25 Years Ago - 1985

This week Chamber of Commerce member Lee Jenkins welcomed Southtown ICO to the business community. On hand at the south Highway 210 gas station were Bob Mathe and owners LeRoy and Kathy Hamburg.

Northern Pines Health Center opened a Staples branch recently in the downt ow n business district in the building formerly occupied by Nordell Graphics on 5th Street.

Performing at Herb’s Ten Hi in Motley is “Bud McGregor” (8-year-old singing star) and the “Buddies.” He will be singing country, country rock and 50’s music.

50 years Ago - 1960

Lee Jenkins, son of Mr. and Mrs. LeRoy Jenkins of Staples, will preside at the District Explorer Cabinet Meeting, which will be held Sunday, April 3, at Long Prairie. Lee was recently elected president of the cabinet which includes young men from Wadena Park Rapids, Long Prairie, Brainerd, Crosby-Ironton, Aitkin, Little Falls and Staples. Lee has been active in the scouting program for the past nine years.

Staples Municipal Hospital News: “Visiting Hours will be strictly adhered to!” Children under 14 not permitted to visit. No more than 2 visitors per patient at one time. Hours - Medical/Surgical: 2 - 4 p.m. and 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Maternity: 2:30 - 4 p.m. and 7 - 8:30 p.m. First 48 hours visitors restricted to father and maternal grandparents only. Pediatric: 2 - 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Visitors restricted to parents and grandparents.

REMINISCENCES: Recently I had occasion to be at the Mayo Clinic which is a sprawling complex which seems to rise upward occasionally by adding even more new floors. The place looks even larger on the inside which has amazing pillars and several sets of elevators. Patients like me are offered wheelchairs to navigate through the halls and walkways between the buildings. It is just too big for people with foot, leg, hip, back and other maladies including general weakness to even walk to the elevators.

My story starts this way. I use a walker ordinarily but upon arrival at the main entrance I was offered a wheelchair and gladly took it. My husband is new at pushing and I am new to riding. My husband is a very robust man, his size is the type you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. Other than his size he is a very non-threatening man with a disarming personality. He kindly helped me into the wheelchair and immediately began to push. I was looking forward to the ride.

One of the first things I learned is that when you are in a wheelchair you have foot rests (sometimes with leg rests) that are built in. Once you are in the chair you cannot adjust them by yourself so the pusher has to come to your rescue. My husband took his first look at how these devices are attached, tried a couple of times to adjust them to my legs but a quick look at his watch told him to get me to the proper building and the proper floor. So we took off at a good clip. His stride is lengthy and we were in a hurry so as we started out my foot caught on the floor. After a quick stop to realize I had to hold my feet up we again took off. Not fully understanding the rules of driving a wheelchair my husband turned all corners as if he was walking alone resulting in square corners with the chair (and I) whipping around in a broad swath nearly taking out people standing

properly in the center of

the space. Lesson learned - there’s about a five foot

extension of his body now with the chair.

As the elevator doors opened I was shocked to see so many people already on board. He just aimed the chair right straight in where I found myself staring into the back of the elevator at a space where the walls meet while all the other passengers were facing forward. I don’t think people even noticed my discomfort because, for whatever reason, people rarely see or speak to people in wheelchairs. If you’re not at eye level they don’t seem to see you? Maybe that’s the reason because any greetings were for my husband and I began to feel like a pallet loaded with feed bags being moved around with a fork lift.

The Mayo Clinic reception desks are about chest high and are loaded with computers, microphones at each end and like convenience stores, only have small areas of clear space. This means that anyone in a wheel chair has only the top of their head visible by the standing nurse or receptionist on the other side. The obvious solution is to speak to them from about a three foot distance away from the counter so the patient in the wheel chair can be seen. Being new to the job of pushing me around, my husband pushed me beyond the counter open space and he stood and answered questions meant for me while I struggled to move the chair into a position to deal with my business myself. Meanwhile, he found it an opportune time to get rid of his heavy jacket and piled it on top of me while he took the instructions on filling out a few more forms. With the pain in my back from holding my feet up, being embarrassed in the elevator being terrified at the high speed ride I had just had and, being invisible at the reception desk and then being used as a shelf - I said a swear! Then, to this big

teddy bear of a guy with

the golden heart I said, “Just because I can’t walk

doesn’t mean I can’t talk.” Once said, you can’t get it back. So on we went with me disappointed with myself and he disappointed in me. I was in a pout just realizing he was the unsung hero of our 32-plus-year marriage. He is obviously my better half. I am so sorry Steven.

It wasn’t until later as we waited for a shuttle that I really understood what was going on at the entrance. It’s a flurry of activity as on any given day I was told over 1,000 patients are seen. Upon arrival the various shuttles and cars are met by Mayo Clinic Valets who assist patients in and out of these vehicles. They bring wheelchairs forward and make adjustments for legs and feet. They assign someone to personally push the patients arriving alone until their visit is complete. They know to turn the wheelchair around and back you into elevators or against a wall so you can see forward. They, with old school gallantry take your hand and guide you. They are nice and understanding. It’s a dance, a choreographed production with sound, a happy soundtrack.

It occurs to me that whomever hires these people has done a wonderful job with choosing the perfect personalities to be valets. I doubt they simply train them. Either way, it’s like watching a slow-motion ballet. They smile and laugh which brings up your mood, a nice thing since you are here for serious business. Every time we entered or exited the clinic we were met with this production and enveloped in its warmth. I say thank you and bravo to these valets for they are truly the unsung “specialists” of the Mayo Clinic.