Andrew Pulrang, The Daily Dot - April 21, 2015
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Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Hospital Blogging!
I’ve got pneumonia, so I am in the hospital, I hope only for a few days. There’s good Wi-Fi here, and I’ve got my laptop, so I’m thinking of doing a little detour into that awkward corner of the disability experience, getting acute care for “normal people sickness”, within the medical system. So many of us, as disabled adults, try to keep the medical world at bay, because usually we have had some fairly traumatic experiences with it due to our disabilities. I’m talking about experiences here, not outcomes. I have had great good fortune since my birth in the medical treatment of my disabilities. Yet, it’s not a world I want to be part of, even in a benign way.
So far, everything is going fine here. It’s my hometown hospital, and by and large they know me and my peculiar needs. The night shift staff were great as they got used to my ventilator and helped me get to bed with all the IVs and wires and such. I slept well.
The truth is, when I am really sick, there is some real relief in relinquishing some of my independence and loner-ism and just giving myself over to what they have planned for me. I also take advantage of the little luxuries, if I can. As a Facebook friend commented last night, “Never underestimate the healing powers of popsicles and jello.” Note to self: request popsicles.
The flip side is that when I start getting pissy about things that go wrong, and I start noticing again the absurdities of the entirely bureaucratic hospital ecosystem, then I know I’m just about well enough to go home! I hope that will be soon. In the meantime, I might have more to blog about.