-
Going into the hospital? I have a suggestion
It was just a year ago that I had my cycstectomy at USC/Norris. My hospital stay was ten days, and one thing really stands out in my memory.
No, not the pain. Not the surgery. Not the 18 flavors of Jello.
It was the boredom I remember. I dozed off a lot during the day, but at night I was awake, and tried to watch television to fall asleep. I don’t have to tell you how awful after-midnight television is–infomercials, stupid syndicated comedies, lots of long commercials… there is nothing restful about it. You simply can’t bore yourself to sleep.
If I was going into the hospital again, the first thing I would do is to get an mp3 player and download some old radio shows from a site like Radio Lovers.
The downloads are free and are entertaining as hell. And if you close your eyes while you listen to them, I guarantee you’ll fall asleep faster than if you’d watched television.
I’ll get you started–you can listen to these now, or download them to your computer by right-clicking on them.
Here is War of the Worlds, a timeless piece of radio by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre group. The best Science Fiction story ever.
If you need a laugh, here’s Jack Benny buying a new car.
How about The Whistler.
Or more classic Orson Welles.
Or The Shadow.
Or one of my favorites, Mars is Heaven.
Or an episode of the great series, Escape.
You get the idea. Hospital nights aren’t always pleasant, but they don’t have to be boring.
Best wishes,
Zach
“Standing on my Head”––my chemo journal
T3a Grade 4 N+M0
RC at USC/Norris June 23, 2006 by Dr. John Stein10 Replies-
One last piece of advice.
Have an Advance Directive ready by the time you get to the hospital. By the time you get there you’ll be so distracted that it will end up being a mad scramble trying to find one. By the time we were asked about it before my surgery, it was 11pm and no one could find the administrative person who had the right forms.
The link will take you to a sample, which you can customize.
Zach
P.S.–Do Not Let This Happen To You
“Standing on my Head”––my chemo journal
T3a Grade 4 N+M0
RC at USC/Norris June 23, 2006 by Dr. John Stein
Thanks Zach – I sent an email to you regarding your offer. I hope you received it. Margot
Great ideas.
My husband took a cheaper version of the MP3 to chemo treatments….I think he enjoyed having some of his favorite music with him.
Clara
Caretaker of husband, Bob.
Stage IV
Diagnosed Jan, 2007
Since you’re pressed for time you can go to an electronics store (like CompUSA) and get something that looks like this http://tinyurl.com/2z8le2. They don’t cost much.
If you don’t know how to make an mp3 cd, please let me know and I’ll make one and send it up to you (it’s not hard, but if you don’t know how, and don’t have a friend or child who can do it for you, it can be frustrating).
The reason you want an mp3 cd player is that each cd can hold umpteen hours of audio, as opposed to the one hour max of a regular cd.
Zach
“Standing on my Head”––my chemo journal
T3a Grade 4 N+M0
RC at USC/Norris June 23, 2006 by Dr. John Stein
Hi Zachary – No, unfortunately, we don’t have a CD player that will play mp3 files, but I will look into buying one. Harry did already “pack” his ancient, but still working, transitor radio so he can listen to some of his fav talk shows during the day….but not sure what is on during “late night” since we are usually asleep!! Thanks for all the links to check out. I may be busy shopping and downloading tomorrow and Sauturday! Thanks too for the heads up about the necessities…I wondered if they would be provided, and didn’t even think about shampoo that will save me a trip to the store after we get there. Margot
[quote author=harry s link=topic=1211.msg8400#msg8400 date=1190917757]
With my husband Harry going in for surgery at Stanford on 10/1, this was a great post. I will definitely let him know your suggestion. If you have any more, they would be appreciated!! Thanks.Margot S.
[/quote]One last thing–you might want to bring some of Harry’s personal items (toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, shaving creme, shampoo, that sort of thing) with you to the hospital. I didn’t bring any of that; we just expected that it would be kind of like a hotel.
Wrong. They didn’t provide anything, and much of it wasn’t even for sale at the gift shop. And this was USC/Norris, not Hooterville General!
Another nice thing about bringing an iPod or another player with earphones–when they took out my staples it was a bit painful. When I played some music–LOUD–it distracted me from what was going on. It was a godsend.
“Standing on my Head”––my chemo journal
T3a Grade 4 N+M0
RC at USC/Norris June 23, 2006 by Dr. John Stein
Margot, I’d been thinking about posting that for a while, but it wasn’t until I read about Harry going into the hospital that I got around to doing it.
From the Escape series:
The Abominable SnowmanFrom Dimension-X:
The Martian Death MarchFrom Quiet, Please
The Man Who Stole a Planet
Northern Lights
(actually here is a link to all the Quiet, Please episodes)From CBS Mystery Theater:
Prisoner of the Machines
Resident KillerHere is a page devoted to Sherlock Holmes shows.
Here is a site with lots of free downloads of all sorts of shows:
Old Time Radio ShowsDoes your husband have access to to an mp3 player or a cd player that will play mp3 files?
“Standing on my Head”––my chemo journal
T3a Grade 4 N+M0
RC at USC/Norris June 23, 2006 by Dr. John Stein
With my husband Harry going in for surgery at Stanford on 10/1, this was a great post. I will definitely let him know your suggestion. If you have any more, they would be appreciated!! Thanks.
Margot S.
Now I wish I had done that (my surgery was 2 1/2 years ago – same place)!
I brought a CD player (which helped a lot), but ‘watching’ radio programs is a great idea.
Dx 7/04, CIS + T1G3, Age 50
2 TURBTs
12 BCGs
Cystectomy 8/05 USC/Norris
So far, so good (kow)Fall asleep in a hospital…you’re kidding right? People sticking you…stupid alarm dinging every l5 minutes…
But i do like those old radio shows..maybe at least it would drown out the dinging!!…Thanks Zachary :DSign In to reply.
