My mornings started around 6 or 7 AM, depending on staff. Someone would come in asking, “What you want for breakfast?”

“What are my choices?”

“Coffee? Coffee or chocolate?”

“Do you have tea?”

“Tay? Yes.”

So they’d bring me a soup bowl full of hot water and a Lipton tea bag. That’s it for drinks. Breakfast was half of a French baguette—just bread and tea.

The baguette was hard and crunchy with a little soft inside. Since I hadn’t had a bowel movement since Tuesday—and this was now Friday—I knew eating bread wasn’t going to help that situation. So I’d generally tear off about a spoonful of bread, eat that with my tea, and take my drugs.

Then came the bath, which we covered. But here’s what they didn’t tell me: after a sponge bath in bed, all my sheets were soaking wet. So then they had to do a sheet change, which was incredibly painful.

I still couldn’t lift either leg, and every time they tried to help, they’d grab me by the heel. “No, don’t lift from the heel because it hurts,” I’d say. But the words “heel,” “leg,” “calf”—none of that translated.

So I had to do sign language with each nursing staff member: “This is my leg, right? This is my foot. No lift from here—no lift from the heel. Lift here, mid-calf.” Some got it, some didn’t. The ones who didn’t would just grab my heel and start talking while moving their hands around and twisting my leg. I’d be crying in pain, and they’d just say, “Oh, sorry.”

Sheet changes required three people: one to lift each leg, one to help turn me so I could reach the side and pull what I could, plus someone to shove sheets down one side. Then I’d roll and we’d do the same on the other side.

After all that movement—bath, sheet change, everything—my pain levels would skyrocket. I’d beg for more pain meds, but they’d be stingy. They’d give me one or two Tylenol, and when I asked, “Can I have more?” the answer was always “No, no, no.”

The Visiting Hour Police

Visiting hours were technically 1:00 to 4:00, then 5:00 to 7:00. Otherwise, the doors were locked. Dannella would try to sneak in early, but someone would come in and kick her out. By 7:00, they 100% kicked her out—literally saying, “Seven o’clock, I’m calling security. You need to leave.”

It was insane. Just “Nope, gone.” So Dannella made sure she was out before 7:00 to avoid any problems.