Hospital Stay — By Tommy Purser

I had another memorable stay at Jeff Davis Hospital last week as Dr. Jason Laney was a concerned that I had become dehydrated, a matter that needed attention.
His nurse, Ashley, gave me two options. I could have some fluids injected into my system on an out-patient basis or I could have it done while hospitalized.
I chose the out-patient option but had second thoughts: spending a night at the hospital would give me the chance to get some badly needed rest. So I called her back and opted for the other option.
Boy, was I wrong.
I’m not a very frequent hospital patient so I must admit I was a bit ignorant — rest is not somthing you can get in a hospital. Unless, I guess, the doctor admits you specifically for that reason. In that case, I suppose, the doctor would give orders to the nurses/technicians/etc. that the patient should be left alone to rest. Obviously no such orders were given for my stay and the night was a seemingly never ending parade of folks coming in and out of my room on a regular basis.
They checked my blood pressure, my heart rate, my temperature and I don’t know what all else.
They poked and prodded me. Gave me medications. One lady came in just to ask me a bunch of questions about my dietary habits — what did I like to eat, what did I not like to eat, did I prefer water or tea, choose a green vegetable, choose a meat, etc. And they brought me food whether I was hungry or not — when it’s time to eat, it’s time to eat. When I got home the next afternoon, I went straight to bed to get some rest — I was exhausted.
But, all things considered, it was a most pleasant stay. Everyone was kind and helpful and did everything they could do to make my stay as pleasant as possible. I was given first class, polite, considerate, caring treatment.
We are indeed fortunate to have such a fine, well-run hospital in our community, especially in light of the fact that small towns across Georgia have been hit hard by the times and small towns such as ours have seen their hospitals close their doors for good.
Thank goodness there are people here working hard to make sire that doesn’t happen in Hazlehurst.