Days 14-15, and a fic promise

[bironic]

Just back from the hepatologist's office, where my doctor sent me to follow up on some scans I had last year. (I'm fine; we're just, er, making sure that's true.) Her office is on the main campus of the huge teaching hospital three-quarters of my family used to work for, though not always in, and I love going there. I'm sure that says a lot about how I was never very sick growing up, nor was my family, that I would enjoy a hospital, but I do; it's big and bustling and exciting and has cutting-edge facilities and the elevators are deep so beds will fit in them and there are people in scrubs and lab coats joking with each other and I'm familiar with the place, know the system of entrances and roads and many of the hallways, remember eating in the front cafeteria when I was a kid, remember visiting wings like the maternity ward and emergency department as part of my job; and now it's fun to reimagine it as Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital too, or rather to soak up more details for possible future use in a House fic.

The points are:

(a) I will be going for a second MRI at some point, which I continue to think is cool, and this time I will finish the House/Wilson MRI PWP WIP (and many other three-letter acronyms) I started after the first scan; and

(a.1) You know you've been hanging out in fandom too much when... #64: While waiting for your gastroenterologist, you get out of the exam chair to squint at an anatomical diagram of the anus and rectum for research, and think about doing a semi-parody House/Wilson fic where they use all the crazy medical terms for the tiniest muscles and things. I want a sex scene that uses the terms "anal crypt" and "squamocolumnular junction."

(a.2) Relatedly, care of my sister: There is apparently a Burger King in the midwest somewhere with a typo on its front sign so that it is advertising "Black Anus Burgers."

(b) Here are some memories associated with this building, from when my dad worked there.*

*I know many of you follow my themes when you post your own memories, and that most people probably have unpleasant memories associated with hospitals, so you're just as welcome to post "the time I went to work with my parent" memories as hospital ones. As if you needed my blessing for that. Right. Memories now.



14. Elementary School

I remember:

- Going by one day after school with my sister and my mom, driving up all the way to the left of campus, to a trailer beside the building. I think he was in a transition point then between actual offices. Whenever I think of movie trailers, I substitute his in my head. I remember stepping up to the door and maybe going inside, but not much else.

- Possibly the same day, going over to the hospital proper and walking through the hallways. Each wing had a different color scheme for the floor tiles; one was dark brown and blue. And all the halls were lined with photographs. On that day, wherever we were, it was some photo contest they'd held or were holding, with big framed shots of hot air balloons and puppies and spraying city hydrants and close-up shots of kids with big eyes and freckles.

- A secretary my dad knew -- Ann, or Bernadette, I think -- once gave me candy when I was very young. Necco wafers or Sweet Tarts or something similar in a roll. For years, that's all I remembered of her. My dad still teases me about it.

- At Christmastime, the hospital always put together a ton of big paper gift bags. They must have been for pediatric patients, although at least some employees' children got them too, because every year my dad volunteered to help put them together, he brought us each one home. One year, I remember actually being there and seeing the bags in a room or hallway, and taking mine home. In various years, those bags brought us a New Kids on the Block doll (see second memory this year), colorful foam balls, funky '80s cloth-band watches, a slim automatic camera, and a Sony Walkman back when those were a Big Deal.


15. Middle School

My mom's best friend's son -- the one who lived around the corner and used to let us play with his Micromachine cars -- fell off his bike in middle school and ruptured his spleen. We went to visit him at the hospital. I remember that he seemed pretty normal lying in the bed. He told us the story of how it happened; something about hitting the curb or falling off and sitting on the curb, bumping the bicycle seat on the way down, walking home and then coming to the hospital. Someone else in the room -- one of his sisters, maybe -- had scraped her shin on something, and it had mostly scabbed up but still bled slowly and thickly and I kept looking at it as we all stood or sat there talking.
 

Comments

[purridot.livejournal.com]

I know nothing about hospitals. I think I may have been in one once in my life. I would be happy if it stayed that way!

I'm sure that says a lot about how I was never very sick growing up, nor was my family, that I would enjoy a hospital, but I do.

I love going to the dentist -- to the point where I almost don't get why people don't like going. I think it is like having a spa treatment. My best friend's dad was my dentist as I was growing up so to me it's a relaxing treat to go. Apparently when I was little I used to fall asleep in the chair. And afterwards, my mother would buy me a Nancy Drew book for being so good. OMG, I see it all so clearly :D

The only bad thing is the fluoride treatment (yuck). I'd rather have a root canal than a fluoride treatment. (My dentist says I am the only patient he ever had who *suggested* a root canal).

[purridot.livejournal.com]

Oops -- theme was supposed to be The time I went to work with my parent.

My dad's a lawyer, and when I was young I spent a lot of time being "babysat" there. Part of the "babysitting" included having me type up clients' wills and such.*

*This would be about age 12 -- before that, I mostly made dollhouses out of office supplies.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

The theme is whatever you want it to be. :) I just didn't want people to think they needed to post about some horrible time they'd had at a hospital.

That's cool, getting to transcribe wills and other documents. I've never read a will. Are they interesting or boring? Do you get a sense of the people behind them?

Your dentist story is adorable. How cute would it have been if your dentist had snapped a photo of you sleeping in the chair and put it up in the office to assure other patients? (Unless they'd've thought you'd been sedated.... Hm.)

Have you had a root canal? I haven't, but my mom has, and they don't look fun at all. At least, not the way they were performed 10 years ago, which I know has changed since. Don't like the taste of the fluoride?

[purridot.livejournal.com]

I always thought that if I ever became a lawyer, estate law would be the most interesting (and Nancy Drew-like -- she was always looking for wills).

I find wills sort of comforting. I like loose ends being neatly tied up. One thing I remember from the first time I had to type up a will was to never finish a sentence on one page -- it must always run over onto the next page, to make it difficult for someone to "insert an extra page", if you know what I mean. ;-)

I think I've had two root canals in total (I don't remember any details, I was asleep!) Before I left my soul-sucking last job with its dental plan, I had ALL my childhood fillings replaced. Took 2 days (not appointments -- *days* :D

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Our company just picked up dental coverage (next stop, optical. please.), and I really need to go. But it means finding a new dentist, since my old one doesn't take this particular insurance, and I ... haven't done it.

to never finish a sentence on one page -- it must always run over onto the next page, to make it difficult for someone to "insert an extra page"

Oh, that's interesting. And sad, but it makes sense. I agree that it's neat to see a life wrapped up like that, but estate lawyers must spend a good amount of their time mediating arguments between/among beneficiaries.

[purridot.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you don't really need a dentist! *is jealous*

True, family arguments do happen, which is the ugly part.

Much more fun is tracking down beneficiaries! Just this year my dad had a case this where private detectives had to be hired to try to find a person born, er, out of wedlock who had inherited a happy sum :D

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Ha! That is great.

Sounds like you don't really need a dentist!

Ah, I wouldn't say that is true. I have sucky gums, for one thing. And also I have to go to the dentist practically every time I eat popcorn, because inevitably a sliver of kernel gets lodged somewhere I can't reach. So I stopped eating popcorn. :) But I don't take very good care of my teeth, and then I feel guilty and fearful of what they'll find when I *do* go to the dentist, and then I have recurring dreams that I'm looking in the mirror to find my mouth all disfigured, or that my teeth are loose and falling out.

[mer-duff.livejournal.com]

I have those dreams all the time - I think they're supposed to represent a feeling of powerlessness, or such, but I'm beginning to suspect that they're the result of subliminal messages implanted in the lectures of dental hygienists...

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I hate those dreams. And yes -- the symbolism works well, but mostly I think they're impetus to make an appointment.

[daasgrrl.livejournal.com]

or that my teeth are loose and falling out

Ack! What is it with that dream? I haven't had it recently, but it's something that's been a recurring theme. I hate the dentist, had very irregular checkups as a kid, avoided them completely in early adulthood. I've had orthodontic work, though, which almost-but-not-really compensated for not going, in the sense that it was the same general area *g*.

Over the past few years I've started going once a year or so, but only out of guilt, and also because it is quite nice getting your teeth all cleaned and polished, to the extent it almost compensates for all the horrible high-pitched whining noises (and that's just me...). Never had a cavity though.

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

My neice used to vomit whenever she'd have to use fluoride.
And root canals aren't fun, but they're not as horrible as they're made out to be, at least mine wasn't. Aleve works way better for tooth pain than any other OTC (and some non-OTC) painkillers, btw. fun fact, use it as you wish.

Speaking of MRI porn: did you see that dutch study about the sex in the MRI, where they actually hired gymnasts to have sex in the MRI so they could take films while the sex was going on?

[bironic.livejournal.com]

OMG, really? I have to go look that up.

[roga.livejournal.com]

I will just say that I was looking through some documents once and I found my dad's will and it FREAKED ME OUT. I think it's completely irresponsible for a parent not to leave a will, but still, just seeing it existed made me want to hide the safe and forget the envelope ever existed.

[purridot.livejournal.com]

*nods* I know exactly what you mean. When I would help make wills for other people -- even family friends -- it was not upsetting. But I did not enjoy seeing my parents' wills at all.

In my province, holograph (handwritten) wills are legal, and you don't need witnesses. I've had mine sitting in my desk drawer for many years (everything goes to the humane society!)

[roga.livejournal.com]

Yikes. There is nothing that feels more like tempting fate than writing a will, you know? Even though it's the RIGHT thing to do. *shudders*

[bironic.livejournal.com]

My mom handed me a copy of her will a couple of years ago after she'd divorced my dad, and that was definitely surreal. My friend's mom had died a few years earlier and that hit me hard, and thinking about it happening to my own mom -- I mean, even though you know it's going to happen eventually, it feels suddenly more real when you're holding that envelope and thinking about what the circumstances might be when you need to open it.

[roga.livejournal.com]

It's chilling. The only conversation I ever had about it with my mom was when we were talking about organ donations and euthanasia over lunch, and we both said, "uh, you know that if anything ever happens I want everything donated, right?", and then my mom added that we should not hesitate pulling the plug, or "helping her go" or whatever should the need arise. I think it might have started from talking about former PM Sharon, whose been in a coma for the past two years now, and she never wants to reach that situation.

Anyway, so that was our small talk, which was never mentioned since.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I think it might have started from talking about former PM Sharon

I was going to say, organ donation, euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions are not exactly a common topic to just come up over lunch. But that seems a natural lead-in.

I need to talk to my parents about their choices. Almost brought it up to my dad at dinner tonight, actually, after reading your comment.

[roga.livejournal.com]

it's been two years. One just can't help but wonder if he'd still be alive if he weren't a former Prime Minister, where making any decision would arise in too much controversy. I really feel for him and his family.

[mer-duff.livejournal.com]

Clearly you have excellent dental hygiene - what I associate with going to the dentist isn't pain, but guilt. I would die happy if I never had to hear another lecture on flossing regularly - and yes, I know I could solve that by actually doing it, but I never have floss handy when I think about it. Dentists should give out floss instead of toothbrushes...

[purridot.livejournal.com]

Clearly you have excellent dental hygiene

LOL, quite the opposite! When I was a kid I had to go all the time. Now that I am "grown up" I never seem to get cavities. So, there is something to be gained with age ;-)

My vet thinks I should brush my cat's teeth but I don't think I will try.

[mer-duff.livejournal.com]

Your vet is a sadist!

I've never actually had a cavity - I had one filling after mananging to avoid going to the dentist for several years (I blamed it on not having dental coverage). I have terrible gums, though (because I don't floss enough). I maintain, however, that my gums wouldn't bleed nearly as much if they didn't keep stabbing them with sharp, pointed picks...

[bironic.livejournal.com]

I agree with this comment. :)

[elynittria.livejournal.com]

My vet thinks I should brush my cat's teeth but I don't think I will try.

LOL! I actually did try with Nadja. Never again! (Not unless I purchase heavy leather gauntlets first.)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

My dentist once told me that adults don't really get cavities, which was sort of a relief since I'd spent so many years worrying about them. (I had maybe one growing up, but then I had several after my braces came off; whether that was from not brushing well enough when they were on, or from the orthodontists scraping away some of the enamel along with the cement, no one can be sure, but apparently it's quite common.)

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

"My dentist once told me that adults don't really get cavities..."

What?! Then whyyyyyyy did I get my first cavity when I was 19 and now can't freaking stop getting them? D:

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Because you just have to be different?

[thewlisian-afer.livejournal.com]

Apparently so!