HOSPITAL

Recently, as I was going into the hospital for a test, I remembered the first time I was admitted into the hospital. I was eight years old and very scared.

It all started with a headache and a temperature. It was a very nice summer day and I didn't feel like going out to play. Mom helped me get a bath and put on a cute frilly dress and she braided my hair and put ribbons  on my braids. She thought it would make me feel like playing, but I only wanted to lay in the chair and do nothing. She gave me aspirins for my headache and some kind of tea, but I didn't get better. The next morning my mom and dad took me to see Dr. Baker. He was the best doctor around and they didn't make appointments. People came from long distances to be treated by him. He examined me after a lengthy wait in the crowded waiting room. He said I should go to the hospital because I had a kidney infection and they could better treat me with Penicillin shots in the hospital.
 
The hospital seemed so huge to me. It was my first visit to a hospital. They put me in a private room. After I was settled in, my parents said they had to leave. I cried because I had never been by myself . I begged mom to stay, but the staff insisted she could not stay the night with me. She agreed to stay in town with my dad's sister, Aunt Rose. My dad had to go home to the other children and to the chores of the farm. Mom would visit me in the morning and dad would come later in the afternoon. We lived twelve miles from town. Half of the roads were narrow gravel roads, therefore the travel time took at least half an hour or more.

I was given shots every three or four hours. They were given in the thighs alternating with the butt. They were very painful to me as I have a low tolerance of pain anyway, even then. I felt afraid all night. I had a nightmare or a bad drem. I thought a black cat was in the room with me. I thought it was trying to attack me. I was trying to escape from it. I tried to scream but nothing came out. I managed to call the nurse and asked her to leave a light on for me. It must have been the effects of the medicine. You can imagine how an eight year old would feel, being alone with strangers.

Mom came the next morning and sat with me until my dad came. They both went home that day and the doctor thought I could go home the next day. I was in a hurry to get back to my house with my brothers and sisters. Two nights in the hospital seemed like a long time but I was getting better and anxious to get back to playing again. I had been confined long enough. I was released the third day with a perscription for medication.  Thankfully, I recovered and haven't had a kidney problem since.