Hospital

That's the Cardiovascular Center (CVC) at the Univ. of Michigan hospital. Pretty, huh?

I spent some time there last week while my dad was having open heart surgery. I haven't spent whole days at a hospital other than when I had my babies. I am not writing this from a patient's point of view, though. That's another thing. This time I was a visitor. Here are some observations:

1) Spending time at the hospital, sitting around and waiting, is tiring and hard.
2) People who have been sitting in a hospital over a few days waiting on their loved one to heal are lonely, bored and want to chat and be your friend.
3) Patients have to check their dignity at the door.
4) Those people who have been sitting there for days and want to chat, often want to chat about whether their loved one has peed and pooped enough to go home (don't worry, dad, I didn't discuss any of your personal business with any strangers).
5) The vast majority of the doctors, nurses and technicians we met were very capable, extremely nice and very helpful.
6) Occasionally, you find a good nurse who calls you a "freak" and you don't like that one so much after that.
7) If you take a picture of your loved one when they are first moved into ICU after surgery, you might get called a freak. Your siblings might not stick up for you, either.
8) In a big hospital complex, you get lots of exercise going back and forth to the parking lot and cafeteria. It is very easy to get lost, which gives you more exercise.
9) It's okay if the surgeon is a little aloof and not very talkative as long as he is a world-renowned expert in cutting up whatever your loved one is having cut up. (It helps if he is kind-of cute, too!)
10) Sometimes families get called back from the surgery waiting room to meet with the doctor and return a few minutes later crying. (Praise God our family was not crying after we talked to the surgeon who worked on my dad).

I only spent 2 1/2 days at the hospital.... God bless those who stay much longer with their family members.

And thank you God for awesome hospitals and healthcare people and that my dad came through so well!