From Pumpkin Spice To Alcohol Wipes

As some of you might have begun to recognize in my writings and color tones I choose when I post is the theme of Autumn. The tones of rust, mustard yellow, and a hint of gold and brown would make you want to redecorate for fall! I’m the kind of girl who is happy about Starbucks bringing out their fall drink menu in August when it’s still one hundred degrees outside but for my tastebuds it is never too early for pumpkin chai with pumpkin sweet cream foam on top! The light orange color sits so softly on my iced beverage with a dusting of cinnamon that looks like sprinkles of brown glitter to me. The first week of September I pull out my mini woven pumpkins and burn a candle that smells like waffles in the morning. I have my favorite blankets out all year cause I’m just that kind of girl that could cuddle up in a blanket year around but now my colors burst with warm and my living room is all but finished except at night when you turn on Gilmore Girls to tie the whole experience with a bow! Now all I need is for the weather to change so I can pull out my sweaters, but I’ll have to wait a bit longer here in Oklahoma. I could go on and on about fall and what comforts it brings me every year, but something that was brought to my attention this year was how much all of my favorite things tie with memory or with my five senses. 

Have you ever noticed this in your life?

• Warm Color Tones-Seeing

• Crisp Crunchy Leaves-Hearing

• Knit Blanket-Touching

• Pumpkin Waffle Candle-Smelling

• Iced Chai Latte-Tasting

All these things use our perception with our five senses that connect a memory. All beautiful things for most of life, except some of the time it comes to us without warning and it is not a comfort but a haunting memory. We don’t think about it till it hits one of our five senses. Maybe it’s in your daily and maybe it comes when you are about to experience something that you have before and it gives you almost a flashback of something that has occurred. I think that often times we can push away memories and hopefully replenish our minds with good, hope, and a sense of feeling safe and belonging. But what happens something triggers those emotions and senses that make you cringe and you don’t know why it is so deeply embedded in your head. This past year has been a whole lot for me and with that came senses of unsteadiness, discomfort, and memories only triggered when in one particular atmosphere…hospitals. Yes, I can write about my experiences and they are all true that God is so good and He always will be, but something He is constantly saying to me is this little phrase, “Remember the Little Things” and how that phrase has stuck with me through it all. 

When I was a child I had a lot going on and lots of my life was back and forth between hospitals, surgeries, recovery rooms, and physical therapy. All of which bring their own kind of feelings. I can’t recall too much of my childhood in the medial way but there are things I can remember sensing that still stick with me as a young adult. Things like, 

• Beige Rooms Latex Gloves-Seeing 

• Crying or Screaming-Hearing 

• Stiff Exam Tables and Blankets- Touching

• Alcohol Wipes and Plastic Masks -Smelling 

• Broth, Saltine Crackers, Pudding-Tasting

All these things match every sense that I listed as comforts not too long ago, but do you read it and feel the difference? Hospitals can’t change things just because they aren’t cozy enough for me, but I do wish we could make that environment just a little less gloomy. Overall my children’s hospitals felt friendly and doctors and nurses would have on character scrubs that would bring up natural conversations, but I’d say when you grow up I guess they don’t want to talk about Mickie Mouse anymore! (Boo!) Needless to say, I think those of us out there living in the medical world can all relate to these unwanted labels in our minds and wish we didn’t have those constant going through our head every time we must do a procedure, but this is what I’m learning from these feelings and senses. 

When I think back to one of my personal worst memories it always began with Anesthesia. That part always used to freak me out not because I was getting a really nice nap, but because the oxygen mask was something that triggered me as a child and the smell to this day still gives me mini panics, but through that memory, I have learned how to communicate with my physicians on how I’d like to be put to sleep but also continue to try and get over my fear. Right before I know I’m about to go in I get hot-cold flashes, jitters like I’ve had too much caffeine, and want to chat to my nurse to distract myself. Once I started learning these things I could manage my anxiety and do simple breathing techniques, sing to myself, still chat with the nurses, and above all pray in my mind for peace. God will grant us peace in our greatest anxious moments. 

I’ve also noticed as I’ve gotten older to think about things outside my own sense and feelings while waiting for a medical procedure. Have you ever noticed the senses around you other than yours? 

• Nurses stressed- Seeing 

• Patients’ conversations or crying-Hearing

• The IV in your arm and other machines- Touching 

• Clean Sheets and blankets-Smelling

• Lack of taste (For now) Tasting

Do we forget that those around us both taking care of us and those going through similar or rougher things are enduring the same stimulants as we are? How do we get out of our self-centered mindset that often leads us into fearful mindsets? After a time of only thinking of the worst things, I had to learn to trust God that He has put me in the right place and will take care of me regardless of my body and mind saying different things to me. As Christians God gives us these opportunities to be Christ-like and be aware of others to be a light in a seemingly dark place. 

Be a light to the nurses and ask them how they are doing and make their day one patient better. 

Pray for the other person who is in bed next to you behind the curtain and ask God to give them peace. 

Be thankful we have the medicine and technology to keep us safe during our procedure.

Hospitals are known for being the cleanest place in I’m so grateful.

We may not be able to eat at the moment but I’m going to be so excited for water and crackers when I wake up! 

See how the tone of the whole experience could go! I’m not trying to say that there are times when we feel overwhelmed or uncertain of course, but I truly believe that God-given things can be so easily twisted and used for our own demise. See past the immediate, Listen for His voice, Touch others around you, Breathe in and out.