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Staying in the Hospital
Doctors are pretty nice people usually. And often, if you’re going to have a transplant or something, they get to be your friends because you work with them for the rest of your life, basically. So they’re really nice, but sometimes they’re kind of annoying because they keep bothering you.
You can bring food from your house; there is a freezer, and you can put it there. And you can bring your animal- your stuffed animal. Not a real animal- I wish you could bring a real animal! And stuff to do. Like music, a CD player and CD’s and movies from your house, because sometimes there aren’t movies that you want to watch at the hospital. And of course clothes!
Do stuff for yourself too. Order out- you can order stuff and your mom can pick it up or they deliver to you. You can go there or there’s a menu book at the front desk and you can ask and then look at stuff and call out for pizza or whatever. That’s fun, and then there’s usually somebody kind of near your age, unless you’re a baby, on the floor. You just talk to them about normal stuff, not about the transplant or anything. And if there’s a really cute baby or something that’s in the playroom, you can say, “Oh, he’s so cute!” or something to the parents and then you can make friends and then after a while you can hold the baby and that’s really fun.
I have to say the coolest thing that I did, that I don’t know of anybody else doing, is that I got pictures. I got pictures of my old lungs, and I got pictures of my new lungs. I had my dad take a picture of me three times a day with his digital camera every day I was in the hospital, because I kind of don’t remember the first six days. I know I was up and I remember doing certain things, but you are on a high dose of pain medicine. And I love having the pictures; I love being able to show that to people. I’m a picture person, and that’s the best because you can see how you go; from day to day it changes. I think that was just really neat. I wish I had done a video documentary, but pictures were just easier and quicker. I think that’s just really interesting for people to get.
Mostly the lung transplant team and the nurses that I worked with got me through it. I just felt so comfortable with them- the way they act, their bedside manner, the way they are. They’re not just doctors, you know; I can call and talk with them. We talk about things other than health things.
Throughout the years I’ve met lots of transplant patients. Patients come here from all over the world. When I’m hospitalized here I meet and spend time with all different patients of all shapes and sizes. One girl’s parents were very concerned about how things would work after the transplant. Every day the parents would ask me all types of different questions having to do with the heart transplant. A boy’s father wanted to know what it’s like from my point of view since I’ve already been through it. I love to help the kids and families learn more about it. |
Doctors
Pictures
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Hospital Boston Department of Psychiatry. All Rights Reserved. The information on this website should not be taken as medical advice, which can only be given to you by your personal health care professional. July 26, 2005 |
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