Have just gotten out of the hospital. Yeah, again.
I am feeling a million times better, despite the emotional hell of being separated from my children, the fact the Ironflower developed pneumonia while I was gone and that I loathe pumping. Suffice to say they had to operate on the abscess. Oh, and I got IV antibiotics. And tons of really bad food. Weirdest thing? I was put in the same ward (section? area?) as my dad was after his heart surgery. I guess because all the rooms are private there and they weren't sure if I had some horrible infection? I doubt it was to give me pumping privacy. But whatever - it made the experience barely tolerable.
But I'd rather talk about my experiences in the ER right now. Because I as I called to schedule my home nurse care (that's what they call it, but it's not really "care", she's coming to show us how to dress my wounds ourselves because that's all our insurance will pay for), I had to wait on hold. And while I was on hold, instead of hearing that light non-offensive muzak that no one actually likes (FYI, the IRS plays excerpts from The Nutcracker - so much nicer) I heard a message. The message was asking people to sign a petition against another hospital. This other hospital is planning to open a "for-profit" emergency room in a now-closed hospital here in the county.
And I say. . . I hope they open it soon. There are not a lot of ERs around here for a county with this kind of population. (I can say this with authority because I lived in Kansas City where there are a lot fewer people and a lot more ERs.) And while I applaud my hometown hospital for their excellent nursing staff (I will not comment on the comedy of errors that was my doctor care), their open mindedness (there's a pre-op transsexual nurse in the ER, she totally made my day) and the fact that I'm not dead, I have yet to see that ER not completely backed up. I mean people on stretchers in the hallway, five hour waits (and I was a "high priority" person since I had a doctor who called ahead and had already signed off on admitting me) and a waiting room so crowded that there are no chairs left. It doesn't matter what time or day of week you go, either.
And let's be honest - I live in a place where the vast majority of people are still not hurting for money. Where cutting back means letting go of the cleaning lady. Is a "for profit" place going to stop them from getting health care? No. With any luck, the for profit place will be where the people with the stomach viruses and the tooth falling out will choose to go. Yes, those were some of the complaints of my fellow ER patients. Of course, if you don't have health insurance, you have to go to the ER for everything. But a stomach virus? A tooth falling out? Are these emergencies? If you've got insurance, go to your doctor or dentist already.
Call me a bitch, but I think there should be a checklist outside of the ER that describes what an emergency is. A gaping wound. A potentially broken bone. An inability to breathe. A fever that doesn't respond to Tylenol. Not, "I threw up twice yesterday and once today." Not, "I'm 85 and my tooth fell out while I was eating an apple." (Yes, those are real quotes.)
What do you think?
