I Have Stories

The night of my Junior Prom was exciting. I went with a group of girls who did not have dates and we actually had fun and danced with each other and the occasionally ‘free- wheeling guy’ who danced with anything moving. The music was mostly Disco and the dancing was done in groups. Memorable songs were: “The Hustle”, “Fly, Robin, Fly”, and our favorite ” It Only Takes a Minute” by Tavares . It was not really Disco.. but they were from Massachusetts – so we were impressed.

The function hall held more than one Prom each night and it was usually a wild and loud place, inside and out.

Kids did sneak out to their cars to drink or smoke or both and this night was no different. Getting by the chaperones was not hard during the Disco days. Too many groups moving around.

Our school’s prom was on the second floor and at one point a large crowd gathered at a set of large windows. Down in the parking lot there were ambulances and police cars and what looked like a car accident. It was hard to see what had happened. We could see people gathered and very upset.

One of our teachers, a Chaperone, told us that a couple of kids were hit by a car and that the people involved were from the other Prom from a nearby school.

Of course we all got a lecture about bad things happening when you sneak outside from a Prom. We were dispersed, the music played on and fun slowly resumed.

The year went on and we were soon seniors. Our next Prom was at a different place, and I did not attend. My friend group was a lot smaller as some girls had dates. The class had changed a lot and I was not changing fast enough to keep up.

That night there was dancing , fun, and all the usual Prom moments. But things were different. There was a tragedy and one of the really popular ( but really nice ), football players got into a car accident on his way home. He was injured, but not badly….sadly his date died. It was not a girl from our school.. but she was a friend to many students. It was such a sad and confusing time.

Nothing seemed right after this and we graduated later that Spring. We all went on to our futures. Some going to college, others to trade schools or simply, the workforce. I went on to a Nursing School managed by a hospital with an on- campus dorm. I knew nobody, but quickly made friends, mostly because my roommate ( my 2nd cousin’s friend’s daughter) was outgoing and fun. She brought me out of my shell and helped me evolve my social life. I will always be thankful to her for her friendship.

The 1st year of school consisted of huge books and classes on Anatomy and Physiology, Pharmacy, Microbiology and an awful book called The Life of a Cell. I still feel anxious thinking about how we were tortured and tested on every aspect of that evil little paperback.

We lost a few friends that just could not keep up with the difficulty and constant testing… or who partied too much and dropped out. Nursing School required dedication and commitment before you even got near a patient. We finally did in our last semester of Freshman year.

We were off for the Summer and Fall came fast. Our second and third years consisted of less class time and rotation into different clinical areas. These were: Pediatrics, Maternity, Psychiatric (Outside ) Long Term Hospital , and Operating/Recovery Room. These prepared us for multiple months of bringing it all together and working on Medical and Surgical Units throughout the hospital.

My 1st rotation was Maternity and this consisted of observation and work at an OB-GYN office, meeting a 1st time mom in her 3rd trimester of pregnancy , and being “on call” to be present at her delivery any time day or night. The hospital contacted us at the dorm by the main phone on our floor, during clinical at the hospital, or at home over the weekend at our house phone. There were no cell phones or pagers and we had 2 hours to get there. It was stressful, but beautiful and we each wrote up a case study and followed up with the new mom and baby at their home on their second week. ( These were amazingly cooperative and kind women).

My assigned mom delivered a week early and I had extra time to help and observe other births. ( Not C-sections, though). It was a time where women did not have a lot of options and were heavily medicated during labor or actually received anesthesia and had forceps delivery.

One day I was asked to come in and help with a difficult delivery that required forceps. I did not know why I was asked because I knew that my student friend, Debbie, was assigned to her case.

I put on a cloth gown after washing my hands and putting on gloves. I was told that the patient had a ‘fused’ leg that could not bend at the knee and that I would have to hold her leg and extend in outward, so that the Dr could deliver the baby by forceps. Debbie smiled and made me feel welcome. No one else talked or acknowledged me. All were set on the task of delivering a healthy baby. It was tense.

The mom was asleep and I can tell you….that leg got very heavy, very quickly. As a Student Nurse, you did as you were told with no whining. Soon a beautiful baby boy was born and one of the nurses brought in a table to rest the woman’s leg on, thanked me and told me I was free to go.

I sat at the Nurse’s Station with my Instructor and went over what I had just done. Her words made me get “goosebumps”. She said: “Oh that’s the woman that got hit by a car at her Prom and almost lost her leg. They had to fuse the bones in a straight position to save it”. I was shocked. Was it the same person I saw from my Prom that night? How would I ever find out. We were all about confidentiality. I could not even ask Debbie.

I got my answer the next day. While on the ward , the charge nurse told me that the woman heard what I did to help her and wanted to personally thank me. I went into her room and realized she was about the same age as me. She thanked me and said she knew how heavy her leg was and told me she had been very worried about delivering her precious baby.

I did not say much.. somehow I knew she was the girl I saw that night. Then I saw her class ring. It named her high school and graduation year. It was her.

I felt too ashamed to tell her that I had witnessed some of what happened. But I really didn’t have to. Suddenly, I realized that life is full of coincidences and hard times. I was just there at one of her worst moments and was happy to be part of one of her best.