Like I mentioned last week, fridays here at Hospital Impact will be all about patient stories - both great and gruesome. Feel free to share your story anonymously - email me at tony [at] hospitalimpact [dot] org.

Here's one from a frequent hospital impact reader. Many times, it's not big things, it's a lot of little things...

from anonymous

When I was a sophomore in college and home on Christmas break, I experienced a horrible pain and lump in the back of my throat. After my family physician took a look, he advised me to get to the hospital ASAP – I had an abscess on my tonsil that needed to be drained immediately before it continued to grow. My mother took me to Columbus Children’s Hospital where the necessary (and painful!) surgery was performed and I was kept overnight. Not only was I in a tremendous amount of pain, but I was apprehensive about spending the night in a hospital, especially because I was 19 and all the other patients were under 10. My nurse put me at ease right away, checking on me every half hour, bringing me as much Jell-O as I needed. She wheeled in the book cart to offer me something to read, but we both soon discovered that there was nothing on the cart over a 6th-grade reading level. She brought me her own personal copy of a Harry Potter book that she had been reading. She insisted that I read it and keep it for myself. I still have that book on my bookshelf at home and remember her every time I look at it.

Here's an instant classic...

Dear Sir:

Seventy three years, no hemorrhoids. One colonoscopy at your hospital, hemorrhoids.

Sincerely yours,

John D.

Here's one from a nurse about a female tech whose hamburgers (and well-being!) were in jeopardy.

In the ER where I volunteer, a young female tech (who I think was about to head off either to nursing or medical school) told me a story about a frequent flyer, a homeless patient she often helped treat in the ER.

One evening she'd left the hospital to go get dinner for her co-workers at a burger place nearby. She cut through an alley to save some time, and found her way blocked by a homeless man who said menacingly, "Where are you going with all that food?"

She was terrified, convinced that she was about to be mugged for her hamburgers. But then another homeless man -- the frequent flyer -- rose from the shadows and said, "You leave her alone! She works at the hospital, and she was nice to me when I was there!"

The first guy backed off, and she returned safely to the ER, hamburgers intact.

Sometimes good deeds really are rewarded, and conscientious care of indigent patients can pay off in very tangible ways.

Keep 'em coming!