My Parallel Universe

We're frequent fliers at CMH. I now recognize doctors and nurses from multiple specialties and they recognize me, not only in the hospital but on the street as well. When we were admitted on Sunday all of the nurses on our floor immediately commented on my hair cut. I also was able to catch up on the goings on in their lives - since I know about their kids, grandkids, significant others, wedding plans, etc. We know the other frequent flier kids and always look for them on the floor when we're admitted. One of my favorite little boys actually got discharged after a really prolonged stay in the hospital. I was ecstatic for him and his family, but I missed the little cutie. In the PICU, we started chatting with a nurse who remembered us from our first visit to the PICU a year ago. I was able to tell her about my favorite lactation/nursing rooms in the hospital and which ones are empty at certain times. (She was very happy to learn about the "secret" room on the 5th floor.)

At the same time CMH is kind of like your home city where you know the sights and sounds but you don't really take the time to experience things outside of your routine. I decided that this admission would be different. First and foremost, we were going to take advantage of more of the family services. As I mentioned I went to a knitting class last night and am well on my way to making my first pot holder. Depending on how Jaisal is feeling this weekend, we will take him to go visit with the therapy dogs. Also, since we started coming to CMH, the nurses on 6W kept telling me that I needed to partake in the offerings of the night grill - which is open from 11 pm to 2 am. Usually we're sleeping or trying to sleep at the time. In the PICU, however, we're taking shifts and having someone awake with Jaisal around the clock, so last night I made my first visit to the night grill. It was delicious, and oddly reminiscent of college, since I was eating mozzarella sticks at 1:30 in the morning. Another goal is to find some new places to eat around the hospital. We're a little tired of our regular joints.

Overall it's definitely provided some entertainment to play tourist at our second home. And as you can tell from our modification of the sign, we are a bit entertainment starved since the 60 hours since transplant have felt like a week.