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Chaplain Joan M. Keiser on a different kind of gift
Tell my wife I love her . . .
They wheeled him very hurriedly into the ER Trauma room and the smell of burned flesh filled my nostrils. The medical team surrounded him and began to gather information from the EMS crew and assess the patient. The trauma doctor entered the room . . . evaluated the patient . . . and informed him that his condition was not survivable. The patient said, “Tell my wife I love her.” And then, he gave the nurse the name of a funeral home to call. The nurse wrote down all the comments the patient made on his pillow case.
I introduced myself to the patient and told him I was sorry that he had been so badly burned. I asked him if there was a pastor he would like me to call for him. He told me he hadn’t been going to church lately. I then asked him if God was someone he believed in . . . talked to . . . and he said, “Oh, yes. I gave my heart to God when I was very young—in the Baptist Church.” I said a prayer for him and remained present to him as he murmured occasionally with discomfort.
I told him that I thought this would be a good time to be talking to God and if he was like myself—human—that there might be something he wanted to ask God’s forgiveness for. He agreed with me. I told him I didn’t need to hear his prayer that it was between himself and God.
We continued to talk as we waited for his wife and family to arrive. He had started a fire in the fireplace to warm the house for his wife. He mistakenly put gasoline on the fire and it “exploded”-- leaving him with almost all of his body experiencing third-degree burns.
He asked if his hair was still there . . . and the nurse told him it was pretty much gone. I told him he had a “new-do” and I could see he smiled a bit and said, “I needed a new-do.”
I stayed with the patient and his family till they moved him to a room for comfort care. He died several hours later. I was told that the pillow case with his words written on it was given to the family. A beautiful gift!
I have the feeling that the patient died the way he lived his life—thinking of others—“Tell my wife I love her.”
Chaplain Joan Keiser has been a chaplain at St. John's Hospital, Springfield, MO, for the past 12 years. She completed four units of CPE at St. John's Hospital. Joan has a certificate of Religious Studies from Loyola Institute for Ministry, Loyola University, New Orleans. She is a Licensed Local Pastor with the United Methodist Church with the Missouri Conference and is serving a church in Rogersville, MO. Her areas of hospital ministry are Neuro-Trauma ICU, Neuro-Intermediate/ Stroke Center and Endoscpy. Joan also serves on the Springfield Stroke Coalition and is a member of the Mid-America Transplant Collaborative for Organ Donation representing St. John's Hospital.
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