What **NOT** to Bring to a Hospital

SAVE ME FOR LATER; A Listicle

Hi Readers, Welcome! If you’re new here, check out some other posts from my book-in-progress. The book also includes practical tips like the ones below. If you’ve got other suggestions, add them to the comments! I’d love to hear what helped you… or didn’t help you?

I started writing this book six months ago while on dialysis. It’s intended to be both memoir and a practical tool to help folks who might be going through something similar or those caregivers and family supporting someone with a challenging diagnosis. I hope to include excerpts here as I write. NOTE: This is not intended to replace actual medical guidance. Please consult your doctors on your individual challenges and situations.

What You Should Not Bring To a Hospital…

Since my post of “what to bring” did so well, here is a list of what NOT to bring. It’s besides the obvious things, like… a pet lizard, firearms, or a puking three year old with a raging contagious norovirus.

If you bring these things, have a loved one take them home:

1. Jewelry. Don’t bring it. You’ll have to take it off anyway. And you might be like me and gain 20 lbs in a week and swell up like a beached whale. Just don’t bring it… even if you’re like “I never take it off.” I’m here to tell you it’s okay to take it off.

2. Any small expensive items like air pods.  You can’t imagine how easy it is to lose things in a bed. Also, you get moved from room to room sometimes and not always when you are conscious. Unless you’re Jeff Bezos, leave that stuff at home. Things go missing in a hospital all the time. The staff are there to save your life, your stuff is not a priority to them. You might lose it. 

3. Your full wallet except for ID, insurance card, medical patient safety cards, and one credit card. Bring a manageably sized wallet with essentials, not your hockey puck of a wallet or one that might double as a handbag with your Costco membership card and your boba discount card. I bought myself meals a couple times but that’s pretty much it.

4. Excessive amounts of food:  So many people brought me food that had to be thrown out. This isn’t a hotel. You are not guaranteed a mini-fridge. Food that sits out will go bad. You don’t need a food-borne illness either.  If you have food brought to you, tell loved ones not to overdo it. I was sad when a lot of home-made deliciousness ended up in the waste-bin.

   Special thank you to Richard Burwick, MD for your founding level donation! And thank you to new paid subscriber Dr. Lindsay Gubernick. Always grateful to you BOTH… You not only supported the team saving my life, you’re both amazingly supportive of my writing.