November 2021
Matt
Beaver
,
RN
General Medicine/Hospitalist/ODU
Blessing Hospital
Quincy
,
IL
United States
Conversing with Matt really aided me in the desire to shed this virus and think about what really matters.
Matt works on the 5th floor of the COVID-19 Unit. I was in the hospital for 17 days. Matt wore a shield with an air pump of some sort and was easy to understand while conversing and I was able to see his entire face. As I recall, Matt and I hit it off soon after I was relocated to this wing/room of the south wing of the COVID Unit. Our topic of discussion was channel catfishing. For many years I have spent numerous days during the spring, summer, and fall catfishing on the Mississippi River in my boat either with a fishing buddy or by myself. I looked forward to seeing Matt come into my room because he always took the time to converse. He may have been there to give me meds or to bring my breakfast or lunch. He always made sure what was supposed to be warm was indeed warm food and not re-cooked. I understand that food service was unable to enter this wing and sometimes the food had to sit a while before being delivered. I shared fishing stories with Matt about my 6-year-old grandson crappie, bass, and bluegill fishing in a farm pond with his dad, mom, and little sister. Of course, I had pictures to share with him. Then I shared the story of fishing on the Mississippi in Papa’s boat. Of course, I had every detail of the trip etched in mind and after lying in a hospital bed in a fog for many days I realized how important it was for me to be able to organize my thoughts and actually tell this story to Matt in a coherent fashion. It was gratifying to see in Matt’s demeanor he was generally interested. Of course, I had pictures on my phone of the 10lb channel catfish my grandson/papa caught. I even wrote Matt the secret recipe for my fish breading and the bait I use. Conversing with Matt really aided me in the desire to shed this virus and think about what really matters. Matt, you are a true “caregiver” in the greatest sense of the term and I “THANK YOU”.