Are You Pro-life or a Pro-life Speaker?

Advocates are important, but without tangible help, words become a clanging cymbal and an irritation.

I speak often about the value of every human life. I believe, with all my heart, that our Creator wants to have a personal relationship with each of us individually. We are each unique without equal. Every single person on earth has their own specific purpose. Even if we cannot fathom what it is, when we use our experience to evaluate another person’s life, skills, gifts or abilities.

Paul the apostle spoke of being content whether he was abounding or abased; whether he had plenty or nothing.

The coolest part of being human is the constant transformation from our conception as a one-cell new creation to every single day after, we are continuing to change, grow, weaken, stretch, contract; our lives are in flux.

Sometimes we are strong, sometimes we are weak. Sometimes we are the helpers and sometimes we need help. Recently, I was diagnosed with Lyme and Babesia; two tick borne diseases that usually get worse initially with treatment. That has certainly been the case for me.

Last month, my mother-in-law was hit by a car in her driveway. He leg was broken and her ankle was crushed. She required surgery and nearly a week in Boston, then she was transferred to a rehabilitation center.

She is 93 years old, but independent and otherwise healthy. She was very weak after the trauma and surgery, she’d required five units of blood and had hardware placed in two areas as well as multiple open areas that required attention and bandage changes. In my years as a nurse, I have observed many facilities. So, we were careful to attend to her and make sure she was sufficiently cared for.

She was not. In the facility, they placed a DNR (do not resuscitate) order in her room and neglected to put a full code bracelet on her wrist. They forgot to give her a number of meals during the first few days. My daughters were there and scouted out some food for her.

On the second evening meal, they missed her, by the time my daughter went looking for something they told her there wasn’t anything left. They gave her a dry ham sandwich and cheetos. That may seem ok to you, but this woman needed nutritious food to get well. They had also doubled her Oxycodone unnecessarily, effectively shutting down her intestines and making her nauseous. There was more, but I will spare the details.

As sick as I have been, I couldn’t just let them kill her. We took shifts and spent 12-14 hours at the facility for 12 days. When she was scheduled to see the surgeon for follow up, I brought her home. The facility discharged her to our care after a meeting with the administration staff. I clearly laid out our egregious complaints.

It has been difficult, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. They were not taking care of her. Being pro-life is not always convenient. It isn’t usually easy. It isn’t glamorous or self serving either. All lives matter.

My family has their hands full. They are full of love.

What would you have done?