Lessons Learnt in Hospital

Flowers are 100% a perk of hospital stays (From here)

Thank you all so much for being so caring and supportive over the last week. Your messages and little checks on me helped tons. My operation to help alleviate the symptoms of my DVT went well as far as we can tell for the moment so I'm doing my best to feel positive in this tricky period of recovery. I am now home but being in hospital was quite a humbling experience for me. It wasn't my first time but the characters I met during this stay were much more significant to me as they were going through similar versions of my condition. There was a bit of a community feeling going on in that respect. I noted down the following during my hospital stay last week about the little lessons I have learnt, some more meaningful than others...

• It is important to feel appreciative of the fact that wherever you are in your journey, there's always someone else who is only at the beginning of the turmoil. Feel lucky that you've come so far.
• The longer you're on a ward, the more vocal you feel entitled to be. The lady next to me has been here a couple of months and she's definitely self-elected leader of this bay's pack.
• You can pretty much never trust the custard served.
• Try not to underestimate the kindness of strangers. I had a difficult time a couple of nights. The first, a couple of family members of different patients came over to my bed, gave me a hug and some tissues, helped me out with my legs and chatted to me until I felt settled. The second time, it was 4am, the other patients could tell I was having a hard time when I called for help, and despite the fact that they were in ridiculous pain themselves and I'd probably woken them up, they mentored me through the next bit, telling me what medication to ask for, to breathe deeply to keep calm and counted with me to focus my mind elsewhere. It was comforting to be amongst people who cared that much, despite their own troubles.
• People who work in hospitals have such demanding jobs. I'm sure some of the doctors who treated me didn't leave the hospital at all the entire time I was there. Their families must get fed up but they must love their jobs.
• Being able to open your bowels normally is an utter luxury I tell you.
• Visiting hours are an uplifting time, with the breaking of routine and noise and colour from outside, except when you see the lonely people and feel sad that nobody is with them.
• Life is much better without a fuzzy head, especially when it means you can read. Books are marvellous transporters.

Have you realised anything new recently? How do you cope with being in hospital?

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