Tracheostomy Tales

Some dogs have a natural ability to be still.
This phenomenon is common in Welsh terriers who often will sit and watch when confronted with a new experience.
Our first Welsh terrier was called Finlay, and in Sheffield I often took him into my Spinal Injury ward  to " visit" with certain patients that were in particular need of some physical contact with something affectionate and warm blooded.
With a whole succession of patients he would allow himself to be lifted up onto the bed and with an innate understanding that he needed to be quiet and still, he would lie in a crook of an arm, or with his head on a sheet draped chest and would lift the spirits of the most vulnerable of patients.
This morning I remembered one such patient I shall call Brenda . Now Brenda was a physical scrap of a woman who had suffered a catastrophic paralysis after a long illness. She arrived on our unit chronically anxious, permanently ventilated, depressed and physically clapped out and through a great deal of hard work from a pragmatic irish staff nurse called Helen , her general condition started to improve.
Finlay visited her several times.
Every time he would sit on Brenda's  bed, then throw himself backwards to lie like a baby with his head on her shoulder. And there he would stay until it was time to go home.
His presence had the effect of an intravenous injection of 10mg of Valium
Nursing, a decade ago, seemed to be somewhat freer and less governed by health and safety issues than it is today, and Finlay's last visit to Brenda was a case in point.
I placed Finaly in bed with Brenda and busied myself with other jobs around her room and on the nursing station which was a few feet away.
After around 20 minutes or so , I was chatting to Helen the Irish nurse when I saw her looking quizzically at Brenda ,
" what the feck has that dog got in his mouth?" She said
I looked at Finlay and suddenly for a second I thought my dog was smoking a cigarette
We both rushed over to a smiling but very wide eyed Brenda
to find Finlay had gently pulled out the inner tube of her tracheostomy and was sucking on it like a lollipop.

Finlay in typical reclining pose