Sometimes you have to work on Christmas.
Craig Hospital is located next to Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, CO, and is a 93-bed private, not-for-profit, acute care, rehabilitation and research hospital. The approach to spinal cord injury (SCI) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) is wholistic and provides an interdisciplinary approach to recovery. This means Craig provides an intensive program to helping patients and their families cope with their injuries and adjust to their change in life. Some spinal cord injured people do walk out of here; most roll out.
I've worked at Craig Hospital for about 5 years, and holidays are just another day, today is no exception. However, today there's homemade cinnamon rolls, cookies, rice pudding and breakfast burritos for those who get up at o'dark thirty and bypass the traditional morning celebrations.
A lot of people here will wish you a Merry Christmas when they walk by, but there's a few people who are not happy they have to work today. I guess taking their sadness out on others around them makes them feel better, but for those of us who are happy to spend the holiday with the friends we work with, we roll with it.
As is traditional, the auxiliary people are making their way through the hospital giving away hand-knitted afghans provided by their members who have worked throughout the year and today is the delivery day. So many spinal cord injury patients are susceptible to cold since circulation is so poor in spinal injuries and the warmth of the afghans help keep broken bodies comfortable. Patients not only get the afghans, but some Christmas cheer from the volunteers who go room to room. However, if you hated Christmas before your injury, you'll still hate it after your injury.
Volunteers also hand out Craig water bottles that share space with sugar treats and knick-knacks nestled in red fuzzy Christmas stockings. Other management team members are in the process of finding out who's bedridden and who can go downstairs to the cafeteria for Christmas lunch. The only problem with going to the cafeteria is they are using green and red fluorescent lights and they turn any food an unappetizing color.
Some of the patients here have families, and this year the hospital has a lot of kids in it. One of the moms let us know that when they came back from church services last night, there were stacks of wrapped Christmas presents in the room for the children in the family. No cards were attached. She asked me where the presents came from, did we see anyone put them in the room? I told her there was only one possible answer.
So it goes on Christmas Day at Craig.
So, remember that when you meet up with people today who are working on Christmas at theaters, ski resorts, 7-11s, restaurants or anyone you come across in your travels, make sure you wish them a Merry Christmas and say thanks. This also goes for the overworked moms who have wrapped presents, cooked huge meals, cleaned up mountainous messes, wrangled combustible children and made the holiday good for people they care about.
When they work, your world is better.
Merry Christmas!
Stepping stones of faith
8 years ago
2 comments:
I have worked many holidays at Craig. Families thank us for being there, patients thank us, and as a whole we are grateful to be able to give something so small as a holiday to people who don't want to be there either. No one wants to be in a hospital on Christmas. I always tell people who thank me, its my pleasure to be here today, and I mean it.
I work in the Development Department at Craig and was truly touched by your story of what happens on Christmas within our healing walls. You perfectly captured the genuine human caring that gives hope, along with some of the best medical/rehabilitative care to patients and families. Thank you for sharing that story with so many. I'd love to meet you in person.
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