Huh - Who Knew?

If you've had surgery in the past 10 years, you know that the OR is freezing, frozen, icy cold.  And you are wearing a "gown" with all the thick, incredible warming powers of a sheet of newspaper.  If you're still awake when they roll you in and if you're me (unlikely - who'd want to be?) you are going to complain.  Between teeth chatterings.

And then a heavenly being, wearing scrubs for some reason,  appears and covers you with a sheet of plastic.  As you start to bitch about the dubious warming capabilities of said plastic, she hits a switch and the "sheet" morphs into a cloud of bliss as it is inflated with hot air.  "Ahhhh,"you sigh.  "This is better than the first sip of champagne, the warm cozies as you thump your belly after a Thanksgiving dinner ... and quite possibly sex."

And as your muscles relax and your surgery fears dissipate, all is well.  Blissfully you drift off unaware and uncaring if they're going to remove your appendix or do a heart transplant.  You're warm.

What I didn't know until my cousin landed in Loma Linda, Murrietta, is that your hospital room is going to be just as cold as the OR was.  Germologists (?) believe there are fewer chances of infection in a cold temperature than a warm (and humid) one. 

So the "who knew?" is that the nurses bring hot blankets on request.  There is a hot blanket locker on every patient floor in most hospitals. 

There is, however, some sinister reasoning behind this "Oh, you're cold?  Let me get you a warm blanket" on the part of the nurses.  Warm patients don't get out of bed seeking warmth.  They stay there where they can't hurt themselves getting out of bed and stumbling around to find a warm place.  Much less work for the nurses who have to get the patient back to bed and the  housekeeping staff who has to mop up burst IVs and blood.  Every good deed does have a reason behind it.