Post Stroke Mumblings- Part 2
Hanging out in Emerge…
The ambulance delivered me to the emergency department at Trillium Health Centre at around 6:00AM.
That is one crazy busy place.
Once my two paramedics had got me off the ambulance, they chased down a hospital wheel chair so they could free up their own gurney. They did not leave until they had successfully completed all the paperwork, and made sure that I was being looked after by one of the hospital staff.
In Emerge they had just two doctors trying to deal with about 50 patients, all in various states of disrepair. I overheard one of them saying “I just finished two twelve hour shifts, no way I am doing another.”
They had about 10 nurses and nurses aides rushing around trying to keep up with requests for water, requests to go to the washroom, and questions about when they would be seen by a doctor.
They decided that I needed to be in a screened off place, on an actual bed because they wanted to do an EEG. Once they had all the bits attached, one of the doctors came in and asked me questions about what had happened. They took a bunch of blood and checked my blood pressure.
Then they bundled me into a reclining wheel chair, wrapped me in a blanket and stuffed me back into the emergency patient waiting area the the legions of other patients. There no beds, just these strange reclining wheel chairs filled with moaning and sighing people, many who could not speak English.
It was very boring. When I had left home I had taken the minimal amount of stuff with me. I had my health card and my cellphone. I did not even have my reading glasses with me.
My only distraction was watching other people and getting into to the usual “people always tell me things” conversations that I seem to generate unwittingly. I guess I find out a lot of personal stuff about strangers. One couple had a nice garden with a lot of interesting perennials, but she couldn’t remember the name. A Portuguese lady was mad because they wouldn’t tell her anything, and her son was not helping because he was a loser. This other man had a daughter who was trying to marry some guy that was a jerk……and on.
Part way through that long morning Bruce was able to find me, and we chatted and waited to see if they would come up with anything concrete. Bruce went to the hospitals’ embedded Tim Hortons and brought back snacks. Still no information on my status.
The day dragged on. Bruce went home to feed the cats and regroup. I remained trapped in the wheelchair. I did get some help from a nurses aide and to use the washroom, but that proved to be tricky and embarrassing. When half your body refuses to move, you have to rely on being physically lifted on to the pot, and off again. It sucks. Have any of you attempted to use the washroom with a stranger standing there?🥵
When Bruce returned he brought me some soup and a bun, and we continued to wait.🥯🍜
It was now 7:pm and finally the very tired doctor returned and said they were going to send me home. I reminded him that I was unable to move my left side, and couldn’t walk. He stared at me for a minute then said “In that case we will have to keep you here”. Shortly after that a nice nurses aide arrived and loaded me onto a stretcher, wheeled me out of emerge and off to a ward called the Gym.
To be continued …
