A friend recently broke his leg badly enough that he was hospitalized for more than a week. After that, he went to a rehab facility and expects to be there for weeks. Since he lives alone, he has to mend enough to negotiate all the stairs in his house before he can return.
All of that was bad enough, but the part that struck terror in my heart was learning that someone had to collect clothing, toiletries, meds and other essentials from his home for his rehab stay. I imagined trying to instruct a friend how to find my undies (I hope they’re not all in the hamper), flip-flops (not the old black ones but the comfy red ones), tablet (and charger, which is inexplicably stored in the kitchen linen cabinet) . . . I felt faint.
Whenever I read articles about disaster preparedness, they always mention prepping a “go bag” with essentials and basics that can be grabbed easily for a fast getaway. Although I always nodded at that sensible advice, I never heeded it. After hearing about my friend’s experience, though, I realized that it’s not just a disaster like a fire that could make a go bag useful; one never knows when one might suddenly end up in rehab for weeks.
I’m on it: I’m putting together my go-bag. Weeks in rehab without my sketch kit? Talk about a disaster. You can bet the bag will include sketch materials. Stay tuned to find out what I put in.
What would you put in yours?
(Shown in this post are some sketches that were never finished due to unforeseen interruptions. They’re not related to a go bag in any way, except that having to grab one would certainly indicate an interrupted life.)
Yikes! We have a fire go-to bag, but I never thought about a hospital bag. Thanks for highlighting this. I have lately, just been drawing simple things like you have shown, and adding my favorite colors to see how they look. Sorry to hear about your friend. Look forward to seeing what you are going to put into your er bag.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, I don't have to worry about fire here, but there's always earthquakes/tsunamis to consider. :-\ And now I know everyone should have a go bag for health emergencies, too!
DeleteI've thought about putting papers together if a quick getaway was necessary, but hadn't thought about doing something for an unexpected hospital/rehab stay. It does make a lot of sense. In addition to sketch materials I'd make sure I have my phone charger and iPad and charger. I'd be lost without any of those things. Somewhere I need to also have a list of passwords for websites that right now I have access to without having to remember them.
ReplyDeleteAll good things to think about for when the unthinkable happens!
DeleteWhen I had back surgery, I was more worried about the logistical challenges it presented than the actual surgery. Living alone, just finding someone to take me to and from the hospital and subsequent office visits was challenging, and then finding someone who could stay with me for at least 24 hrs after surgery. Luckily a cousin offered to come visit for 3 days to help out and a couple of members from my yoga class picked up meds and groceries until I could drive myself again. I collected everything I needed from the upstairs bathroom and bedroom that I would not be able to access for awhile and slept on the couch. But every now and then I thought it might have been easier to go to a rehab place which was an option. It was hard enough directing people to what I needed when I was right there - not there would have been harder. Go-to bag? My Amazon Fire tablet which I rarely use at home but handy when traveling would give me internet access and reading material and probably just a small sketchbook and pen for idle moments. I had one with me when I was helping my friend when she spent months at Mayo Clinic. I did a lot of quick sketching while waiting for her to get out of appointments or sitting by her bedside when she was hospitalized. Meds would be my primary concern though and you can't exactly store those in a go-to bag.
ReplyDeleteThose are all important things to think about when living alone! It's lucky that you at least had time to prep before your surgery. The worst thing would be an accident that caught one unprepared!
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