> Thank you to my friends, family and doctors as well. Their support during this time was unwavering and I’m not sure what would have happened without them. “Nothing good” is what a nurse said when I posed that question to her.

I've always been told (and this has been true over the 4 or 5 times I've been hospitalized in my life) that having someone there for you, to support you and also to serve as your 'patient advocate' (so helping making sure all of the questions are asked of the doctors and stuff like that) has a definite positive effect on medical outcomes. In my cases, it was my family filling this role.