One thing I learned a long time ago is there is no such thing as modesty when in the hospital.  I recently spent ten days in the hospital clad in a blue hospital gown that didn’t fit. It fell off my shoulders and exposed my back even though I had it tied tight.  I had my husband go to Target and get me some cotton pajama buttons.  I felt so much better.  I still at times had an exposed back, but I felt more comfortable.  When in the hospital, patients are encouraged to walk the halls.  I felt more confident walking the halls and going on my ice chip runs while wearing my pajama bottoms.  Other patients just didn’t care and I often saw things I really didn’t want to see.  I saw more exposed backsides then I care to count.  One patient who had been in the hospital for several weeks came by my room to talk.  After finding out I had Crohn’s, she proceeded to show me her surgery scars on her stomach.  I really didn’t want to see them, but she already had her gown up.  I quickly said oh i hope it heals soon and looked away.  She about passed out while talking to me because the nurse had just administered pain medication to her.  I suggested to her that she should really go lie down which she did.  I don’t know if she is still in the hospital as I was released later that day.

I learned in the hospital that names can be deceiving.  Apparently, my name sounds like a  90 year old European woman.  While in the ER, I was taken back to Radiology.  The tech came to get me and he seemed surprised to see me.  He said are you Jana Dunow? I said yes and he said oh I thought you would be a 90 year old woman. Gee, thanks.  I guess my name if pronounced Yana Dunow is very Eastern European sounding.  Now I wonder what others think of my name.  I also learned that  a lof of  people have problems with pain medication. Fortunately, I have never had this problem. Well morphine doesn’t do anything for me, but that’s it.  There was a woman who came in on Sunday afternoon with a broken leg/ankle.  She was knocked out.  She didn’t come through until later that night.  She had no idea where she was, who she was and why she was there.  Then instead of pushing the nurse button for assistance she would just yell out.  Her room was not near the nurses station so no one heard her except for the patients who were all trying to sleep.  She woke me up on more than one occasion.  Finally, the nurses figured out she could not tolerate hardly any of the pain medications they were giving her.  Things got a bit quieter after that.

There are entirely too many food ads on TV especially when you can’t eat anything.  I was in the hospital six days before I was given anything to eat by mouth. I was allowed a clear liquid diet the first two days.  All I saw were commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken. I craved their potatoes and biscuits.  Someone in the dietary department must have heard my pleas because the first day I was allowed soft foods, I had mashed potatoes and a roll.  It was heaven.  I continue to see those KFC commercials and I still want those potatoes.

I will be going back to the hospital in April for surgery.  I am seriously considering asking for a private room. I know that I will have to pay for this luxury, but I think it’s worth it.  I had three roommates during my stay.  Luckily two stayed overnight and then on my last day in the hospital I got a roommate.  For four days of my stay, I had no roommates thanks to my great nurses who looked out for me and put patients in other available rooms.  I really appreciated that.  I understand that they double and sometimes triple patients in rooms because of volume, but I think the quality of care goes up when a nurse has one on one time and doesn’t have to worry about the other patient in the room. Also as a patient, I rested more comfortably when there was no one in my room.  I didn’t have to listen to their IV machines beeping and having to call the nurses station because the other patient couldn’t hear it.  I didn’t have to listen to moaning or groaning.  I don’t think anyone really wants to listen to others suffering when they are also suffering.  A private room is on the top of my list.

I am thankful to be home.  Hospitals try as they might are not places people want to be.  Well, most people. My first overnight hospital stay after my procedure at the end of January, I had a roommate that had been there for three days.  She  was in her 70s and had been brought in because she had congested heart failure.  The thing is the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with her.  Later, she told me that she was a widow with no children.  She lives alone.  I felt sorry for her.  After I went back into the hospital for the second time, I made a comment to the technician why do doctors ask patients before discharge if they want to go home.  The tech said you would be surprised how many people try to stay.  It made me think of that first roommate I had.  I hope I never feel so lonely that I want to go into a hospital for companionship.  I am sure I will have more stories from my next hospital stay and I can’t wait to blog about them.