A Place I know all to well

Have you ever spent a night in a hospital? I have stayed in quite a few. I should have enough points to have a weekend stay for no charge. I mostly stay in the Doernbecker Children’s Hospital in Portland. Now, I know its called children’s hospital, but if someone has Spina Bifida at any age, we get to stay in their geriatric suite. Each room has a view of Portland. Visitors can enjoy the view in the hallways. From my vantage point in bed,
I just admire what they have done with the ceilings..

         The nurses are very friendly and try to make your stay as comfortable as possible; they bring your hot meals to your rooms. The menu is long, I highly recommend the jello. The nurses would try to make the most of an embarrassing situation. There were some sanitation hazards that each nurse lovingly blamed on each other. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hang out with someone that has movie star good looks? Well I got to, and he helped me use the restroom. Yes, some of the nurses were cute, but unfortunately they were all married.

         There was an activity room with movies and game consoles to check out. After 5 brain surgeries, only one movie was needed, Elf. I played Minecraft for the first time and my neurosurgeon came in and hung out with me; he laughed when I laughed, so I guess it was with me. Since they gave us the geriatric suite, my parents were allowed to stay in the room. Sometimes they would walk down the hill and have dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. They would bring me back a doggy bag. I didn’t feel like a doggy, but I used the bag.

         Now if it seems like that isn’t enough details to describe the actual hospital, well its because I don’t really see much. I get rolled in and out of my room for surgery or tests on my professional grade air mattress; which was only inflated when I was plugged into a room wall socket. In the rooms, or at least mine, there were some green stars and a half moon painted above me. They look and sound simple, but at night they glowed in the dark. I was there so long that the cards and pictures from family and friends became Get-Well wallpaper.

         The thing I really enjoyed was being a medical student subject. Why not make getting an IV, a learning experience. On certain days I was able to get visits from therapy animals. I didn’t need the therapy, I just wanted to see the animals. There was a cat named Huck Finn that came once or twice a week. He was a really fluffy brown and black cat that was driven around on a rolling cart because he didn’t want to walk. He was very calm and when I pet him he would fall asleep. His owner said I was the first person to put him to sleep in 3 years. I took that as a compliment.

         All jokes aside, it’s hard to get surgeries and feel sick most days, but Doernbecker does a great job trying to make it easy. I now don’t have much of a personal bubble; you really can’t when you’re in a hospital. It’s a nice place to stay, but not so nice I want to go back.