Life on Another Planet

Okay, so the transplant ward isn't really another planet, but it sure feels like it at times.

First of all, life on this wing is an ocd person's dream come true. We are set apart from the rest of the world by 2 heavy doors. The air is specially filtered. The water is filtered. There are even special rules about how the ice is made and handled. The cleaning crew comes in twice a day. Daily showers are mandatory, as well as a complete bedding change.

Then there are the rituals required to enter and maintain life on this planet. Entrance to the planet is through a portal known as the BMT hand-washing station. Posted above the sink is a long list of entrance instructions. First, you must wash your hands for a full 30 seconds with a special soap. A clock hangs on the wall to help with this task. Hand washing complete, you must turn off the faucet without touching it with your hands. This is accomplished with your forearm or a paper towel. Next, you dry your hands completely with paper towels. The final step involves rubbing your hands with surgical scrub. (You would think that this process, performed a minimum of 3 times a day, would really dry out your hands, but mine have never been softer. I am getting some of that soap when we go home.) If you are bringing anything with you, special wipes are also provided at the station to wipe these things down.

Rituals do not end once you enter through the magic doors. For the patient, the day is full of rituals. The most time consuming ritual is the one of mouth care. First comes the brushing of the teeth. This is followed by 20 minutes of sucking on a troche. (Troche is another name for lozenge. Not sure why they don't just call it a lozenge. Must be an issue with the language translator.) When the troche is gone, there is a 20 minute wait period. The final stage is a special mouth wash which must be swished for 30-60 seconds before being spit out. This is followed by another 20 minutes of nothing to eat or drink. The mouth care ritual takes an hour to complete and must be performed 3 times a day.

We also have the ritual of the daily meds. Right now, this consists of 9 pills for Simon in the morning and another 8 pills in the evening. That isn't counting the meds he gets throughout the day through his central line. Blood transfusions have also become an almost daily occurrence. While these happen often, I hesitate to label them as rituals, since the do not occur at a set time of day.

This planet, the BMT ward, is very small. When we first arrived, the population was 5 patients, plus family members. It has grown to as high as 9 patients. Yesterday, 2 patients escaped. They were the first to leave since our arrival.