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One year I was hospitalized for observation purposes because doctors could not discern why I was having a medical problem. I became roommates with a woman who had the type of problem doctors suspected might be ailing me. I did not have enough symptoms to support their theory, however, so the nurses monitored me and took my blood and wheeled me around for testing.

One of the tests I had to have was put off for a day because a scheduling mix up occurred. I was very upset about the mix up because if I had received the test on time, I might have been cleared and released from the hospital on the day of the testing.

I remember feeling trapped and claustrophobic because I do not like hospitals. Even when my children were born, my primary goal in life always became to get out of the hospital. Hospitals are filled with germs. Hospitals are filled with people I do not know. Hospitals are filled with coughing, sneezing, vomiting, blood, fluids, other people's urine.

I know this sounds gross and disgusting and that some people, perhaps most people, tolerate these things better than I do. My problem is, I am a bit of a germaphobe, to put it lightly. While in a hospital, it becomes problematic for me to run a shower because I do not want to touch the knobs. I usually wind up washing them while using them and then I am fine. Problem is, after anyone else uses the facilities, I wind up having to wash them again - and so the cycle goes.

In addition to my germ problem, I am a bit of - no a huge insomniac - I mean seriously, I can wake up on a dime and stay awake for hours before falling back to sleep - if I am lucky enough to get to sleep again that night. For this reason, I do not like it when the nurses awake me to take my temperature, give me medication, draw my blood, or any of the things nurses must awake patients for. It is not the nurses themselves that is problematic. I certainly appreciate nurses; in fact, I have nurses in my family. It is just that once someone or some thing awakes me in the night, I never know when I will get back to sleep again. Sometimes, the dawn comes and I do not get back to sleep.

Then there is the bed. Sure hospital beds have those nice features that let you raise and lower your legs and your upper body. These features come in handy when your legs need extra elevation and when you are ready to eat in bed. These features do not really make hospital beds comfortable however, at least, not for me. I personally love waterbeds. When you get in

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