When I got out of ICU and into a "regular" room after bypass surgery, I was given a pretty, red, heart shaped pillow. It had a colored drawing of a human heart on one side, the name of the hospital on the other, and a small white loop with a pen attached on the edge. I thought it was a nice gesture considering all I'd gone through and figured the surgeon and some of the OR staff would drop by and sign it. Was I ever wrong! The pillow had a medical use. I was told to hold it tightly against my chest when I coughed or sneezed. The reason? To help prevent the staples in my chest and the three wires that held my ribs together from breaking! I had visions of not having the pillow and my chest busting open and my ribs ripping apart withe the wires sticking out. Needless to say, I took the pillow everywhere,,,to the bathroom after my catheter was taken out, and when I took my daily walks in the halls. And it went with me when I went home and started walking the streets to get my legs and body back in shape and when I started formal rehab in a center. I still have that pillow and will keep it till I die. Maybe, they'll bury it with me. That'd freak some archeologist years from now if they dig up my grave.