Saturday, February 5, 2011

Little Mary RN

So, I had second thoughts about the decision my cardiologist made to operate for a third time. My boyfriend's parents suggested I seek another opinion at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. During my visit many tests were planned to determine the meanings of my symptoms. One of these tests was the exercise stress test. My mom and I were sitting in the waiting room. A voice over the speakers announced "Ms. Courtney Boyles, please report to door B." I collected my things and headed to door B. I didn't see the nurse that had called me and I wasn't quite sure where I was to go. Then a little voice behind me called my name. She introduced herself as Mary, my nurse and technician for the test. "So adorable!", I thought when I first laid eyes on this small lady with a glowing smile. Mary instructed me to step into the next room to collect vitals. She sat me down and took my blood pressure. "Such a wonderful nurse! She's such a cute little person that I'm not even afraid of whatever tests I'm about to have", I kept thinking to myself. I didn't even mind when she had to weigh me, and usually, I try to get out of that as much as possible. I just wanted to pick Mary up, put a crown of braided daisies on our heads, and dance in a meadow somewhere. Then, Mary asked me to stand against the wall so she could measure my height. I gladly obeyed my pocket size nurse and stepped up to the wall. With me being 5'9" and Mary 4'5" at most, I didn't see how this was going to work out. Little Mary kept jumping and jumping to reach the top of the height chart. I offered to pull the lever down on top of my head myself, but Mary wasn't having it. On that last jump, all I heard was a *crash*. I jumped and spun around to check on my new fairy friend, and found that she had knocked everything on the wall into the floor. Quite a mess. Being the independent that she is, she refused my assistance once again. Once the room was gathered back to order, Mary led me into the testing room. She showed me an area to change into a hospital gown, and she informed me that she'd be back to set up the heart monitor and take measurements. She left me to undress while I can only assume she went elsewhere to sprinkle fairy dust and happiness to everyone around her. Once she returned, she had a tape measure and heart monitor in hand. Mary began to put the monitor patches on my torso, but had trouble above my chest. I offered to sit or do it for her, but she thought it better to jump from her tippy toes to reach my collar bone. I just couldn't hate this Mary. She may take the long road, but she takes it without assistance! Next, Mary informs me that she will have to take my measurements. It was at this point that I began to grow a little sour on my Mary Sunshine. As you know with most little people, Mary's arms are also extremely short; somewhat like the arms of a t-rex. I have my own insecurities with my weight, but there's something about a nurse grunting and breaking a sweat while trying to reach her arms around you that makes you realize things are bad. Again, I offered to place the tape measure around my waist for her, but no. Mary had rather grunt, stretch, and humiliate. Once all of the test prep was ready, and the stress test was about to begin, another nurse asked to describe my symptoms. I told her that I get light headed and faint fairly often, especially if stimulated. Just then, little Mary held out her arms as wide as they'd go (maybe 2') and announced "I'm here for you. I'll catch you". I saw in my head that playing out. It wasn't pretty. But there's something to be said for Mary's spunk, positivity, and independence.