This Easier yet, look at the back of their heads and see what they are doing. Two paper clips joined by a rubber band may have some promise.
I empathize: I’m trying to juggle eyeglass earpieces, hearing aids AND mask ear loops. My behind the ears real estate is overwhelmed. Have to wear glasses or fall down, have to wear a mask. Guess what stays home? Hearing aids, which gets interesting because other people’s masks muffle voices making it far more challenging to actually hear what is being said. Grrrrr…
Maybe a nurse can find you a mask with the two bands, one around the top of the back of your head and one around your neck.
Hope the kiddo keeps feeling better and better, escapes the ICU and you get enough sleep and sufficient decent food. Enjoy the socks and clean underwear
Thanks! Using suggestions here, I rigged up a simple and easily removable setup using long twist ties that wrap around the back of my head. A quick twist, and I can put it on or take it off easily.
It’s amazing what such a simple thing does to make me feel better.
And I agree with everything here. Everybody on the staff has been absolutely stellar to deal with, and have made a pretty awful time as good as it can be.
The cafeteria was a welcome surprise, in price and quality. Zero complaints!
How scary! Best wishes to her for a speedy recovery. I’m glad she’s getting the care she needs.
My daughter has spent several weeks in the Children’s Hospital, off and on. I would ask about the Social Worker. I would also ask if they have someone who handles teaching. Someone in that group was willing to coordinate her schooling with her school, and also helped verify why she was absent.
You might ask if you can take the mask off when no one is in the room. Every hospital is different, but I was able to do that and it was a huge relief.
It’s funny. I’ve spent the last several days in the hospital with my mom, and my mask is my security blanket. I’m wearing my own athletic n90 mask under the hospital’s surgical mask. I find the surgical masks comfortable, but mine puts enough pressure on my nose that it’s sore and looks funny when i get home. But no way do I want to take it off while I’m here. It’s a hospital. It’s full of sick people. (All the patients are tested for covid, and my mom is in the covid-free ward. But there are just a lot of people here.)
Everyone there is tested and followed all the protocols. I didn’t leave the room unless we were walking around, and then I was masked. I was masked any time someone came in. I felt safe. Considering all the testing and sanitizing and masking/face shields and distancing, it felt safer than most other places.
This is exactly how I did it, too. Whenever anybody came into the room I put my mask on, but when it was just family I would take it off. Once my kid’s Covid tests all came back negative, and they decided she didn’t have MIS-C, then the staff went to just masks, dispensed with the gowns, shields, and only used gloves for actual procedures and touching.
Oh, I definitely take it off when we are alone, but between PT, infectious disease, respiratory, the shift nurses, the surgery team, radiology, and the various miscellany… That certainly doesn’t seem like much time without it.
As someone who has been having to wear masks pretty much every day for months… in addition to those “extenders” you can also get a mask or two that are secured by tying them behind your head, then switch off between all three methods so you don’t wind up wearing holes in your skull.
Large paper clips, hook them together to get whatever length you need, then hook the masks loops through the clips. I’m probably not explaining this particularly well, though.
…or that…
Keep the other methods in mind, though. Not bad knowledge to have if you need to improvise again.
Wishing all the best for you, your daughter, and all those involved.
I second the notion of those who reminded you to take care of yourself. Being stuck in the hospital while a loved one is the patient is hard time – dog years.
Hope you’re all back … with minimal financial consequences and no health consequences … into the WY wind soon !
I’ve definitely been trying to keep rested. With my general disgruntlement today, I decided to get on the list for the “sleep suites” tonight. I didn’t want to, because maybe there are families that have more than just one person… But I need one night of good sleep, and I’ll be good for another week, I promise!
Get as much rest as you can and eat as healthy as you can, stay hydrated. It’s important for you to protect your health so you can continue to help your daughter.
I have a terrible tendency to simply not eat under such high stress circumstances. My friends and family know that sometimes just have to put the food in front of me and insist I eat, although I’ve gotten better at self-care over the years.
Yes to the Social Worker. My daughter is a social worker for pediatrics at a large famous medical institution (it starts with ‘M’ and ends with ‘o’). Needless to say, they get some very complex and bizarre cases.
Without violating HIPAA rules, she’s told us some fascinating stories how she gets patients to and from M - - o and helps them deal with home care. She has to deal with lots of agencies and hospitals in the surrounding states in the upper midwest (and around the world), so they know their stuff. The stories about the families! (One recent one was a patient who arrived in a bad state; the mother had been home-bound with a different medically vulnerable child for over six months. She had stopped in to just say ‘Hi’ but ended up talking with the mother for over 45 minutes, the mother’s first adult contact since the pandemic started.)
Easier yet, look at the back of their heads and see what they are doing. Two paper clips joined by a rubber band may have some promise.
