Making The Hospital Feel Like Home

Ronnie's been feeling pretty awesome lately (can I get a WOOT WOOT?). He'll probably need a tune up in a month or so, but in the mean time, he's doing great. However, we know a few people that are in the Hole right now and people that have kids in the Hole right now, so I thought I'd make a little list of things Ronnie absolutely LOVES when he's in the hospital. I'm hoping it will give the people in some ideas...

Ronnie LOVES visitors. This seems like an obvious one. No one wants to sit in a room by themselves for days on end, especially when you're not feeling good. Ronnie's family is awesome about coming and spending time with him while he's in. I think this is the biggest reason he is so content while he's in the hospital. That being said, when he's first in and his body is all out of sorts from the meds, he often feels overwhelmed by too many people around.

Ronnie also LOVES snacks and meals from the outside world. While his appetite is often a little off when he first gets in, he quickly gets it back and loves to be fed food from the outside. He'll eat just about anything we bring in, but he loves Frosties, Brachs jelly beans, Peter Piper Pizza, Dunkin Donuts, and more. (Are there any foods you love from the outside world while you're in? Give us some ideas).

He LOVES entertainment. He's found many ways to keep busy. He watches entire seasons of TV shows (he watched ALL of the seasons of Lost within a matter of days one stay), plays hidden object games, plays video games (his cousins gave him this old school wheel of fortune game which is AWESOME), listens to old radio shows online (John Jay and Rich), and reads fellow CFer's blogs (of course!).

And last, but not least, he loves to be rubbed and massaged (I really wish I had a better way of putting it...trust me, I tried to think of an alternative...Let me explain!!!). Often times his joints feel achy, so he loves when I rub his wrists, knees, ankles, hands and feet. When he has a headache, I will rub his head, including his temples, top of his head and along his sinuses. I also rub his hand, the area between his pointer finger and thumb (my mom used to do that for us when we were kids. I guess there's a pressure point there and it helps with headaches). And lastly, after he's been coughing a lot, I rub his chest. This immediately relaxes him and soothes his sore chest muscles.

When you're in the Hole, what do you need or love? Do you have any weird hospital traditions? Share your guilty pleasures or simply what makes you feel at home.