Wedding Favors
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Revised: Iron Lung : A True Life Story
   
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American scrimshaw dates back to at least 100-200 AD in North
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What does it seem like to live in an iron lung for over three
decades? That was the lot of my friend as you will see in this
story. Comfort dont ever leave me, she says to me as she
struggles on her death bed. I hold her hands, trying to fight
away tears from my eyes. Her struggle now becomes weaker and
weaker. And then drawing a deep long breath, her eyes fixed on
my face, she dies. The hospital attendants wheeled her away to
the morgue. And I thought that the world had ended. I was
saddled with the task of breaking this news to her family of
three. When I arrived, Job her husband had already seen it from
my countenance. Is she dead? was all that he managed to ask. I
nodded in affirmation, and everyone burst into tears. The news
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of Hopes death spread quickly. She was not a princess. But evenAre you well past puberty and have always had a hankering for tickling the ivories? Maybe you didn't have the money as a child. Or your family was always moving. Or you probably didn't even .....
the heavens shook on the day that she passed on. Soon her
Hollywood neighbors and the newsmen start pouring in. And before
long the death of the woman who survived 37 years lying flat on
her back in an iron lungthe longest record in human
historyappeared in the newspapers and television. But how did I
come to know her? you may ask. I worked for Hope as an attendant
being a nursingschool student. I was taken aback when I first
saw this woman living inside a tank called a respirator. I dont
know, dear reader, if you have been privilege to see one of
those early iron lungs. These contraptions were rounded tanks,
about six feet long and three feet wide, fitted with gadgets.
They were made to assist polio patients with paralyzed chest
muscles. Now, picture Hope in this tank. The whole of her body
is inside the respirator except her head. To keep the cylinder
airtight, a plastic collar and a metal bar were used to hold the
collar tight to her collarbone. The air pressure inside the
tanks was changed about 15 times a minute by a bellows below the
tank. When the bellows expands, it withdraws air from the tank
thus causing the patients chest to rise as air enters through
the nose, mouth or both. But when the bellows contracts, it
exerts pressure on the chest which makes the patient to exhale.
Hope could only move her head since her body was totally
paralyzed from the neck to her feet (though she could still
feel). She could not do any of the things that all of us take
for granted. Like eating with her hands; using the toilets or
bathroom; playing with her children; sleeping with her husband;
or even scratching her body. Her only contact with the world is
from a mirror placed above her respirator. This mirror reflected
another mirror mounted on the wall on the opposite side across
the room, which made it possible for her to see her front door
and incoming visitors. And since the respirator could be seen
through the large window at the front of her house in the busy
street where she lived, she had plenty of them. At first, I
could not bring myself to ask her how she came into this. As
time went by, however, we become familiar and talked freely
together. Then one day when her husband came to see how she was
doing, I asked the question directing it to no one in
particular. I thought that her husband would provide the answer,
but instead, it was Comfort that started her story. I know that
you would ask me this one day, Comfort she said. I will tell
you everything. I had a happy marriage with my husband, together
with Paul our son and Endurance, our daughter. I like life, and
we would always go on picnic to interesting places like the
parks and beaches. The last holiday I had together with my
husband and the children was twenty years ago in Switzerland.
Tears begin to swell in her eyes, and I quickly cleaned it up
since she had no means to do so, while her husband looked away.
I felt guilty in my heart for reminding her of the past. Thank
you Comfort. As I was saying, my last holiday was in
Switzerland. Or was it in Australia? she asked her husband.
You are right. We went Down Under before visiting the Alps. But
why remember the past? he replies. She continues as if she did
not hear him. Then one black winter morning in 1948thirty six
years after I was born in Los AnglesI discovered that I was
stricken with deadly polio. She swallowed hard and continued.
Things got bad quickly. From flu to paralysis, and then to the
hospital where I added up to several polio patients on the
waiting list. She wanted to scratch herself but since she could
not do it herself, she called my attention to it, which I did.
And then she resumed her story. Thanks again Comfort she said.
She is never tired of greeting. I was afraid. I thought that I
was going to die. For I had to lie on my back on the floor of
the crowded hospital waiting for an iron lung. But it was long
in coming. Breathing was hard. Then one day, I passed out. I did
not know what happened afterward. Job will tell you the rest of
the story. It was now the lot of her husband who has suffered
financially and emotionally, to narrate the ordeal of his wife.
He seemed hesitant at first. But a look by his wife was enough
to prompt him to continue the story. When Hope fainted, I
didnt think that she would come back to life again. The doctors
must have been some kind of magicians because after one week, my
wife started to breathe again. And before long, she was placed
in the next available respirator, much to our relief. These
iron lungs were at first thought to be a temporary
inventionhelping patients to recoverand breathe on their own
later. But we discovered that the opposite was the case. Because
these breathing machines were to become the permanent homes of
many polo sufferers Knowing this, I brought her home with the
machine. And she has been living inside it for the past three
decades he ended and left the room, trying to hide his tears. I
tried to fight back mine too. I was trying to really understand
what it means to lie on ones back in one spot for over thirty
years. At first I was horrified at the thought, Hope now
continues. But what would I do? I didnt want to die. And some
poet said that what cannot be cured, can be endured. So I
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decided to endure as far as God keeps me alive. Look at myYou have to start with a thorough to do list when planning an outdoor reception because this will keep your affairs in order. When creating your .....
husband and children. I should be caring for them. But what
would I do now? she asks rhetorically. Her faith in God kept
her going through the years. She was a very devout Christian and
she believed that her suffering was only for a time. She
explained that it was the rebellion of our first parentsAdam
and Evein the garden of Eden that is responsible for the
present suffering in the world. She spoke of a time when Gods
Kingdom would rule, and she would ask me to read the bible book
of Revelation chapter 21 verse 4 which says And he [God] will
wipe out every tears from their eyes, and death will be no more,
neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former
things have passed away. She says that at that time, the
paradise, which Adam and Eve lost, would be regained. She would
direct me to read what Jesus Christ told a thief at Luke 23:43.
And he said to him: Truly I tell you today, you will be with
me in paradise. And she firmly believed that if she dies, she
will be resurrected to live again, pointing out what Jesus told
Lazaruss sister, Martha at John 11 verse 25 which reads: Jesus
said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that
exercises faith in me even though he dies will come to life.
I must confess that I was not a Christian when I started working
for her. She was the one that preached to me and converted me to
Christianity. And that was what she did to numerous other
curious passersby and strangers who came to see her. Instead of
being encouraged, she was the one that encouraged her
sympathizers; and her faith in the Bible made many to become
Christians. She was always praying to God in behalf of herself
and others; and despite her condition, she was full of
compassion for people. In fact, her courage inspired all who
knew her. Her two children were always with us too. How sad they
always look, not being able to hug their mum. But she always
told them to look toward the bright future. Of them all, it was
her little dog Mercy that added a touch of drama to the whole
thing. She would sit there all day long, barking at and biting
the machine, which held her owner prisoner thus preventing them
from playing together. At these times, I would always have a
hard time trying to quieten the dog and preventing her from
damaging the iron lung. Sometimes, I wonder how foolish the dog
is; trying to destroy the iron lungthe preserver of her owner.
I also wonder what Hope thinks of euthanasia. I never mentioned
the subject though. Hopes only regret is in not being present
at the wedding ceremonies of her two children. For she was in
the respirator when the two teenagers became adults, married and
had children. She only saw the wedding pictures. Looking back, I
think that it was actually a paradox that in the glitz and
glamour of Hollywoodthe entertainment capital of the worldone
woman in the same city, was having all the troubles in the
world. What am I going to relate? Is it the ordeal of washing
her once a week? Or the task of knowing which part of her body
to scratch? Come to think of what it takes to even feed her.
Yet, she endured. And I did not give up on attending to her
needs. In fact, it could be said of her that she is a cat with
nine lives. Because on top of this, she had an emergency
appendectomy without anesthetic when her appendix burst, endured
cancer, had major surgeries and chronic skin disorders. But
there is a time for every affair under the heaven. Even a time
to live and a time to die. So, one day she went for her seventh
surgery. And after that she was removed from the Iron lung for
the first time in 37 years, attached to a modern respirator
using her tracheotomy, and placed on a hospital bed. She was not
getting enough air. Fear gripped her. She knew she was going to
die. Three days later as she struggled for life, she spoke her
last words to me: Comfort, dont ever leave me. I nodded. I
was holding her. I didnt want to cry. Then she died. Tears
flowed freely. After one week, she was buried in the city
cemetery. Wreaths of flowers covered her grave which was marked
with the words: Here lies one who waits upon the lord.
Darkness falls on the cemetery. And we go home to mourn our
beloved Hope. Twenty years have passed now. I have since then
grown from a lady to a married woman with a family. Perhaps she
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anniversary of her death to lay wreaths of flowers on her tomb.
Today is another anniversary of her death. And I take a bouquet
of flowers to lay on my friends tomb. As I enter the cemetery,
I raise my eyes toward the gate and I see the words of Solomon
at Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse 2: THE GREATEST VANITY!
EVERYTHING IS VANITY. I walk in to see the vanities of life in
this cemetery for all kinds of people. On my left the tomb of an
American war veteran who fell in battle in Vietnam. (Some old
soldiers question why their comrade should be buried there). I
move on and I see the tomb of an Indian ancestor from the
lineage of Crazy Horse. (Native American Indians do not
understand how he came to be interred in this cemetery). A
little further lays a black slave from the family tree of
Olauduah Equiano, called the man with the loud voice. And
immediately after that is the burial place of a long time state
governor (Nobody remember his name now). I walk ahead to the
marked tomb with the epitaph: HERE LIES ONE WHO WAITS UPON THE
LORD. I lay my wreath of flowers on Hopes tomb and sit to think
of this loved one who suffered and died, waiting for the Lord.
As I sit, I remember everything: the Iron lung, Hopes strong
faith, her husband Job (he is very old now), her children Paul
and Endurance (they now have grand children), and Mercy the
barking doggie (it barked herself to death one week after Hopes
funeral). I remember the bible says that we are like a mist that
appears for a while and then disappears. I remember Shakespeare
said that life is like a stage and we are mere players. My
friend has played her part. We will all play our part. I was
awoken from my meditation by a flash of lightning and the
roaring of the thunder. I looked up. It was going to rain. I
gather myself and kiss goodbye to Hope as I hurry home. As I go,
I remember her last words and I was ashamed that I was leaving
my friend. On my way, I walk pass the tombs of the governor, the
slave, the Indian and the war veteranall vanities. I step
outside the cemetery, look back and see those words again: THE
GREATEST VANITY! EVERTHING IS VANITY. But I remember Hope used
to talk of a bright future in paradise where sickness and
suffering will be gone. I was encouraged. So life may not be in
vain after all. She took ill one black winter morning. My
resolve now is to be faithful to God so that I will meet my
friend during the resurrection in the coming new world. Them one
bright summer evening we would gladly hold hands together as we
walk through the gardens of paradise. And I will say to her:
Im here, Hope. You see, I never left you. (EXCERPTED FROM THE
BOOK, IRON LUNG, TO BE PUBLISHED SOON. IF YOU ENJOYED READING
THE STORY AND WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION TOWARD
ITS PUBLICATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE AUTHOR.)
ARTHUR ZULU is an editor, book reviewer, and author of Chasing
Shadows! and How to Write a Best-seller. For his works and free
helps for writers, goto: http://controversialwriter.tripod.com
mailto: controversialwriter@yahoo.com Web search: Arthur Zulu
About the author:
The story of a woman who spent over 30 years in an iron lung.