Never in a million years would I get my €120 back. That was gone, but – on principle – I was sure as hell going to fight for my €3.50. Up I went with my used and wet cap and explained that this wasn’t really my cup of tea, and, as a show of good faith, requested a refund. It was refused.
Dropping in on a Friend
Earlier today, when coming up the hill from the Phoenix Park to James’s Street, I bumped into the family of a new friend. This new friend and I met while I was in St. James’s Hospital, and over the length of my stay we got to spend a good bit of time together. What a … Continue reading Dropping in on a Friend
On Being Lazy and Unhygienic
It is great being out of the hospital. Don’t get me wrong – I am delighted that the operation has been done. The staff members in the hospital were brilliant and I do appreciate everything that was done for me in St. James’s, but hospital is still I pretty rough place to be holed up … Continue reading On Being Lazy and Unhygienic
Discharge Lounge
As the Irish economy continues to worsen, and as the government continues to make deeper and deeper cuts into the public services, more and more working class people are finding themselves ineligible for the Medical Card. At the same time, as wages fall and unemployment rises, fewer people are able to afford private health insurance. … Continue reading Discharge Lounge
Facing my Fears
Pain relief is one thing, the side-effects of the medicine is quite another. Thank goodness for morphine. When it comes to sheer physical pain opiates are the way to go, but the effects that the drug have on the mind are colourful to say the least. Depending on one’s state of mind morphine takes its … Continue reading Facing my Fears
Pain and the Illusion of Suffering
All through my life I have been a witness to the pain and suffering of others. I grew up in a home where our mother lived through the constant agony of chronic pain and disability, I have been there to see loved ones struggle to the end of their battles with terminal illnesses, and I … Continue reading Pain and the Illusion of Suffering
Rules of Engagement
Staff-patient relations in the modern hospital frequently border on the level of institutionalised insanity witnessed in the Stanford Prisoner Experiment. There exists a very fine line between being in the care of another and being in their custody. This power dynamic becomes obvious when those being cared for are adults of sound mind and body … Continue reading Rules of Engagement
Bromancing on Valentine’s Day
Days can pass terribly slowly on a ward. Speeding them up and otherwise making them bearable takes a great deal of our energy. Thinking about home, and our lives outside of the hospital – as it might be in prison – is not altogether a helpful thing. We are in hospital. A zombie invasion has … Continue reading Bromancing on Valentine’s Day
Random Public Journal 