A new reason to wear clean underwear

Rita Lessard's Advice from mom columnAdvice from mom
By Rita Lessard

Laundry problems – I’m sure we’ve all had them to some degree or other.
For instance, how is it that we always seem to lose one sock or forget to take things out of the pockets? And how in the drying process do socks and underwear end up in your pant legs? Who knows!
Since last October, my husband Tom has had some major problems with his right leg, and with all the pain and suffering he had to go through it was a very trying time. The end result was the doctors decided to end the pain and amputate his leg on July 7. Tom is doing very well and now he’s ready to have an artificial leg.
On Thursday we had a meeting with a group of people to get him into Parkwood hospital so the process of getting him fitted for a new leg can begin.
We had a question and answer period and filled out a bunch of forms and the group explained what we can expect once Tom is in the hospital. Once the technical stuff was done, the doctor wanted to see Tom’s stump.
Tom was wearing long pants and on the stump part he had the pant leg pinned up – all his pants are now like this – so he unpinned the pants to show the doctor his stump. As he did this, a piece of material fell to the floor.
Since everyone was talking or looking at the stump, nobody paid any attention to what was on the floor. Nobody, except of course me, but I was distracted by the nurse who started asking me something. Suddenly, the doctor looked down and asked, “What is that?”
Tom thought he was talking about his stump and it kind of fazed him, but I spoke up and said, “Is that your underwear, doctor?” He replied, “I don’t think so.” Then Tom looked down and said, “That’s my underwear. How did it get down there?”
Meanwhile, everyone was choking with laughter. Tom was undeterred as he delicately bent over and picked up the underwear and stuffed it in his pocket.
I apologized because I do the laundry so it was my fault the underwear got stuck in the pant leg thanks to the pins. At that point, it didn’t really matter because everyone wanted to leave to laugh out loud.
The doctor finally got a hold of himself and said, “Well, I guess you’re good to go.”
All in all, the meeting went well. As soon as a bed becomes available, Tom will be admitted, and I’m sure he’ll be in a ward this time. Good luck, Tom.