Day 155: The Service of Scarborough General Hospital

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 155: The Service of Scarborough General Hospital

Yesterday I related my experiences at the Scarborough General Hospital after fluid was detected in my lungs and the draining process. Today I would like to go into a bit more detail regarding the services of the hospital and other details.

As I mentioned, the first time I went to the emergency room the nurse who treated me was sympathetic and immediately let me go through for treatment. The second time I was at the emergency room, the nurse clearly didn’t give a damn even though I was in obvious distress with breathing.

The process of inserting the draining tubes in my lungs I can only describe as torture. The technician didn’t wait long enough for the local anesthetic to kick in and subjected me to unnecessary pain. Just look at the holes that were made in my skin ... do you think that tickled?

I came to the hospital because I had trouble breathing, a discomfort that grew worse and worse after the lung-drain technician punctured my lung and part of my lung collapsed. I rang for a nurse, but other than being given oxygen, it took at least an hour before real action was taken.

All in all, I was in one of the treatment rooms from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Not having eaten since breakfast, I was ravenous and kept asking for some food, which was either ignored or forgotten.

Eventually, a nurse brought me half a tired looking sandwich with roast beef and some water. The sandwich tasted horrible, but because I was so hungry I nibbled my way through it anyway.

When I was taken to my room, I found an unmade bed. There was an undersheet and a protective mat, but other than that nothing. In the four days that I was in the hospital, not once were the sheets changed.

As for the food ... delicious. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner was really something to look forward to. Every day something different, beautifully presented and really tasty.

As for my roommates ... two of them were nice and friendly people, but the fourth one was my worst nightmare. I guess her to be in her 80s with excess phlegm in her lungs and throat. Every hour this phlegm had to be removed via suction, a process that sounded truly disgusting. In-between treatments she was sleeping and snoring and if there’s one thing that drives me nuts, it’s snoring. Snoring made even worse with all that phlegm rustling around in her throat. So, the whole day I sat with headphones on, listening to music and videos to draw out that sickening noise.

As for the nights ... I knew that I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep having to listen to that snoring, so since I couldn’t get another room, I asked the nurse if my bed could be moved. This was indeed possible. My bed was moved to the nurse's station. The place was not as dark as a room, and it was rather noisy, but that didn’t bother me at all. As long as I didn’t have to listen to the snoring woman I was happy and slept like a baby.

In addition to the problem with my lungs, there was a problem with my blood pressure. According to the doctor, it was too low and so he instructed the nurses to give me one IV-bag after another. After 24 hours I noticed that my feet had swollen to the size of little elephant paws. Treatment had to be stopped immediately.

At last, came the day that I was discharged from the hospital. Well, technically, I discharged myself. The doctor wanted to keep me for another day, but I had enough.

For whatever happens next, I don’t think I will go back to the Scarborough General Hospital. The food was great, but the service sucked.