I’m going to visit a good friend in hospital tonight, he’s been in since christmas and has got a long way to go yet.
He’s starting to get down about how serious the situation is and how long he’s got to stay in, particularly as he has a 10 week old daughter at home.

Trying to think of things to take him that’ll lighten the mood and give him something to do.

Any suggestions? All I’ve come up with is a copy of Razzle and 20 B&H…

A bacon roll.

An airfix model.

Lego.

A mate of mine was in for a while too, I brought along a caffetiere (sp) a flask of hot water and I brewed up some fresh coffee for him. Only works if your mate likes coffee though!

Airfix model is a great idea, I’ll deffo grab one at lunch.

Has the hospital got wifi? Beg/borrow/steal a tablet or laptop and shout him a Netflix sub while he’s in there. There’s no contract so you can cancel once he’s out.

Should keep him entertained between visitors.

WillH, good suggestion, but he’s a bit of an apple fanboi so he’s already got his ipad / iphone etc. I’ll check on the wifi though, could always get him a mobile hotspot thing to tether to if not.

Good stuff to read and a notebook and a pen. Long spells in hospital can be quite transformative, you never in your life get so much time to think without interruption. Its a waste of that opportunity if you just fill that time with boredom-quenching distractions.I know a few people who’ve forged new careers after long stay on a ward.

Just five days with my feet up last year was long enough to make some pretty significant changes in the way I work

So a notebook. Use the time to make plans

– Kindle preloaded with books

– Maybe a spotify (or similar) subscription so he can listen to/discover some new music

A pizza and a couple of cold beers cheered me up no end when I was in last year.
The beers were technically not allowed but nobody noticed 🙂

A friend was in for months with pregnancy complications. A rolling programme of mates with takeaways worked well.

WiFi etc been mentioned, airfix, Lego, kindle, magazines for his interests in either physical or digital form, depending on how “specialist” his interests are.

Not Safe For Work:

Part of the solution, I’ll leave you with how to find the other half

http://www.annsummers.com/p/naughty-nurse-costume/17ododas1224053

If you get an airfix kit can I ask you – as a former hospital domestic – to please get him a cutting mat too. It’s amazing how many of the tray tables in our hospital were covered in gouges and little blobs of glue from people’s craft projects – you could never get them looking properly clean again.

lemonysam – Member
If you get an airfix kit can I ask you – as a former hospital domestic – to please get him a cutting mat too. It’s amazing how many of the tray tables in our hospital were covered in gouges and little blobs of glue – you could never get them looking properly clean again.

will do.

WiFi etc been mentioned, airfix, Lego, kindle, magazines for his interests in either physical or digital form, depending on how “specialist” his interests are.

I have little shame so dont mind buying anything ‘for a friend’.

A vajankle.

I was in an ICU for a bit when I was 20, and once I was out of danger and ready to receive visitors, my mates turned up with a Sega Megadrive and a gram of coke which in all seriousness they thought would be a really nice idea to put into the bag for my drip 😯

I politely declined

Since Xmas already, I was ready to make a break for freedom after 3 weeks!

Airfix might be good idea – of course based on the proviso that craning over a load of glue or handling sharp knifes isn’t at odds with their condition.

Personally, Hospital Time is slow and gives you far too much time to think you’ll take anything to melt away a few hours till next feeding time – I had a laptop, headphones and a pile of DVD’s – more DVD’s was always a great gift because the little shop just sold knackered old ex-lovefilm discs for about 3 times what they cost new in supermarkets.

I would have loved to read too, but I had both arms in casts so couldn’t hold a book for long – but otherwise they’d been great – a film might only last 2 hours – you can read a book for days.

[video]http://youtu.be/zj6Vg5Mirg4[/video]

in all seriousness – if he has a young daughter at home he’s missing i’d get him something to help that situation

just some daft ideas

wifi dongle for Skype calls
scrap book to make a picture book of her baby years
book or audio book on ‘being a good dad’
shotgun & teenage daughter online management course (maybe a bit premature)