a staff nurse mentioned today
in passing
it\'s been sixteen years ...
since they took out
her ovaries and uterus
... and all that
it was just a conversation
about a fan she\'d misplaced
and how she needs it every day
every hour sometimes
when the flushes rise
she woke in the middle of the night
last week
to find herself
saturated
pillow sheets and nightwear
the doctors have told her
that\'s the way it has to be
unless she restarts hormones
but she doesn\'t want that
they don\'t feel safe to take
and she\'s had lumps removed already
she knows a friend
a woman
who\'s been having flushes
for over thirty years
and probably will forever
if anything
is forever
meanwhile
she wants her fan
now
and if one of the male staff
has hidden it
there\'ll be hell to pay
sometimes
it gets pretty hot around here
~