It's Not All Bad - Day 30

There were some bearable things about going to the hospital every day to see my mom. Despite my aforementioned weaknesses, it does have some strengths as well.

However, as for the convalescent hospital...I haven't come up with anything I've really liked or that I see as a strength. I miss the hospital.

1. The hospital is VERY sanitary. I didn't even worry about catching anything. It wasn't all white and sterile and boring, but I felt safe in what is usually thought of as a breeding ground for germs of all types. The nurses were constantly washing their hands, using hand sanitizers, and changing gloves and gowns each time they left and came back into the room.
2. My mom having a private room was nice. Granted it was only because she had a low resistance to bacteria, it was nice all the same. I could stay there as long as I wanted (during visiting hours that is), talk as much as I wanted, snooze on a chair, take full advantage the range of cable channels (although we mostly watched Animal Planet and The Game Show Channel), and it was a decent sized room. I joked that it felt like my mom was staying in a mid-range hotel room.
3. The staff seemed pretty prompt for the most part when my mom wanted pain meds...gotta love that morphine!
4. Most of her doctors were pretty nice. Like I said, I'd run into some of them in the halls and they'd actually recognize me and ask about my mom or answer my questions. The endocrinologist who I credit for pretty much saving her life even came by to see how she was doing, which he was NOT obligated to do.
5. Their dark hot cocoa at the coffee stand is awesome.
6. The staff let us stay after visiting hours when my mom was in surgery. I guess this is a normal policy, but it still made me feel special and that the staff cared about our family. On about 3 or 4 different occasions we were there until about 11-11:30pm at night, until my mom got out of surgery or was taken to the ICU for a blood transfusion. The staff was very considerate about making sure we got to say good night to my mom.
7. The overall atmosphere was more cozy than hospital-like. Sure there was a lot of hospital-ness around, but my mom was there from the beginning New Year until the end of January, so I watched the place transform from Christmas to Valentines Day...the gift shop decorated with Valentines Day decorations was adorable, and there was a cozy little cafe...entering the hospital almost felt like entering the lobby of a hotel.
8. They let us go down in the patient elevator with my mom and say see ya soon in the hallway of the operating room. This was both scary and comforting.
9. Overall, despite the frustrations we encountered, the staff was pretty accommodating and the nurses did their best (usually) to keep me informed while I was there...basically they tolerated my endless stream of questions.
10. I feel like I should have a number 10 but I cant think of anything else. I just didn't want to leave the list hanging at number 9.