It looked like a crime scene out of most any police or
detective show you would see on TV these days!
Blood on the wall. Blood on the floor. Blood in the
bath tub! But Tony Soprano wasn't involved in this
story. And 'Jack The Ripper' didn't have any part of
this script.
No. This was my bathroom after a vein in my wife's
foot suddenly opened up shooting a stream of blood
around like a kid with one of those rifle like water
guns!
But that was only the start of this adventure story!
We called an ambulance to get us to a hospital
that's only 5 minutes away from our house.
A doctor there asked us what happened, checked
my wife's list of medications and quickly stopped the
bleeding with some fancy named medical material
that is probably very similar to the 'Super Glue' I had
suggested using.
Since the 'wound' was on the same foot on which
my wife recently had surgery our attending physician
suggested that we go to the Emergency
Room in the hospital where the operation was done
to see if anything under the skin surface had to be
'repaired.' The Doc did say, in all honesty, that it
would probably be a wasted trip since there was no
sign of any serious damage. (That Doc, of course,
had not seen our bathroom!)
So we left the Emergency Room 5 minutes from our
house and began our two hour ride to the other
Emergency Room all the while hoping that
'Old Faithful" wouldn't begin to spout again in our
minivan!
The second hospital offers what I'll call 'multipal
step admission' to its Emergency Room.
There's a check in spot where you explain what
happened and list your medications.
Then there's an actual sign in desk where you
relate what happened and why you are there.
Next there is a waiting room where you wait
for your turn. We were told there were 4 ahead
of us and the last person waited about 40 minutes.
Our wait was a bit longer. But there was a TV
and we were able to catch an episode of 'The
Simpsons' we hadn't seen before.
Eventually we were called into a hallway in the
actual emergency treatment area. They have
rooms there too. We were just too far back
in line to get one of those.
A very nice nurse asked for all the details of
our 'bloodletting story' and, again, checked our
list of medications. She was also kind enough
to offer to get chairs for my daughter and me.
We saw her again about an hour later. We
thought she might be bringing the chairs but
she just wanted to say goodbye.
Her shift had ended. I think she
told us about her replacement. But don't think
we ever got to meet her.
Next, about 20 minutes later, a female physician
stopped at our "station' She asked for details of
our story and reviewed our list of medications.
She also checked the job done by the folks
at the hospital 5 minutes from our house and
said it was 'well done!'
An hour or so later a male physician came to
check our situation. He asked for our story and,
I think, may have checked my wife's medications.
He, like his female colleague, didn't believe
the problem had any direct connection to the
recent surgery. But he said he'd like to have a
'Senior Resident' from the Bone and Joint
Department have a look and verify that opinion.
I guess the 'Senior' they were looking for had
gone to the prom or something because he
never showed up. The other Doc (I'm now
calling him Junior) eventually came back and
said a telephone call from the Surgeon's Office
indicated that everyone was satisfied the
broken vein was not a big problem and we
would be allowed to go home.
Still facing a two hour ride back home I
was thrilled to know that the people at the
hospital 5 minutes away from our home had
done a great job.
And we have a pretty good idea where
they came up with the word 'Patient.'
It is, of course, someone in need of
medical attention who can describe
his or her symptoms at least a half
dozen times and has 12 or more hours
to spare!
It was a tough day but I think you'll agree
we may have come up with a good pilot for
a new TV Medical series.
The only question is...will it be a drama
or a comedy?
Hope you are feeling well and that all
your NEWS is good!
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