After they took out the trache, they left an emergency trache kit in my room. I was happy not to need it, and I wonder if it was even the right size. On the last couple trache-free nights it sat there, ready. I was happy to walk out of the room, the floor (the staff said nice goodbyes and “please don’t come back”) and the hospital into the daylight. Well, sort of. Even though the radiation was really unpleasant, I much preferred it as an outpatient experience. In terms of the actual experience, the 16.5 days in Montreal General–through no fault of theirs–was probably the longest single stretch of time in my life.