordinarily, pneumonia is pretty easy to cure in a kid that young, and they don't usually have to put them in the hospital. This boy had to have some very major lung surgery, and he's lost over 60 pounds is just a couple of months. He lost about 12 pounds while he was in the hospital, and I know he was eating well because I watched him eat. We'll see how this works out.
I was in the waiting room with his dad the day J was born, but I've really only gotten to know him in the last 3 weeks. He's extremely polite and very appreciative of anything anybody does for him, and those are nice qualities in a kid. Very nice and rather unusual, in my experience.
J's going to be okay, except that he's going to be saddled with me as a friend for the rest of my/his life. I want to be as much of a friend as he wants me to be. We'll see how that works out.
ED
Comments (2)
Ed, you're a wonderful human being. Your unchanging humanity, kindness and compassion give me hope that the selfish jackassery that's so dominant these days won't always rule the day.
Nick, I'm not a wonderful human being. I'm just a guy with a conscience who finally has time to do something about that. That's what Spring Hill does to you. I haven't been able to escape that. And you won't be able to escape it, either. It's going to be a social justice struggle for the rest of our lives. Damn those Jesuits.
ED
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