Returning to Say Thanks

I saw a story yesterday on NECN abouta woman who returned to Brigham and Women's Hospital six months after being disharged to say thank you to the staff. This woman almost died in a horseback riding accident and has the folks over at the Brigham and Women's to thank for her being able to walk down the hall on her own two feet. Like this woman...I also have to thank the amazing medical staff over at the Brigham for saving my life. It has been 14 years since I spent five weeks on 12C at the Brigham, but not a day goes by that I don't think of someone I met there. The week after I was discharged, back in 1993, I went out and got some water guns and Hershey Kisses to send to the nursing staff on the 12th floor. A couple of months later I went back to visit and say thank you. I remember my nurse (Karen St, Martin) running up to me, grabbing my cheeks exclaiming "Look at your color!". A few months later I was back again as a patient (liver biopsy) and Paul Farmer dropped by my room. Dr. Farmer was been my doctor that summer, he heard I was back in the hospital, and wanted to stop by to say hello and bring me a rose. I was thankful then....and even as recently as two years ago I got to tell him again. Two years ago Dr. Farmer was receiving an award at my church and I went to see him speak. I was sure to stick around at the end and say hello. I re-introduced myself, and he said he remembered me and gave me a hug. I said thanks again and burst into tears. I cannot thank the staff over there enough......I owe my life to them.......

Stay tuned for a photo tour of our trip to Maine......

Summer 2007

I last posted on May 31st and said I would give blogging another shot. Well...silly me hasn't posted since then....so here you go...another attempt at blogging on my part. B also recently told me that she likes blogs with pictures on them. So....I'm trying extra hard with this photo. I cannot tell a lie. This is an old photo. I believe these are some wild strawberries we picked in Auburn, ME back in 2006. This summer has been nice and filled with just as many fun activites as last year. We went to Boston Pride back in early June, and celebrated my birthday at Oleana, at a Red Sox game, and eating pizza with friends. On June 14th Massachusetts legislators voted in favor of gay marriage in Massachusetts! Yee haw! Elke came for a visit at the end of June. We went on a Charles Riverboat Constitution Turn-Around Cruise on July 4th. This was totally cool and definately recommend it for next year. We got visitors from up north and went to the Lantern Festival at the Forest Hills Cemetery with some family and friends. We went to Ogunquit recently and spent last Friday night at the Best Harry Potter Party Ever We had a fun time at Artbeat on Saturday and hung out at the farm on Sunday. Overall it has been non-stop. I'm tired just thinking about it and am looking forward to a little break from the on-the-go routine very soon. However...it has been fun. Stay tuned.....

Checking In

The few folks who read my blog have been asking me if I have given up on my blog. For the most part I have...but I'm going to give it one more shot......

We went to Provincetown to celebrate our 6th anniversary last weekend. We had a great time. We stayed at the Oxford Guesthouse on Cottage Street in the West End. If you get a chance to stay here......definately do it. Stephen, Trevor, Pete, Potter, and Jessye are super. I think this is my new favorite place to stay in Provincetown. The gardens were amazing, breakfast was yummy, our room was beautiful, and they had tasty treats out all day long. We had a series of fluky mishaps with telephone service and air conditioning, but they definately went the extra mile to get everything back up and running as quickly as possible. These guys are really great at giving people their space, but also fostering a welcoming environment. On Saturday night they had a cocktail party for the guests. I see why they won the Pink Choice award last year.

We did alot of other fun things in Provincetown too. We went on a whale watch and saw some cool humpback whales. We went to the beach and I got a sunburn. We ate lots of good food at Spiritus , Fanizzis , Terra Luna, Clem and Ursies and Lorraines. We did some shopping. We went to see Jennie McNulty at the Post Office Cafe. She was funny. We spent some time with a few friends too. We did the whole Boatslip, Pied, and Vixen bar circuit. Had fun at the Pied, but could have done without the other two. The streets were filled with roving gaggles of beer drinking girls like every Memorial Day weekend in Provincetown, but I think we did a good job at trying to achieve some peace.

On another front......the Boston Public Librarians will be distributing informational leaflets outside the Boston Public Library Foundation Annual Gala on June 8th from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. They will be gathering at the corner of Boylston and Dartmouth Streets at 6:00 p.m. to give out information relating their unresolved contract negotiations with the City of Boston relating to staffing, salaries, and health care. Join them to show your support! For more information email saveourlibrarians@gmail.com

Mini Egg Mayhem

I love Cadbury Mini Eggs. Every year I wait around for the Easter season to start....so I can get my fix of the mini eggs. Sadly they are only available once a year. Brenda knows about my love for the chocolate eggs and brought me home a super huge bag of them last night. Yummy. Unfortunately.....I have already eaten about two thirds of the bag. Once I get started....I cannot stop. I don't eat chicken eggs.....but I love these chocolate eggs. My favorite are the blue ones.....they look like robin eggs. How pretty. So much for my diet...it went right out the window this week. I'm going to gain the 30 pounds I lost right back if I keep this up. Not to mention that I have been blowing off going to the pool and the gym....and I also consumed great quantities of girl scout cookies and onion and garlic chips on Monday night. Maybe it has something to do with it being 9 degrees outside. It probably has more to do with my lack of self control. I seem to have given it up for lent.

My Uncle John

My uncle John passed away last Thursday. It was a surprise for all of us. He had a heart attack in the shower. He was only 49. This has been hard for me and my family. I hadn't see much of him in recent years, but have a lot of good childhood memories that include him. He spent a lot of time at my apartment with my mother and I shortly after my parent's divorce. Sometimes he would babysit. I remember watching tv (most likely the Love Boat) with him and laughing about the afghan my grandmother had made that had a lot of holes in it. She made it with love and it was warm, but we couldn't figure out why it was warm because it had so many holes. The holes were part of the pattern. We laughed so hard about that. Another time he came over and made us breakfast. This was a special occasion. I don't remember what he made us, but I do recall it involved eggs and milk. He loved milk. He drank more milk than anyone I had ever seen. John was a very sensitive person with an enormous heart. He loved his children more than anything else in the world. He will be missed.

I Love Sedatives

I had an ultrasound and an endoscopy last week at the BIDMC in Boston.

I hate having ultrasounds. I hate lying on the bed and having them slather that cold jelly-like substance all over my abdomen. I hate the feeling of them rolling that microphone shaped thing all over my liver and kidneys. I hate having ultrasounds because they bring me back to a time in my life when my liver disease was bad and the chances of my needing a transplant were likely. They didn't do the doplar ultrasound this time. They said it looked like my last ultrasound. I have a liver. My gall bladder is higher than most peoples. My liver isn't as healthy as everyone elses. Fortunately things have stayed the same. I most likely will be keeping my own liver for awhile.

After my ultrasound I ran over to the 8th floor in the Farr building for my endoscopy. I showed signs of portal hypertension in my liver a few years back so I have an endoscopy every two years to check for varices in my esophagus. Fortunately everything checked out ok. I hate having an endoscopy, but I love the sedatives. I even told this to the nurse who checked me in. I think she thought I was a little wierd. Heck...I am wierd. Since I cannot really drink...and should stay away from illegal drugs.....the sedatives are the best I can hope for.

After my procedure I spoke to my doctor for a few minutes. She told me that she wants me to come in for a biopsy at some point. We will talk about it when I see her in May. I was a little surprised by this because I thought if things looked good then we wouldn't go this route. I guess I was wrong.

I had something called a fibroscan a couple of weeks ago too. Fibroscans are approved in France and the BIDMC is doing research to get it approved in this country. The fibroscan sends a little soundwave into my liver and measures how squishy it is. Squishy was the exact term my doctor used. My fibroscan came back as a 9.3 This is high, but not cirotic...this is good news. They can't use this score as an official measure of what is going on (because it is only research), but it does give us some idea.

I also had a bone density test on the same day as the fibroscan. They said I was dense. This is cool...it isn't the first time I have been called dense. I have a bone density test every couple fo years because I was on that God awful Prednisone for so long. Lets hope I'll stay dense for a long time.

Helping HepCats

The Football Walk For Liver Wellness is coming up on Sunday, September 17th. You can make a difference in the fight against liver disease by walking or sponsoring a walker. Learn more about walking at the Football Walk website. You can also contribute by sponsoring the HepCats. Thanks for your support!

Everyone Needs a Virtual Assistant

Do you need someone to help you make the most out of your small or at home business? Let the Cybersecretary take on your administrative tasks. She'll do anything from website creation and maintenance to mailings and travel arrangements. Cybersecretary: where information age technology meets old-fashioned customer service!

Birthday 2006

I celebrated my birthday last weekend. I turned 33 on Sunday. A bunch of us went to see Deep Sea (3D) at Jordan's Furniture in Reading and had lunch at Fuddruckers on Saturday. We also played a fun duck game. The movie was great. I highly recommend seeing it if you can. The food at Fuddruckers was good, but we had some issues making a reservation. They were going to charge me $3.00 per person to make a reservation...we decided to not do this and play it by ear...and it worked out perfectly. The duck game rocked. I even won a stuffed duck. As you can see...it was an intense game.

The rest of my weekend was fun too. Brenda took me to eat at Garden of Eden and we went for a walk around Castle Island. I love the mac-n-cheese at Garden of Eden. Sunday I had breakfast with my dad and then went to Woodman's in Essex with Brenda, Mom and Russ. The line at Woodman's was insane...and it was hot, but it was worth the wait. After lunch we had some yummy Carvel ice cream cake. Thanks Mom and Russ. I love the chocolate crunchies. We spent the late afternoon at the farm getting our share and picking strawberries. That night Brenda made me some amazing strawberry shortcake with the berries we picked. Overall it was a wonderful birthday. Thanks to everyone who made my weekend special.

On another positive note. My Mom went to the doctor today. They said her tests came back and they look great. She is still cancer free. Yee haw! It has been two years since the surgery where they put her back together. Doctors used to say that people with colon cancer who went for five years without it coming back were not likely to have it return. They now say that folks need to be cancer free for five years. Reason being that the medications they now use are stronger and stick around longer. Two years down...three more to go. I'm hopeful that she will continue on a healthy path.

Happy Pride

Happy Pride! Just a fyi...the Pride Parade and Festival will be delayed by 1 hour in Boston tomorrow. The parade is now starting at 1:00 p.m. in Copley Square. The festival will go from 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. on the Boston Common. Read more about it at the Boston Pride. Looking forward to seeing y'all!

Save NPR and PBS

This just in from my friend Lisa G.......

Everyone expected House Republicans to give up efforts to kill NPR and PBS after a massive public outcry stopped them last year. But they've just voted to eliminate funding for NPR and PBS—unbelievably, starting with programs like "Sesame Street."

Public broadcasting would lose nearly a quarter of its federal funding this year. Even worse, all funding would be eliminated in two years--threatening one of the last remaining sources of watchdog journalism.

Sign the petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS again this year:
http://civic.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/

Last year, millions of us took action to save NPR and PBS, and Congress listened. We can do it again if enough of us sign the petition in time.

This would be the most severe cut in the history of public broadcasting. The Boston Globe reports the cuts "could force the elimination of some popular PBS and NPR programs." NPR's president expects rural public radio stations may be forced to shut down.

The House and Senate are deciding if public broadcasting will survive, and they need to hear from viewers like you. Sign the petition at:
http://civic.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/

Thanks!

P.S. Read the Boston Globe story on the threat to NPR and PBS at:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1864

Memorial Day Weekend 2006

We had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend in Provincetown. We got there mid-day on Friday and stayed until Monday afternoon. We stayed at Howard's End Guest House which is close to the monument and a good place to sleep if you are looking for quiet and affordable accomodations. We spent some time with other friends who were in Provincetown for the weekend. We went to Tea Dance at the Boatslip. Tea Dance at the Boatslip is nice because their deck is bigger than the Pied's and looks out over the ocean. We also spent quite a bit of time at the Clem and Ursies Happy Hour. Clem and Ursies has a happy hour from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. where they sell $1.00 oysters and shrimp. I don't eat seafood, but their watermelon lemonade is quite tasty. We had breakfast one day at Tips for Tops'n which is a local diner with standard american fare mixed in with some portuguese specialties. We had pizza at George's. I like George's because it is open year round and consistent. We also consumed a lot of espresso shakes and pizza at Spiritus. I love their espresso shakes so much that I am often tempted to drive all the way from Boston to Provincetown just to get one. We ate dinner at Cafe Edwige one night. Cafe Edwige is the only higher end restaurant I have eaten in Provincetown (other than Gallerani's) where I had no complaints. Edwige is definately worth a trip. We stopped into the new Bacchanal Wine Bar at the Vixen one night. I think this is going to be a nice place once they work out some of the new business kinks. They only offer an extremely expensive port by the glass, they notified us that the plumber hadn't been able to get there yet and the only thing I could order on the menu was water etc. We went for walk one morning. There is something wonderful about the early morning quiet of Commercial Street. We tried renting a skiff (16' wooden boat with a quipped wth 8 HP outboard motor) at Flyers Boats . Well...we did rent it, but had to turn around quickly when I realized that I was having a hard time driving straight. They were good to offer us four round trip Long Point shuttle tickets in return. It was an adventure. We laugh now. On Sunday Brenda's friend Janet came to spend the day with us. She took the Fast Ferry from Boston to Provincetown. I love the Fast Ferry. It gets you there in an hour and a half. You cannot beat it. We hung out downtown, went to Happy Hour at Clem and Ursies (I said we spent quite a bit of time here right?), and went for a walk on the dune trails at the ProvinceLands Visitor Center. The trails are nice there, but I wouldn't suggest exploring in the woods. We saw a lot of poison ivy. Unfortunately we had to head back to Boston on Monday, but we did get a chance to spend some time at the beach on our way out of town.

Support Internet Freedom

Companies like Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner, and Comcast are trying to decide what you read on the internet. Learn more about it at Save The Internet. Lucy's Kitchen Notebook also has a great posting that puts this issue into perspective. Contact your Representatives and Senators and let them know that you support internet freedom.

Medical Results

I had bloodwork last week and the results are in. All looks healthy on the liver front. My labs are all within normal limits. My doctor says I should stay on 100mg of azathioprine. Here are the stats:

ALT: 12
AST: 26
IgG: 1133

Speaking of healthy livers.....I never gave you the update on Molly's marathon run for the liver. She wasn't my official patient match, but I did get to know her through the liver team and she often referred to me as her honorary patient match. She was constantly reminding me that she was running for me as well. Molly is super enthusiastic and was honored with being named "Rookie of the Year" by the liver team. This is well deserved. She finished the marathon in 5:25:24. Congratulations Molly! You are "wicked" awesome!

Molly also told me about the Marathon Minute podcast. Early on I had joked that Molly should record a podcast documenting her training. She told me that two liver team members (Peter and Eliza) were already doing it. I was so psyched and subscribed right away. I do not know either Peter or Eliza, but I enjoyed listening to their weekly podcast. The marathon is over, but Marathon Minute is still worth checking out. They are currently working on a three part marathon day re-cap series.

My mom had a colonoscopy recently. She is cancer free, but they did see that she has significant diverticulosis. We were disappointed to hear the news. They said there is a good chance that she will need surgery at some point as a result. Looks like my mom won't be eating seeds any time soon.

Greg Lewis Peace Garden

I went to the Greg Lewis Peace Garden dedication at Mt. St. Joseph Academy (MSJA) today. The Peace Garden was designed by faculty members, Deirdre Clancy, and Ted Becker to honor Greg Lewis. They did a wonderful job at creating a memorial to an amazing religion teacher who made a significant difference in the lives of many young Catholic women in the Boston area.

I was delayed on my way to the dedication because of traffic on Western Avenue in Cambridge. It took me 35 minutes to get down a road that usually takes me one minute. I arrived late and was disappointed for two reasons. One, I was scheduled to read the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 1-17) during the ceremony and did not get there in time to do so. Two, I was not able to commemorate his life by participating in the dedication as I had hoped. I was late to the ceremony…but I can still celebrate what he did for me…

My freshman year at MSJA I remember having a conversation with my guidance counselor (Carolyn Dwyer) about how I was feeling like there wasn’t a place for me in the Catholic Church. My politics was very far to the left, I identified as a feminist etc. She reassured me that I would find my place. I just needed to keep looking. My sophomore year two events happened in my life that proved to me that she was right. One, I went on a retreat that made me realize that my relationship with God was a unique and individual experience that goes beyond celebrating church on Sunday and at school. Two, I took a religion class with Greg Lewis. The first class I took with Greg Lewis was called social justice. This was only the beginning. I ended up taking two (Death and Dying, Peace) other classes with him and got to know him by my involvement with the social justice club.

What Greg Lewis taught me is that we, as Catholics, have a responsibility to work towards social change in the world. He also showed me that we have the ability to change the world through our actions and ideas. Mr. Lewis opened my eyes to things like Liberation theology, the Catholic Worker Movement, and the Just War theory. These were all movements/ideas that I could identify with. They were all about justice, peace, and freedom from oppression. The major premise behind all of these being that that we need to treat each person with dignity and respect because we are all children of God. These are very empowering and important messages. In today’s world being Catholic can be difficult. However, it is these teachings that keep me coming back to church today. I am thankful to Greg Lewis for showing me that there is a place for me in this Church. I owe a big part of who I am today to him.

Much of what Greg Lewis taught is represented in the Beatitudes.

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. Jesus began to teach them, saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.

Easter Weekend 2006

Brenda and I both took yesterday off to go to the Boston Marathon and cheer on folks running for the American Liver Foundation's Run For Research Team. You all know I was matched with a super enthusiastic runner named Terri. She finished in 4:23:35. She did great. Congratulations to Terri for finishing. It has been great getting to know both Terri and her niece Kerri. I was initally also matched with Kerri, but she had a "knee injury" and needed to drop out a couple of months ago. I also met someone named Molly through Kerri...who is wicked cool and lives in my neighborhood. Molly ran for the liver team as well. These women rock and I really appreciate all the hard work they put in to support the work of the American Liver Foundation.

Sunday was Easter of course. We had dinner with my family in Belmont. Brenda made the most ham she has ever made in her life. It is a miracle it all fit in the pan and that we managed to get it all the way to Belmont without one spill. Plus...it was mighty tasty too.

Saturday we went to Parker's Baptism. Brenda and I were Godmothers...cool huh? Jen's brother was the Godfather. Parker is getting so big...he even turned over on his own recently. He is a cutie.

Speaking of babies. Cyn and Mike had their baby girl Charlotte on Friday afternoon. I am so psyched that she came early. I was getting anxious waiting for her to arrive. I think Cyn and Mike were too. We didn't get to the hospital to see her this weekend....because we were insanely busy...but we are going to meet her tonight. Yee haw! Congratulations!

Baseball Revisited

I was raised in Boston, MA. I was taught to love the Red Sox and hate the Yankees. That being said....I can honestly say that I never really followed what was going on until recently. I had an "ah ha" moment when the security guard at work started talking to me about the Red Sox this morning. I told him what I thought about the new players and even commented on yesterday's game. I realized at that moment that I had become a Red Sox fan. I started thinking about other ways this was showing itself. Over the weekend we went to Maine to celebrate Brenda's father's birthday. While there I spent some time with her 11 year old nephew. He is obsessed with two things right now...hunting...and the Red Sox. I didn't have too much to say about hunting...but I definately had some thoughts on the Red Sox. Tomorrow is opening day at Fenway Park. Lets hope these "boys of summer" can pull it off this year and that I will get to see them play as often as possible.

Big Bad Blogger

I was on a roll with blogging back in January and early February, but I have since lapsed. I really mean to be a good blogger...but I just can't get it together. Some people like Sigh Club and Biotic are great about putting good stuff out there. Not me. So....this is what I have been up to since February 7th.

We went out to celebrate Brenda's Birthday on February 10th. We had some folks over for pizza and then headed over to Toast. I consumed too much Red Bull and rocked out to 80's music with Brenda, Dave, and Erin.

We had a great Valentines Day. We rented a Hot Tub at Urban Oasis and went out to eat.

I went to Hartford to have lunch with Meg and talk to some 2nd graders about liver disease on February 17th. These 2nd graders rock!

I went to the Boston Comic Book Spectacular on February 19th. I finally found issues of Rawhide Kid. Marvel's gay cowboy comic book hero. Rawhide Kid came out three years before Brokeback Mountain. Who knew?

I had dinner with my friends Nora and Bill on February 23rd. Nora and Bill were my neighbors when I was growing up. I spent a lot of time at their house when I was young. I love seeing them.

We went to see the Oscar nominated documentary shorts at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on February 27th. I love seeing these shorts every year. I feel lucky to see them at all. They don't usually show in theatres. Although...it seems the Academy really likes depressing topics.

We went to Cynthia's baby shower on March 12th. Yee haw. I cannot wait for the baby to come.

We also went to a surprise birthday party for Jen that night. Happy 30th Jen!

We brought my cousin Rachel to a maple sugarhouse on March 19th. The 19th was her 15th birthday. Happy Birthday Rachel. We took a really cool tour and got some yummy maple syrup. I would highly recommend the Warren Farm and Sugarhouse in North Brookfield if you are in the area.

I started to feel the beginnings of a cold on the 19th. I ended up with a virus that morphed into an ear infection. I was out of work for almost a week. I took antibiotics, stayed home, and consumed a lot of liquids. I am feeling a lot better these days.

We took my step-dad to a Boston Bruins on March 25th to celebrate his birthday. We beat the Buffalo Sabres 5 to 4. Russ' actual birthday was on March 28th. Happy Birthday Russ.

My mom and I took a ballroom dance class that met once a week for eight weeks in Cambridge. Our last class was on March 29th. We learned foxtrot, rhumba, and waltz. It was a lot of fun. I'm bummed it is over. I actually ran into someone who I went to grammar school and day-care with in my dance class. Small world huh? We also met a nice couple named Steve and Anne. Steve is originally from Dorchester. I love meeting people from the neighborhood.

My step-father ended up in the hospital last Friday night. He was having chest pains at work so they sent him to the hospital. He stayed the night and had a stress test the next morning. Everything looked ok. They don't think it was a heart attack. His doctor prescribed him Zantac. He is home now.

We went to see little Parker on Saturday. He is such a cutie patootie. He is getting so big. Brenda and I are looking forward to being godparents.

Saturday night we went to see Mike and Cynthia's new condo in Salem. It is a nice place...and the rooms are big. Congrats to Cyn and Mike.

Last night we tried to go to the Wolfe Women's Final Four Party at Club Cafe. Both Sheryl Swoopes and Sarah Shahi were there. Unfortunately we got there a little bit too late and were unable to get in. We ended up eating dinner at Laurel and getting drinks at Jurys. It was a lot of fun. There were tons of women around since things were so busy at Club Cafe.

Vital Records

In the archives/records world we refer to birth and death records as vital records. Today is a day to celebrate births and remember the lives of those who have gone. B is celebrating a birthday today. Happy Birthday B! I'm very happy that you were born and are in my life. We also remember the life of Coretta Scott King. We celebrate the contribution she has made to civil rights in this country.

Medication Mayhem

On February 1st I posted that my mom had been diagnosed with diverticulitis and was exposed to the flu while she was a patient at the hospital. I also noted that she had been prescribed a seven day course of tamiflu as a prophylactic thing. I was happy to know that the hospital was at least trying to prevent my mother from getting influenza. I was annoyed when I found out that her insurance company would not pay for the $97.00 prescription when she was released on Tuesday. She is currently arguing with her insurance company to get her money back. She is also planning on contacting the hospital to complain about the fact that they put her at risk by allowing her to be exposed to the flu. I think the hospital should pay for the medication. Everyone is at risk for nosocomial infections when they go into a hospital, but I also feel that the hospital should be held accountable.