The Bishop Foote Guest House

I am staying in a single room at the Bishop Foote Guest House.  My room is small, but I have plenty of room for all of my things.  And I even have my own tv (surprised that I've never even turned it on?)  Bed and bathroom linens are provided.  Unless I specify, my sheets with be changed weekly.  I can put a sign on my door anytime I want them to come in and get used towels, or I can reuse or wash them myself (there is a washer and dryer - VERY nice machines - on the lower level/basement).  No detergent is supplied, but sometimes people leave what's left of theirs, and everyone's pretty friendly and helpful if I would need to borrow.  I am in room number 8.  When you walk in the back door, you go down one step to the right and there are three single rooms in that nook...mine is in the middle.  There are also two chairs in a little corner.  If you go straight from the door, you go downstairs to the basement where there are some double and single rooms and two bathrooms (along with linens and the washer and dryer).  If you turn left from the door, you go up 4 stairs, and in a little landing area there is fridge number one, trash, and a phone with important info and numbers listed (there is a shuttle that you can call to take you around the hospital's campus).  That room leads into the kitchen with another fridge, counters, cooking and bake ware, stove, sink, microwave, pantry, and coffee machine.  You are assigned a fridge and you can store things anywhere in it as long as you label it with your name and/or room number.  Everyone has a shelf in the pantry (the doors swing easily in and out to get in there), and then there are extra plastic bags, newspapers, etc to share.  Everyone supplies their own food, and when you leave if you have things that aren't empty, there are special cabinets to put them in so future residents and use if needed.  There's also a drawer with basic supplies like pens, markers, paper, etc. and a drawer with lots of extra kitchen linens.  There is always hot coffee in the machine - they never turn it off!  After using the kitchen everyone is supposed to clean everything they used and wipe down any spills.  All dishes must be put in the dishwasher (or left in the sink for staff to put in the dishwasher) to ensure all items get sterilized properly.  It's nice though, that I can leave dishes I'm going to reuse - such as a water cup - on the counter and it doesn't get put in the dishwasher too often (only right before someone runs it).  I made sure this was acceptable, and was told it was, by all means fine to do.

The dining room is on the other side of the kitchen, there are two nice tables and a really old piano (the keys are wood!).  From there, you enter the living room.  It is very big and all of the seating options are VERY comfortable (they are fairly new too, so they look really nice).  Lots of books to borrow on the walls, large flat screen tv.  And, the best part, is that it is ALL normal furniture, not mass bought industrial furniture, but normal everyday high-end house furniture.  It helps it feel much more homey.  There are two more double rooms in an alcove on the right side when you walk into the living room, along with a third bathroom.  The bathrooms all are very large and have lots of towels, disinfectants, extra chairs/counters, and blow dryers.  There are magazines in the living room too.  There is also a computer to use and currently there is a Christmas tree.   Gabrille Moore's office is in a room off of the far end of the living room.  She runs the house and is really nice.  She and the housekeeper (who is meticulous in her cleaning, so it's always clean everywhere - today she even took apart the top of the stove and washed everything - it wasn't even considerably dirty). are only here from 10 am to 3 pm on weekdays, but if I need anything or just need to talk, she is super helpful and you can tell she really likes her job and helping people.

It is about a 5 minute walk to Dr. Griffiths office or the hospital (they are directly across from each other about  two blocks from the Foote House.  The grocery stores (Winco and Whole Foods) and Walgreens are about 15 minutes away by sidewalk.

Everyone staying at the house is either going through treatment, accompanying someone going through outpatient treatment (many do radiation and stay here if they live a few hours away since this is the closest hospital).  There are also some people who stay here who are supporting someone staying at the hospital - even if that person never stays at the house.  Everyone is super helpful and friendly.  That's just the general Boise them though.  All the caregivers in the Foote House tell me they'd be more than happy to help me if I need something.  Today, I went to lunch and grocery shopping with Mary (who's here support her brother in ICU), and then in the evening, I dropped my room keys under the recliner and couldn't locate them (and couldn't look everywhere due to my pain), so she helped me find them.  Because I had lost them when I got stuck in the recliner, and getting out had been so extremely painful and time consuming, I didn't have it in me to get to the store tonight to get a prescription for my pain killer.  I most likely will be fine until tomorrow, but if my pain elevates and I have to reinstate two pills versus the one pill per four hours I was able to switch to this morning, I might have run out over night.  Even though she's tired and fighting a cold, she was more than happy to pick up the script for me.  Riding in cars is kind of painful right now, and since I had just made my body ache so bad, I really had no desire to go with her, and she was still happy to run up there for me.  Even though I am a long ways from home and didn't really know more than one person when I left home, I feel extremely supported and safe out here!  I have a lot of people I can call if I get in a bind (and of course Dr. Griffiths himself is only a 10 minute drive away, so I could always fall back on him if I got desperate).  Even the hospital staff are supportive.  I have been very upfront and honest about where I'm at and where I've been mentally over the last 8 months and the support has been great.  Dr. Griffiths felt the need to assure me he really believed mental illness was just as serious a disease and out of my control as heart disease.  He also asked me if I thought it might be helpful for me to get the psych staff involved while I was in the hospital.  I felt confident I would be fine and reassured him if that changed I wouldn't delay speaking up.  I also still feel like that could have actually potentially made this worse.  However, I did meet with a social worker and had a good talk with her.  Once I was back at the Foote House, I found out that the social worker had called Gabrielle (who looks after the house) to inquire about how settled I was, if I was able to get food, if I had support here, etc.  Obviously I did a really good job preparing for this trip and using my resources once I got out here and Gabrielle concurred, but it was still reassuring to know that all the hospital staff have every aspect of my health in mind.

Well, I can't think of anything specifically related to the Bishop Foote Guest House that I haven't said.  I will share more about the other aspects in later posts - and more pictures of me!  It's time to try to sleep off a lot of the pain I'm in now.  Goodnight!  Enjoy the pictures!