Do you speak Turkish?

It was decided to transfer him from the E.D. to a room upstairs. There was confusion about exactly which room; he was taken by stretcher to the third floor, and then the fourth, and after he was finally in a bed, in intermediate cardiac care, the chest pain started again.

More medication was administered, and he became more comfortable. It was about 1:00 am. A nurse came in and told him they were going to give him an EKG. He didn't understand. She said, “Well, whenever anyone has chest pain in our section our procedure is to do an EKG.”

He looked at us, looked at her, and said, dryly, "Excuse me, could you say that in Turkish?" The nurse looked baffled; my father-in-law grinned sideways at us. She tried again, explaining as if he were a child: “We’re going to use a special kind of a machine that draws a picture of your heart and its rhythm.” He looked at her face and didn’t reply.

“Do you understand?” she asked.

“He can’t hear you,” I said, from the foot of the bed.

“When I can’t hear, I just say ‘yes.’” he told her.

She repeated the same thing, louder.

“Yes,” he said. She looked over at my husband, helplessly.

A technician in a green uniform came in with the portable EKG machine and bent over him, putting electrodes on his chest. “What are you doing now?” he asked.

“I’m settin’ you up for an EKG, we’ll be done in no time,” he said.

My father-in-law looked at him, expressionless, and said, “Do you speak Chinese?”

When the medical personnel had left he sighed and asked us, "What is it about our culture that everything has to be shortened, reduced to letter abbreviations? ‘Tell me what you’re doing, in English!’” He reflected for a minute and said, “I preferred the people down there.” (He meant in the emergency department) “They were a lot faster. They really knew what they were doing! Up here everyone is very nice, very kind, but…they seem much slower.” He shut his eyes and opened them again with a sigh. “Oh well! C’est la vie. I’m sure they know what they’re doing.” He waved his fingers in our direction. “Go home now, you look tired. It must be late! I’ll be all right. Go on!”

Comments

[marja-leena]

Well, I agree with your father-in-law about all those abbreviations!! Good to see his spirit is still strong. These stories are such a wonderful record of a very unusual and interesting character - thanks for sharing. All my best wishes that he receives good care and has a speedy recovery. Take care of yourselves too, try not to worry too much.

[Martine]

J'espère qu'il ira mieux très bientôt. Nous pensons à lui... et à vous! Bises

[Mouse]

I wish your father-in-law well
He seems to be a remarkable gentleman

[Bitterroot]

Beth, this sounds so difficult. When your father-in-law passes, you will miss these richly textured conversations and dialogues. You are honoring him with your writing here just as you did your mother.

[beth]

Thank you for saying that, and thank you for understanding...I'm fortunate I've had remarkable people to love and be loved by in my life.