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The brochures go on to explain what the condition means and then get into medical stuff to make you feel like you better understand your body. Here, you see the range-of-motion limitations caused by a herniated disc, and then on to the effect of asthma on the alveoli.

It seems like almost everything that can affect you medically these days is diagnosed by the use of an MRI machine, so there's an abundance of information on that procedure.

After successful surgery or treatment, there's a recovery period during which you build up your strength and learn to cope with your situation. It was reassuring to see that at least most hospital patients these days are pictured as being older and slightly overweight, which is probably the case.

At the start of nearly every brochure, there's an illustration showing the compromises that the condition has brought on the patient: a grandma unable to push the swing, a mate unable to hold hands, a dad unable to pitch the baseball.

But after leaving the hospital and following the guidelines for recovery, everyone lives happily and productively after, even if they have to be on an oxygen tank or take dialysis treatments. In fact, based on the drawings I saw, many people will take up activities they didn’t even participate in before arriving at the hospital, like eating well and getting lots of exercise.

I was most curious about pain management, as I’ve heard that patients now can control their own pain medication by pushing a button. And medical personnel now seems obsessed with the pain scale, badgering patients to give a number from one to ten for almost everything.

Sadly, the one brochure I probably need, which is on diabetes, was available only in Spanish. All I could gleam from it was that:

* Diabetes is likely to affect your ability to play with your grandchildren.

* Diabetes can be successfully treated and managed. (I know this from the smiling faces.)

* Diabetes is helped by exercise and good nutrition.

* When Diabetes is under control, you can play with your grandchildren all you want.

As usual, my own reality is slightly different than that pictured in the brochures. I don’t know anyone who looks like those happy families portrayed by Kaiser, and I’ve discovered that not all things that bring people to the hospital work out quite so well.

It will probably be a few more days or even weeks before I get back home, and I know for certain that the person I’m caring for won’t be pushing any kids on a swing anytime soon. But I also know we have to think positively, and that the medical industrial complex needs to put on a good face. I just wish they’d get some better magazines and maybe a DVD player for the waiting rooms.