In 2008 I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and within two weeks, I went from being a person who had never spend a night in a hospital, to being person who had logged many hours there. I am well-acquainted with the OR, the ICU, and the Neuro Wing. Today, my tumor appears to be stable, but I am also able to say I have had many return trips to these places.
Many objects have become familiar to me during my times in the hospital. Some are high-tech (the MRI machine, the linear accelerator). Others are more everyday, but put to new uses (the Sharpie with which my neurosurgeon drew an “X” on the side of my head to be cut open). From my itemized hospital bill it is clear there are hundreds of hard, shiny, cold objects (some still inside my head), designed to get the job done.
In my first pre-op meeting, after going over instructions like the pre-surgery antibacterial shower and whether I could drink water before (No.), the nurse told me there would be warm blankets available anytime I wanted them. Slightly rough, white blankets warmed in a special oven cabinet. During radiation treatments last summer it was so cold I needed two. When they handed me this one, which I requested for this project, I was surprised how small and thin it was. This object that had brought me such comfort.