Nocturnal Visitations

Our last 3-day visit to Little Rock at Veteran's Administration Hospital in May was uneventful, but considering tthe reputation of our lodging, one never knows.

For two years we made regular trips at 6 months intervals for the VA for CT scans following a 2-inch spot on my husband's lung. Since the spot's history is it is shrinking very slowly, and no evidence of other spots, this trip was to be our last for that reason.

My husband initially underwent a thorough workup in the VA cancer clinic. Since the tests were inconclusive, the cancer clinic transferred us to a specialty level clinic for the 6-month follow-ups.

Since the follow-up trips (and almost all visits to the VA) spanned at least two days we always spent at least one night in a reputable motel chain located one exit from the VA hospital, so convenient for those of us who hate city freeway traffic. This motel was one of the chain's older units, but located along a major freeway in the heart of Little Rock's major hospitals and many specialty clinics.

One visit required my husband stay in the hospital overnight after a CT guided biopsy, so I stayed alone in the motel. I was comfortable and safe with my laptop, WiFi, and an ambulance was stationed in one unit for convenience, I was told. I did not leave my room after dark.

The next day the friendly, helpful cancer clinic personnel asked where we stayed. When I told them how convenient our motel location was, we were advised not to stay there again, because "the ladies of the night ply their wares door-to-door as late as 2 a.m. " at this location.

I was a tad amused, since we spent several nights there on previous occasions without incident. [No! I wasn't a tad amused -if the helpful personnel had not been so serious, I'd been rolling on the floor in fits of laughter about 'ladies of the night', trying to turn a trick at the door of an unsuspecting 70+ year old woman.] I politely said "There were no knocks on the door at all, but then I wasn't in the market for their wares."

It took remarkable restraint on my part but I resisted the temptation to somewhat sacrilegiously add, "maybe my doorpost was marked like the Israelites of old, so the ladies of the night would pass me by." My Scripture interpretive skills are often misappropriated, to say the least. [The blood of a lamb on a door post spared the first born of the Israelites from the Angel of Death is more correct.]

This visit was uneventful also--no solicitations but we noticed there was night security which was missing on earlier visits.

My husband's 6-months CT scan were discontinued; he is to be followed by the local VA clinic. I guess we'll never know if the 'ladies of the night' are still plying their wares door to door at a particular motel in Little Rock!

Sorry, a dud of a story....if you were expecting an exotic ending. Yes We Have No Bananas Today...or however that song goes!