This week I have been in hospital. It is quite a nice hospital fairly new and very large. Few people wish to be in a hospital, especially these days when whole section house covid patients. I certainly prefer being at home. A combimation of factors sent me to health care. This post will be about hospital life rather than my health. Which is better by the way.

I started off in Emergency which is a world of its own. Any time I have been admitted to this section, i am mazed by how large it is and how busy. Last week I saw a doctor within an hour or two. Depending on how busy they are you can wait for hours to see the doctor.I first saw a student doctor who took notes and looked sympathetic. I thought at th tme he needed to toughen up. His boss was a direct no-nonsense type. I am sure she was able to weed out those patients who did not really need emergency treatment. It was decided from my blood test results that I needed a transfusion so while the exact type of blood was being agreed upon, I was placed in an overflow area. It did have a bed and a desk and a arg number of cabinets holding stuff and I was told it was a supply room. On a preious hospitl visit, i senttwo days in a condference room so I have seen the unusual parts of the place. Eventually a bed was found for me in a regular room on a reguar floor.

The rooms are very comforable with large windows and en suite bathrooms and you soon get used to the routine. People take blood daily and check your blood pressure and temperature several times a day. Meals arrive on a scheduleand you soon expect lunch at noon and dinner at 5:30. I did not choose my diet which meant I never knew what had been served. I was surprsed at the amount of food in each meal. Maybe my portions were bigger because I wasn’t confined to bed. Maybe not. Unfrtunately I did not get my usual morning and afternoon teas.

Tests are part of hospital life and some are more pleasant than others. The nuclear lung scan was interesting and not as arduous as I had expected. I did not like the idea of being acticive but was told i woud not glow in the dark as a result. I didn’t actually check that this was correct. I am gratefu that there are tests to indicate that a clot might be lurking in my body. The technicians who conduct the tests are such nice people and reassure you if you need to be reassured. IN fact just about everyone I met was pleasant. I had only one rather grumpy woman who delivered meals and I don’t ealy blame her. Who really wants to push a heavy cart of food trays around the floors. The cleaners and porters all smiled and talked to me.

Of course the nurses were great even when they were short staffed on their shifts. I don’t think I’d make a good nurse as I might run out of patience with someone who seemed too demanding. You have to be a special kind of person to be a nurse and these daysif you are an intensive care specialist putting your on life on the line every shift, you deserve our heartfelt thanks. So I am glad we have hospitals which are not overflowing with sick people who may never get treated. It’s sad ro watxh conditions in countries like India where they lack the resources to save lives. We may complain sometimes about our own system but on the whole we are lucky to be here.