The Adventure Begins
What a weekend! Saturday we had a workshop at our Church all day, then supper with my husbands family (people I hadn’t met yet), and then an evening prayer gathering at a friend’s home to do a mini Panahyda for the soul of his recently deceased father. By the end of the evening I was tired, had a headache, and knew I’d eaten just a little bit too much.
When I was settling into bed that night after putting Little Fox down, I felt a bit nauseous. At that point I didn’t think I was going to vomit but I could feel it was a possibility. So I took a tums calcium tablet and got a bucket ready with a plastic bag, leaving it just outside the bedroom door.
Then I went to sleep for a little over two hours. When I woke up, I knew I needed the bucket in the hallway…
Heading to Emergency
11 hours and 6 bucket refills later, my husband and I knew it was time to take me to the hospital. We had Baba on standby to take Little Fox, but as we were getting ready to go, I was worried we would forget something important.
And we had! When the nurse was getting information from me after I was checked in, she asked if I had any medication allergies. I do, but we only found out last time I was pregnant. It was in my labour information binder but I couldn’t remember what it was.
Thankfully, we called our pharmacy and they had it on their record.
But that brings me to the main question of this week’s article: are you prepared for if you need to go to the hospital for an emergency?
A Prepacked Hospital Bag
It was really hard to pack a bag for the hospital in the middle of being very very sick. I’m not going to try and do that again. So once I’m better, I’m going to take an old kids backpack and make it a permanent hospital bag!
Top 7 Items to Have in Your Bag
- an extension cord and extra phone charger
- spare change/money for vending machines or the cafeteria
- a book or puzzles
- prayer items like an icon, chotky, or rosary
- comfort items like photographs or a small plush toy
- a list of important medical information for each family member including
- health card number
- allergies (especially to medications)
- include what kind of allergic reaction you have (rash, hives, trouble breathing, etc)
- any preexisting conditions that may affect treatment
- pen and notebook to keep track of information you don’t want to forget/doctor’s instructions
Some Extras You May Want to Add
- a list of people you’ll need to contact/ a prayer warriors list (so you don’t forget anyone important)
- ear plugs and sleep mask in case you’ll want to block out some light and noise
- if you don’t usually keep your hair back, a hair tie may be useful to keep it out of the way during a hospital stay
Remember you’ll want to keep your hospital bag small and light. Don’t bring irreplaceable items.
We are probably going to keep the hospital bag either in an under the bed storage, or in the car. If we had a closet by the door we’d probably keep it there.
More From The Byzantine Life
So obviously I’m keeping things short this week! I was in the hospital for seven or eight hours, and the doctor decided I’d caught the flu. This was especially sad since I was scheduled to get the flu shot the following Sunday! Next year I’m totally going to get the shot from wherever starts giving the earliest.
Since I didn’t want to pass the flu on to Little Fox, Baba took her to get her flu shot on Monday. Apparently she didn’t even cry! She was a bit fussy in the evening, but hey, that’s what baby Tylenol is for.
Have you gone to the hospital for an emergency before? How was your experience? Is there anything I left out that you would put in your hospital bag? Let me know in the comments. Also check out our last article. It is about the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.
