A Second Chance to Share a Smile

Before being released from the hospital I had to have my port, as well as a picc line de-accessed (basically a nurse had to remove the devices used for drawing blood as well as administering dyes for tests). Well the nurse, whom happened to be a male, proceeded to removed the line from my arm. While he was "working" I had a bunch of questions for him, due to some problems we ran into regarding my port. Anyway, after all that chatting, I let him leave without giving him a smile! Arrrggggh. I felt bad about it, but I let it go and moved on.

Well today, while at the hospital for my follow-up with my oncologist, whom should see but that very same nurse?! He was just standing there by the entrance/exit, almost as if he were waiting for me. It took me all of one second to remember who he was, but I am pretty sure he didn't remember me at all LOL (but that's OK he spent all of about 5 minutes with me). So, I reminded him that he was the one to remove my picc line and told him that I forgot to give him a smile. He smiled and said "oh that's OK", just as I was wielding my smile bag around to the front to show him the smile pins. By his reaction I could tell that he thought I was talking about a real smile, and not a pin! LOL. Anyway he happily chose one, one of my favorites I might add, and he flashed me a gorgeous smile! That was the icing on the cake for me.

I am very glad that I got another chance to give him a pin, and glad that I seized the opportunity this time. :)

A Smile Story from One of Our Readers

I love sharing my stories of my smile missions, and even more than that I love sharing stories from my readers of their smile missions! Here is one I received from a long time supporter of OSF. I hope it inspires you to look for moments in your life when you can make someone smile. :)

"Hello Friend,

I certainly hope you are feeling "smiley" today! Since you follow my blog, you know that my hubby has recently been in the hospital too. I thought I would share with you the opportunity I had to spread a smile while we were there.

The procedure B. had on Thursday was supposed to be an outpatient deal, and we assumed he would be going home that evening. However, there were some complications when he received too much IV fluid before and during the procedure. To remedy the situation he had to have an "emergency" inpatient dialysis session on Thursday night.

When he was taken to the dialysis room in the hospital, we were greeted, thankfully, by a familiar face. Cindy is one of the most knowledgeable nurses in the unit where B. receives his regular treatments, and she was on call that night. We learned that she had received the call after being home only an hour. She had already worked a 10 hour shift in the unit and now had to come back to do B.'s treatment. This meant she wouldn't be going back home again until after midnight. She is such an angel...even though she had to be exhausted, she kept a watchful eye on B. and helped him calm down after his frightful ordeal.

While making my way downstairs to get better cell phone reception, I remembered a gift "vending machine" in the lobby. In it was the cutest teddy bear with a t-shirt that said "Here's A Hug". I purchased it and added one of your smile tokens which I have had in my purse for waaay toooo long!! I took this happy little gift to Cindy when I went back up to say good night to Brian. She was so surprised, and definitely SMILED!! Just wanted to let you know that you were a part of her smile :) Actually you were the inspiration for the whole "mission"...so a big thank you from me to you. :)"

Thank you D.H. for sharing your story, but also for seizing the moment to make someone smile! That's what OSF is all about, and you've definitely got the spirit!

Turning a Frown Upside Down in the ER

Here is another great story I want to share with all of you. While I was still in the emergency room (waiting to be taken to my room) I heard crying coming from a room next to me. I knew it was a child but I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. So, I asked my nurse the next time I saw her. She said it was a little boy (he had a broken arm and was waiting for his cast). I felt so bad for the little guy, and wanted to do something to make him smile. That's when I remembered the OSF stickers I designed a few months ago. They say "Caught Being Good!" on them and have a Smiley Face Sticker on top.

I always carry some with me, so I gave two to the nurse (I figured she could use the second one another time). I asked if she would give it to the little boy. She was so thrilled to do it, and I thought that was really cool. I didn't realize she was going to give it to him right then, but she did. To my delight all I heard was silence when she came out of his room. I asked her if he smiled. She said "oh yeah! and then he said "can I go now?" LOL. Awww, how cute was that?

It felt so good that I could be a part of changing that difficult situation into something more positive for him, and his family. Also seeing the nurse so eager to be part of my "smile mission" was awesome! I couldn't have done it without her. So a big thank you to my amazing nurse, who is now an "Honorary Smile Spreader"! :)

FREE Smiles - No Strings!

I promised to post a smile story from my recent stay in the hospital, and here it is.

This was my 4Th in patient stay at this hospital since I was diagnosed last August. Every time that I have been admitted I have brought smile pins, and other items, to spread smiles while I'm there. This time was no exception.

I had already given away several pins when I got a new nurse that came into my room and introduced herself. I could not quite put my finger on what was going on but there was something about the way she looked at and spoke to me that felt weird. I had never met this lady before so I couldn't understand what it could be. Anyway, I did NOT give her a smile pin during that first encounter because she was in and out in a flash, and the moment wasn't right.

A short while later she came back in (I don't remember what for) and just before she left I stopped her and asked "may I give you one of my smiles?" Her whole face lit up and she smiled effortlessly as she looked over the choices of pins. She picked one that she liked and put it on right away, but the story doesn't end there.

A little later on when she came in to go over a questionnaire with me, we had a chance to talk more. That's when I learned what was behind that "strange look" and attitude that I detected earlier. She told me that she had seen others wearing smile pins, and she thought that it would be necessary for her to come in to my room laughing, and smiling to "qualify" for one. That's not really her personality so she concluded that she would not get one. To her surprise I did give her one despite the very obvious lack of smiles on her part.

I really try to be non-judgemental when it comes to the pins, and other smile items, and to just share them with everyone I meet. I was very glad that in this particular case I did just that. I think it made a real impression on her. I also got to see that she was a very nice lady, and a wonderful nurse with a great life story. All that of came from a simple gesture of giving with no strings attached! :)

I was in the hospital, but I am home now.

Just wanted to post briefly to let you all know what was going on. To make a long story short. I had a heart attack. I know it sounds bad, but I am fine. No permanent damage and I should be fine. There was some good news too, some of my tumors, including the primary, have completely resolved ( in other words they're gone!), and the fluid filled sacs in my lungs (called pleural effusions) have cleared up too! That is pretty amazing when you consider that over a 1 liter of fluid was drained from one of the large effusions! I still have some tumors, but I am more hopeful than ever that they will be resolved too.

I have some sweet stories to share about my smile spreading while I was in the hospital. I will post that soon. Need to rest now. Just wanted to let you all know why I've been MIA (missing in action).

Hope you all are well and spreading smiles when and where you can. : )

Counts

I have a few types of "counts" that are a part of my everyday life. They being 1) blood counts (white and red). 2) Cross stitch counts with the stitched smile pins and 3) The count of the completed pins I've done toward my monthly goal of 100 pins.

The first one, blood counts (the white in particular), have been a cause of concern lately because mine are so low at the moment (at last check, Monday, they were .8 and they should be around 4.0). The danger of counts that low is the bodies inability to fight off infection. The simplest thing could be major for me. So, I am being a good patient and following orders by avoiding sick folks and staying away from crowds. The window of time when the counts are the lowest is just about up, so I am hoping I will be back to normal in no time.

Since I am pretty much on lock down right now I have had more time for stitching which is great. At this point, having personally stitched almost a thousand pins, I no longer have to "count stitches" per se BUT every once in a while I will miss or skip a stitch! You would think that at this point I would be able to stitch in the dark right? LOL. It just goes to show you that no matter how long you've been doing something you can always get better.

The last count that I deal with on the daily, the pin count (the total of pins I stitch for the month), is not quite where I would like it to be. Today is the 15Th, so half way through the month. I would love to have had half the count down. Guess I'll have to do more stitching and less typing and chatting on the computer LOL. On a positive note I did stitch 8 yesterday, so that shows that I can accomplish quite a bit when I get in the "zone."

Another up side (always have to find the good!) to my home bound time is that I've had a lot of time to just think, and allow new ideas and inspirations to come to me. I will be posting more about the ideas I have in mind in the near future. There is one idea in particular that I'm excited about because it really goes with this month's theme, and the Nice Notes Campaign. I will post about it separately either later this evening or tomorrow.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day, spreading smiles yourself as well as being given reasons to smile. Thanks for sticking with me and there will be more to come later. :)

Angel Pins Proving to be Popular

Smile Angel Pin (blue)

I had to go in to see the Dr today. I haven't been feeling very well, and am still recovering from my chemotherapy last Thurs. I have all the strength of a wet noodle and I just feel ugh (physically that is). Thankfully I have my smile work to keep me smiling and feeling good on the inside. :) Anyway, while waiting to see the Dr I had a chance to talk with another patient. Actually she saw my smile bag (I don't leave home without it :) )



and said "OK, now I have to ask, what's up with the smiles?" I proceeded to explain what it was all about and asked if she needed a smile. She enthusiastically said "Yes! I would love to have a Smile." Well as I was showing her the different smiles that I had available, I also showed her the newest addition to the lineup - the Smile Angel pin. I was just showing it to her casually, I really didn't think she would want it. Well, that was it! Once she got a look at that pin (by the way it was pink on a sparkly pink background), it was a done deal. She opted for one of those instead of the "regular" Smileys. I didn't mind at all. I was thrilled to see that kind of response to it.

As if that weren't enough, there was a lovely older couple there,that I had the pleasure to meet. Apparently, my in-house Smile Spreader S. had already given them Smiley pins (they were both wearing them!), because they were having a really bad day (the wife in particular). She had already explained my mission to them, and since I was there she eagerly introduced me to them. The wife was a little more vocal than the hubby, and she was so excited about the pins. She wanted to get a closer look at the others I had in the bag. She was very pleased with them. As she looked she noticed the other Smile Angel pin I had in the bag, and sure enough that's the one she chose! I didn't have a blue, so she took the pink on pink/white striped background one.

Was this just a fluke or will the Angel Pins be a hit?