We know him for mass produced design collaborations with companies like Target and Disney, but industrial design’s household darling shifted some of his focus onto the more obscure realm of healthcare furniture design after he became paralyzed eight years ago. The above video details his four-piece furniture suite for hospital rooms, a collaboration between Michael Graves Design Group, Stryker, and Capital Health.

In 2009 Michael Graves formed a design partnership with one of the world’s great medical technology companies, Stryker, to address “the last frontier in healthcare design, the patient room.” The two companies worked together to conduct months of ethnographic research, studying the environment and the way current furniture is being used. The result of this joint venture is a suite of patient room furniture which demonstrates Graves’ philosophy that objects in healthcare environments can have a symbolic as well as a pragmatic function, with straightforward solutions that combine simple utility, functional innovation and elevated aesthetics.

In a New York Times interview last spring, Graves suggested that the current collection will not be the end of his collaboration with Stryker, explaining that “We’re cleaning up the patient room and ultimately everything you’d expect someone like me to do in a hospital besides technical equipment, as well as the room itself.”

Well, here I am again. Back for more treatment.  Just as I started feeling like myself again, brain is functioning, dizziness and nausea receded, personality returned, and now it starts again.   I,ve got a private room for a few days which is better for sleep.   The ward is looking all christmassy which is a reminder that I need to get this crap done before Xmas so I can enjoy the time with the boys.

The staff are incredibly friendly here . They really welcome you back, ask how you are, make you feel cared for.  They take the time to connnect and reassure which I appreciate.  My resident doc is very handsome which I also really appreciate!

My gorgeous friend Kate has brought me dinner from newtown, falafel ,hummous, salad. She is also setting me up with a lap top and wi fi. – how kind is she !! 
My head is now fully shaved – nurse did it for me as I now was becoming very Norman gunston in style. It feels kind of liberating and less itchy. I’m not brave enough to go bare headed yet…..

“No, it’s more like a hospital room.”

That’s what I told my brother over Skype this morning. While my hall is considered one of the nicer halls at St. Andrews, I find it pretty comparable to a hospital room. The color of my duvet [light, fading lime green], miniature television from the 1990′s hanging in the corner, and weird-patterned curtains over the window don’t help the ambiance either. But it’s a place to sleep, and it has central heating–hallelujah!

Today, I’m thankful for the body of Christ, and the way we’re equipped to care for each other’s needs.

[Side note: you might think that the building pictured is my residence hall, but it's not. Someday I'll take a picture of the complex. This, however, is what just about every building in town looks like.]

Sitting in bed waiting for the nurse to bring me medicine to calm my nerves and make me sleepy. So finally the time came my nurse brought my medicine I took it and before I knew it I was in the operating table getting an iv put in and slowly being put to sleep. I had my chest done, my neck (because of it was too tight from my scar tissue), and my upper left lip because I had too muck fat in the one side compared to the right. I woke up severly times however I cannot really remember much of that, I know I asked strange questions but I cannot really remember what they were.

Before Surgery:  

We drove in silence.
It was deafening.
I, a mere passenger.
He, the hand sent
leant to teach me.
.

It appeared that it was time,
and I suppose it was,
because my footprints vanished in the wake.
.

The salty residue reminded Him that I was cured.
.

Now ready for fulfillment,
my will gave way to submission
which told me that I was no longer in control.
.

Frames of time,
became fleeting memories,
as I found that I was no longer waiting
in that hospital room.
.

The salty residue reminded Him that I was cured.
.

As we drove,
the frames of my youth became frames of age and suffering.
As we drove,
the silence turned into a glorious symphony, expanding
all sounds into the light
and I began to fill.
.

My salty residue crystalized
and colours shown more brilliant.
As we passed over, the symphony
capitulated to the sounds of silence…
this is where I will end, so you can
put my clothing in a brown paper bag,
to go home to arrange my funeral.
All that I ask of you, is to speak well
of me, for
I am only a mere passenger.
;

-dld Oct. 30, 2010

—— —— ——

for T10 ➞ On Location, Mondays: A hospital waiting room➞ Take it Away, Tuesdays: We drove in silence.➞ Words, Inc., Wednesdays: (1) appear, (2) salt, and (3) frame➞ Plot Thickens, Thursdays: A brown paper bag➞ Member’s Pick, Fridays: Footprints

"Upscale" private room

Like the shades? They belong to an RN named David. It was the only way I would consent to be photographed.  

Okay, an example of involuntary travel here. For whatever reason you have just found yourself in either a mental health wing/floor at a hospital or have your own room at your local Sunnyvale Asylum. I’ve done this one a few times; and the rules are a little different for the two and also depend on whether you are there of your own free-ish will, i.e. sane enough to ask someone to take you to one, or rather arrived there in the back of a police car with or without handcuffs.

In the worst case scenario, you have either just tried to off yourself or have gone batshit in a public place but in such away you did not hurt anyone else. (If someone else is hurt, the process is different and usually includes a cell.) Next you were processed at your local ER and it was decided that you were going to live. Step two of the process is an either/or. You will be 

a) escorted to a tighter security mental health wing of the hospital where you will be very throughly searched outside and in and then watched for 72 hours. And I do mean watched. You will not sleep, eat, or pee alone. You will be dressed in either a hospital robe or in sweat shorts and a cotton one piece shirt so that you will not be able to conceal anything or hang yourself. All of your personal effects will be taken from you…and you will be entirely reliant on staff for care. After that there will be a communal evaluation by your physicians to decide whether or not you need longer term care. During that watch period you will not be allowed to communicate at all with the outside world. Or they with you. 

b) taken directly to a long term care facility where you will be watched for seven days with all of the above occurring again but in less pleasant surroundings. 

In either place, there will be medications, dietary restrictions, restricted visitation rights (if any), and almost no civil rights until your doctors adjudge you sane enough not to hurt yourself or others. Restraints -physical and chemical – can also play a role. As can electroshock therapy. 

My best advice to involuntaries? Co-operate. Do what you are told when you are told and do not play games with your keepers. Believe me they have seen it all. And they can hold you as long as they choose. And stay away from the other patients as much as you can. They might be crazier than you are. Nonetheless try not to be offensive to them either, it is a good idea to cultivate a polite aloofness here.

If you are a voluntary committal, then almost all of the above still happens but you have more rights. You can contact people in the outside world and you can have more regular visitors. You may be allowed to keep some of your possessions, and will certainly be allowed to keep your own clothes within reason. Dangerous items will still be taken away from you, however, and you will have to go through the watch period. You have more say in the course of treatment and in your daily schedule. You can discharge yourself from care at almost any time. I still recommend being courteous to employees and to your medical aid workers. They can always decide that you might need to have your status change to “involuntary” if you make their lives too hard or dangerous. 

I will write more and more in depth on this topic later but those are the very basics…there are obviously more things to cover, like the difference in private and public facilities and the levels of care, how much this is going to cost you ( mentally, physically, and financially), and what to expect in system. I’ll cover all that later when I am not so tired.

Ecuador ‘coup’: 50 injured in clashes

“We’ve treated 50 people in Quito for medical emergencies due to asphyxiation due to tear gas and impacts from pellets and teargas canisters,” said Jorge Arteaga, a Red Cross spokesman.

Most of the injured had been involved in clashes outside the hospital where president Rafael Correa is being held.

Mr Arteaga said that injuries were also reported in other Ecuadoran cities where rebel police took to the streets.

Mr Correa was holed up at Quito’s National Police Hospital, where he was taken after a tear gas canister exploded near him when he addressed rebellious police at a barracks nearby.

Although the police are surrounding the hospital and preventing him from leaving, Mr Correa told ECTV television that he is still running the country.

“They’re not letting me out,” Mr Correa said. “They’ve got all the hospital exits surrounded.

“Obviously, it’s a kidnapping, when you kidnap the president,” he added.

Mr Correa said he would not negotiate with the officers while he remains a captive.

“I’d rather die,” he said.

Ecuador’s president defiant after hospital rescue

A defiant Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa returned safely to the presidential palace late Thursday after spending hours held by police inside a hospital room outside Quito.

Minutes earlier, members of the Ecuadorian army — wearing gas masks — rescued him, a reporter for Ecuadorian Television reported.

Speaking from a balcony, Correa told thousands of jubilant supporters that he saw one person who was shot during the rescue, which he regretted.

He thanked his supporters — in particular his bodyguards — for standing behind him and said the rebel police effort to oust him had failed.

“Nobody has supported the police as much as this government, nobody has increased their salaries as much,” he said about police protests about what they thought were salary cuts. “After all we’ve done for the police, they did this!” he said, adding that he was held inside the room and not allowed to leave.

“Supposed national police!” he spat. “Shame on you!”

See also:
Ecuador coup attempt? President Rafael Correa attacked in police revolt.
Ecuador’s president attacked by police
State of Siege Declared Over Ecuador Coup
Coup d’état continues in Ecuador
Ecuador’s leader trapped after ‘coup attempt’
Ecuador President Hurt During ‘Coup Attempt’
Correa Claims Ecuador Coup Attempt After Scuffling With Police
Unrest In Ecuador: Protesting Security Forces Seize Airport
Protesting police, soldiers seize Ecuador airport
Ecuador Declares State of Emergency
Ecuador declares state of emergency as country thrown into chaos
Ecuador state of emergency: Your emails
Peru closes border with Ecuador after coup attempt
Colombia Seals Off Border with Ecuador
Colombia joins Peru in closing borders with Ecuador
Troops free Ecuador president
Ecuador president rescued amid police, military clash
Ecuador unrest: Rafael Correa returns to presidential palace
Ecuador’s President Freed From ‘Police Siege’
Troops storm Ecuador hospital and free Correa

Obviously, it’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on in Ecuador at the moment, although it seems that it might be a failed coup attempt.

/if so, all I can say is better luck next time, Rafael Correa is a close protégé of oppressive socialism poster boy and enemy of the United States, Hugo Chavez

I was getting; a lot; of, medications! Steroids; by, IV; basic, antibiotics; by, IV; airway medications; in, nebulizer treatments; an, Advair Inhaler; twice a day.

My, diabetes medications; had; to be; increased; because, of the steroids; and; I was; getting; an, insulin shot. (My, Blood Glucose; did not; return; to normal; until, I went off; the steroids; anyway).

If You Could Only Get Some Sleep!!!

Up; in, the elevator; and; then, out; to the Second Floor; and; of course; down, to the Room. In, a two-bed room; mine, was; the bed; near, the bathroom; and; the door. A very, nice; room; with, phone; and; cable TV. I was; starving; and; they, offered; to tell me; that, they, had called; the kitchen; to get; whatever; for, lunch. I got; a sandwich, juice, and, some, fruit and jello. Just, fine; til dinner at 5:00PM!!!  

I could, use; the bathroom; by, pushing; the IV; along, in front; of me. Cable T.V.; again, was great; as, I do not; have cable; at, home.  

I called; the cats; and; the Hamster; again. Phone messages; are great; in, one’s; own, voice; as, I had to be; so, apologetic; for, their, first; experience; and; mine; of, my; not returning; home; on, the same, day; that, I left. (An, OverNight).  

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Ruadh DeLone Portföy

(k: behance)

In Hospital at Christmas

My mother was in the hospital during Christmas week. She’s fine now; she had pneumonia which was caught early enough. She lives in a personal care home and has a whole long list of ailments, and it’s a surprise she’s as well as she is. Visiting during the holidays was not so dull as one might think as the whole hospital was decorated as well as the staff, and the nurses and aides kept her room neat and clean and kept her company along with giving her “Frosty”.

Looking, at dusk, out of my hospital room window at the front drive of Virginia Baptist Hospital…

Copyright © 2009 D L Ennis, All rights reserved.

NOTE: Permission for the use of my images is granted for personal websites and blogs (THAT MEANS NO ADS AND NO SELLING OF ANY KIND) but is to include a link back to this site and proper credit given to me, D L Ennis. Link to be used…(Visual Thoughts http://dlennis.wordpress.com/)

NOTE: Commercial use, and the creation of prints, must be purchased! For more information you can contact me here.

Thank you to my husband for fighting hard to get it for me, and Theresa (RN) for reserving it!