The election is today and people before you cast your vote you better make sure you know what the future of healthcare is going to look like. If I had gone through my hospital experience a month ago I would have had more time to convince you that healthcare should be on the top of your list of concerns.
In short there is not enough medical after care in hospitals to adequately take care of the patient’s in there care. After a very serious surgery I sat in my own vomit twice with no one coming to help me for over half an hour. I had to ask to have my linens and gown changed. I had to wait for two hours after release from recovery room for a porter to transport me to my room. The food I would not feed to a dog. Even once released to go home there was no one to escort me to the door where my ride was waiting. This is a small part of the story from the hospital where my surgery took place. Believe me there is more to tell.
Then there was the emergency trip to a different hospital in the area where I was staying for my recovery. An 18 hour stay in a situation of terror and feelings of being a prisoner trapped. I went in because the pain just got too much for me to handle and I’m allergic to narcotics. So handling the pain was very problematic. It took four EMT’s and two Fire Rescue guys to get me out of the house because any movement sent me screaming in pain. Once at the hospital I was triaged fairly quickly and put in the yellow zone. That’s the step down from ICU more urgent care and it’s just after 1 am. At around 3 am doctor finally shows. Tells me he has ordered morphine and x-rays. Never checks the site of the surgery and off he goes then I flag him to tell him I’m a little concerned about the morphine. His response is we will keep on eye for any reaction. At this point, I don’t care just stop the pain. So I get the shot and then they take me to X-ray. When that’s done I’m now floating and falling asleep from the pain and exhaustion. At around 5 am I ask the nurse if the doctor has seen the x-rays, she replies no that they are very busy. Alice has to leave me because she has to work. After she leaves the pain starts to peak again and I have no call button, so I ask for the nurse to anyone that is walking by. No response from anyone finally the doctor appears around 9 am. I get another dose of morphine and told that I’m being discharged and can go home. He states the hardware looks fine and no other explanation for the increased pain. I ask the nurse how am I suppose get home. I can’t sit, walk or stand or ride in a car. Nurse goes off and comes back saying they have called for an ambulance provided I’m willing to pay 200 dollars, which I agree too. Then I ask them for a phone so I could call my family to let them know I’m coming home. Nurse responds we do not have phones for patients. So I ask her to call, which she does. So now Alice and Owen believe I will be home in hour or so. It’s around 9 am.
Ambulance arrives and drivers take one look at me and tell Nurse that they are not qualified to transfer someone in my condition that I need the EMT guys. Nurse goes off comes back an hour later to tell me I’m not a priority so it will be 3-4 hours before anyone comes to pick me up. At that point I demand a phone so I can call home and I’m refused. For the next 6 hours I am screaming in pain and frustration requesting a phone and something to handle the pain. They just walk by me and ignore me as if I wasn’t there. They have officially discharged me hours before, so if anyone wanted to find me I wasn’t there. The nurse finally got an order from the doctor to shoot me up every two hours. I’m sure hoping to keep me quiet. Finally continuing to demand a phone to call home they decided to move me to the Blue Zone (less critical) under the pretence they needed my room which was bull as there were empty rooms. So they put way in back in a room with storage gave me a call bell and left me for half an hour. When the new nurse came back she asked if I felt nausea. The minutes she said that I started vomiting and my skin started to itch. It was as if I had ants crawling under every piece of skin. I vomited for over one hour and half with little help from the nurses. They just dropped off some basins and left me. At one point because I can’t sit up I started choking trying to lie on my side and projectile vomit. Finally the nurse got worried and decided to move me closer to the station. So now I’m in the hall with every wall covered with a stretcher and a body. I know that by now I must be dehydrated so I’m requesting water. My mouth and tongue are so dry I can hardly speak. It’s now around 8:30 pm I ask the new nurse for a phone and she gives up her personal phone. I call home and Alice and Owen arrive within half hour and once they are there like a miracle within 15 minutes there is an EMT ready to take me home.
This was a nightmare of the worse kind and I’m telling you folks if you don’t start demanding more from our healthcare we will be no better then a third world country. This hospital violated my rights. It was like being held prisoner. My family had no idea what was going on and because I was discharged could not be found.
So when you go to polls today… think about healthcare and if this an indication of the cutbacks, lack of funding as baby boomers you better make sure this is a priority. This country and province has the medical schools, specialty doctors, the technology, the building infrastructure but none of that is any good if you don’t have the after care. I believe people are dying because of this hole in our system and it will be the seniors, the most vulnerable of society that are going to pay the price. It will be the people without family or friends to advocate for them at a time when they can’t speak for themselves. This is a crisis so wake up.