Hospital update.

[rivka]

Thanks, everyone, for the extremely useful suggestions. I wound up bringing two coloring books, crayons, and stickers for Zoe, which were as well-received as anything brought to an extremely sick two-year-old could possibly be.

For Emily, I packed into a sturdy and capacious canvas bag:

(1) Two of my paperbacks - one frivolous novel and one book of funny essays.
(2) A sudoku book, a small sturdy notebook, and two pens.
(3) My electric kettle, a ten-pack of instant cocoa, and eight herbal tea bags.
(4) Microwavable soup (not cup-o-MSG, something premium), nuts-and-fruit trail mix, single-serving cups of canned fruit, a half-dozen plastic spoons.
(5) Hand lotion.
(6) Wet wipes.

Emily had brought in bedding from home for both of them, and Zoe had her own pajamas. The room is outfitted with a DVD player and VCR, and apparently the children's floor has an enormous library of movies to borrow. There are also tons of toys in the playroom, which they are allowed to bring back to Zoe's room at will. So it was the right move to bring some consumables rather than, say, a new toy. And she doesn't need to borrow any of our movies.

Poor Zoe was soooo cranky and miserable. At one point, after the nurse had been in messing with her (requiring the removal and replacement of the nasal cannula, which seems to have been the biggest outrage), she just started beating on Emily in sheer frustration. She just didn't know what would make her feel better.

Honestly, I can't even imagine how I would get through something like that. Yikes.

Comments

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

One of the ways people get through things like this is with the support of their friends. I'm glad Emily has you.

what she said.

step one, get up in the morning.
step two, keep breathing.
step three, do the thing that needs to be done.
step four, read the funny book that your friend brought you and be so so grateful.