Last week, I visited a friend in the hospital.
Whenever I’m in the hospital, I have my physio and support workers come and visit me often. I have a steady stream of people coming in and out and I find it overwhelming and exhausting. If I have a friend ask if they can come see me, the answer is usually “no” because any time I have alone, I have rest, which is what I need the most.
So, I went to the hospital to visit a friend, allowing it to be a quick visit and saying to myself “I’ll drop a git off and leave after 5 minutes so that she’s not overwhelmed”.
When I got there, I ended up staying for 30 minutes. It was when I was there that I realised that all of her support network of people are either interstate or live rurally and don’t come to visit. She was lonely.
Added to this, she’d been in for leg surgery. When I’ve needed to be admitted to hospital, it’s been because I’ve been incredibly sick and needed a lot of care. Whereas my friend was laying down in bed all day feeling mostly fine. She was bored and really wanted visitors as distractions.
My assumption that her experience in the hospital would be the same as mine was totally incorrect.
As with my last blog about assumptions, it’s always best not to assume things about another person when it comes to their care, and always just ask instead. This is the most empowering thing you can do when supporting someone.
How do your assumptions can actually hinder rather than empower?