Saturday, June 5, 2010

B ward pet

At times, patients are in the hospital for days, weeks, and even months. The hospital becomes their home and the other patients, their neighbors. Patients bring their own sheets and blankets, so their bed becomes their own. Their wasmen often have blankets and mattresses under the beds where they sleep, making it more homey. If they don't have a mattress, then they often share the patient's bed. So as the ward becomes a home, cooking supplies, patient's bags and belongings, their families are all common things to see, but pets is a new one.
Just when I thought I had seen everything, I find a patient with a pet in the hospital. While rounding, I looked up at the wasman after I was talking to the patient and see a bird in the wasman's hand. I looked at it again to make sure it was really a bird and it was. I asked where he got it and he said he caught it yesterday outside in the tea field. He had the bird on a little leash and was feeding it a banana. It was quite cute, but I am hoping he lets the bird go.