Being in hospitals causes a lot of negative memories to surface in my conscious mind.
When I was young, my uncle was slowly dying from cancer from inside of the University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor.
My mother used to take me several times a week to visit him, and at times we would take strolls through the courtyard outside. Although I knew little about what was going on at the time, looking back makes me sad whenever the memories return. Years later I had to stay in a hospital as a patient for several weeks after getting hit by a car on my bicycle. I was thrown from my bike and sustained a number of injuries from my face down to my legs. My stay in the hospital was frustrating at the time because I wanted nothing more than to have my injuries healed so I could play outside with my friends again. Every morning when I woke up it was like reliving a nightmare over and over. And on top of that horror, I froze the entire time I was there. Even with extra blankets I was constantly shivering from the strong air conditioning. I found out later that hospitals keep their interior air heavily conditioned to knock down on pathogens and the transmission of bacteria and viruses. Mold doesn’t grow at certain temperatures and moistures levels as well. Mold and pathogenic fungal spores like C-Difficile are major threats inside hospitals, regardless of the outdoor climate. They had the air conditioner set to a cold temperature to keep all of the patients as safe as possible. I just wish the blankets they gave me at the time had been warmer.