Hospital at home, or at home... in Hospital!?

I'm always the brunt of endless jokes about the amount of crap that accompanies me on a hospital admission... with references to removals companies being fairly commonplace.

However, I was having a think about it... and I don't think my packing style is that unreasonable....given my gender, and by the time you've got the essentials.....  a BIG box of medication the size of a suitcase & peak flow meter, inhalers, non-invasive ventilation scuba-dive-type mouthpiece...

but also:

.....clothes, PJs, dressing gown, flip-flops, washkit

.....laptop & modem, phone, portable hard drive, dvds....

....plus the little essentials that make an admission a bit more bearable.... 

- fleecy blanket

- ear plugs

- nice smelling moisturiser

- lip balm

- ice cube bags...(for putting horrible fortisip drinks into - turns into actually pretty nice    frozen yoghurt! - more on fortisip smoothie recipes later! 

I know you are all hearing your tums rumbling already!) 

cup-a-soups, 

rice-noodles, 

bouillion stock cubes, 

sweet chilli sauce,

fruit tea, 

marmite, 

diff flavoured squash, 

fruit juices,  

soy sauce.... 

I am renowned for losing either my sense of taste, appetite or becoming v nauseous.... these are some of the techniques I've learnt along the way to try and overcome it, and get some form of nutrition in! :) ]   so i need many things to try and make some kind of 'home' in the hospital... or i'd have gone doolally long ago... 

...and then on discharge home, you can often add oooodles of supplies for lengthy courses of intravenous antibiotics, antiemetics and steroids.... via my handy picc line (peripherally inserted central venous catheter line) - the medium term intravenous line that in one vein or another has been a pretty permanent feature for the past year to 18 months...  but that requires sterile syringes, needles, saline, giving ('drip') sets, sharps bins, sterile towels, dressing packs, swabs..... the list is seemingly endless... and virtually turns my home into looking like a hospital and pharmacy! 

So - hence the confusion... especially given that I've spent far more time in hospital than I have at home this year....  Hospital at home?!, or at home... in Hospital!?

This post was actually prompted by an animated debate I witnessed between some agency staff, patients, and ambulance transport personnel.  Apparently there is an ambulance policy stating that only 1 bag of patients belongings may be transported by the crews when transporting patients. This was posing a problem for the patient concerned, who'd been in for many weeks - and had two bags, plus a Zimmer frame...   the crew had to leave behind the Zimmer for later delivery by taxi... In this situation, it was because they already had other patients on board, so couldn't safely transport the frame....but I have seen it happen purely due to 'jobsworthiness' in other situations.... 

...However, what had actually shocked me, was the attitude of one person involved... who very clearly stated that she thought that the 1 bag policy was totally fair in all circumstances.... and that patients shouldn't be allowed to bring any personal belongings into hospital... as they were there to get better, not for comfort! She also thought that EVERYONE had access to people who could frequently bring in clean clothes, taking away the dirty ones... and that if they didn't have the people in their family to do it for them... that social services were readily available for this...

..... just from my time on the wards as a junior doc... with even limited experience of social services provision.... I know that she's not living in the same 'really real' world as I am! 

My personal view is that even on a very short admission, the 'creature comforts' stop me from going round the bend... and are as almost as important in my progress as my medication.