Out of hospital but.....

[xelasnave]

Back home. Kidneys are fine I feel better than for a long time...however I thought what a wonderful health system we have and really how they deserve just so much praise...but we dont want that do we?... so I would like to start a list of complaints so we can help them become better...now I have some very serious matters but I thought that focus should come to bear on something that is entirely accepted but is just very wrong and unprofessional.

And the thread can be used to record a poor experience in the interests of story telling...tell us of your experience.

My complaint is...there is no regard for quiet...at all..around 10 pm you would rather be next to the pub given the raised voices, laughter etc from the nursing staff..given the patients are suffering and trying to sleep and rest would it not be nice to think of them and just keep things modestly quiet...and does this happen in all hospitals...have you experienced such roudiness.?
Alex

[Rainmaker]

Don't know if you ever were a shift worker Alex, I was for more than two decades, but in order to stay alert during night shift last thing you want is quiet....

I think if I were in hospital I would want the staff as alert as possible....

[Hans Tucker]

Sorry to hear about your recent hospital experience but to be fair you should raise it with the hospital administration.

When I was in hospital in the Cardiac Ward after having stents put in the nights were very quiet except for other patients moaning in particular those that had pacemakers implanted but then it was a Private Hospital. I could never sleep in hospital anyway in particular the uncomfortable beds.

In my experience Nursing staff were very courteous and considerate to patients.

[LewisM]

The ONLY time I have been in hospital in 48 years of existence was for an appendectomy - I was 18. I tell you, if it weren't for the hospital staff being happy and a little rambunctious, I would have gone insane - surrounded by elderly gents moaning and groaning all night. I used to pull myself out of bed and go talk to many of them, especially the cute ones. Sleeping with your gut feeling like it was going to fall out wasn't easy anyway :)

[leon]

Alex yes, I too have experienced the noise, chat and laughter going all night whilst I was recovering from Bypass Surgery two years ago nearly to the day Sept 23rd.:)

I was awake most of the time anyway, having obs every half hour or so it really didn't bother me that much.:)

I could not have asked for better care, they, the Nurses and Doctors were just brilliant.:thanx: :thanx:

Leon:thumbsup:

[toc]

My experience was a bit mixed - last year I had some pretty serious heart palpitations and my local doctor told me to go to the emergency ward immediately - this was at the height of Melbourne's second COVID lockdown, so it looked like a war zone.

I was in the queue with people with sprained ankles and bad backs - they did a bit of assessment and I was fast tracked to an observational area with probes attached. Had to wait a few hours, but got a bunch of tests done, none of which showed any issues. Was a LONG wait - I think I went down there at 5pm, and didnt get home until 4 in the morning.

Had to wear a monitor for a day or so to monitor everything, but whatever I had went away, so nothing showed up.

[mura_gadi]

Hello,

We just did three weeks in the neuro ward recently, after my partner had a brain aneurysm. She was located in the high obs area with 24hr monitoring, and practically zero privacy.

The neuro ward at night was a very noisy place and with high obs you get plenty of light. The ward at nights was unbelievable on occasions due to the types of injuries on the ward...



Steve
She got a newish thing called a "Web" and a stent, the imagery we saw at the 1month post review I got to say was amazing! Not sure what they used but by far the best images I have ever seen. The review was by the head of neuro and as he was looking at the images one of his comments was "you must have been glowing after these..."

[JA]

Stress, coffee, low magnesium level, etc...?

Best
JA

[xelasnave]

It is wonderful to read the positive experiences from members.
I guess as to the expectations as to noise I am as usual the only one out of step ... However learning the way things are usually has me accepting the current paradigm rather than seeking to change the world to suit me....so using the wisdom to change what you can or manage what you cant I take my tablet and tune into a YouTube video of rain on an iron roof and with my head phones listen to rain and imagine I am five years old at my grandparents farm.

I get so annoyed at folk who think the medical profession is some sort of scam and ignore the magnificent system we have...I really dont know how many different people have helped me...each day different teams would drop by telling me they were looking after this or that...and the nurses were just real gems...maybe one not so hot but she got off side for no reason so I guess she was having a bad day...
So since April first...for me... thiroid removal which looked to far gone to operate, a couple of weeks in ICU, then a trip home but back with a ruptured gall bladder more ICU ( I think) home again but back with renal failure...and when at home the district nurse calls at home to change dressings ... Not bad.
And before I leave a social worker calls to see me.."are you alone? Can we help with shopping or house work"... I am lucky but if I was alone how would I survive?

And on top of all that I did fit in my two covid shots so as to save myself and hopefully others...I mentioned that on face book and recieved a special thank you from whoever is behind the official Government web site...thanked me...
But my daughter ( oldest) is a fool..anti vax...you cant talk about covid as if it does not exist and out of anything her stand has brought me down...like I tried to tell her I had my shot...no no no..just no speaky..immature stupid ignorant superstitious dark age remnant...I cant bear it.
Anyways so happy to read the positive feed back and thanks to all for taking time to contribute.

I am off the cancer pills for a while which is probably the main reason I feel good but it is wonderful ...when I went in I was wheelchair mobil if someone pushed..could bearly move..now walking around and feel like I could manage some imaging..I will wait but last week not a thought of doing a thing.

The real scarey thing was I got to a stage where I was really ready to leave...I no longer had the will to live...but I learn from every experience...this is what death comes armed with to soften you up...so next time I will be ready ..I already have a mechanism ready to make sure I wont give in....
Thanks to all the medical profession and a curse on the alternative medicine groups...go back to the dark ages and be gone from my universe.
Alex

[mura_gadi]

Hello,

I agree, I always look at it from the side of at least we have access to medical services. You could have the same health issues in a developing country and not have to worry with complaining about hospitals as about 6 billion other people do. As for anti-vax'ers I hope hell holds a special place for them. In the US I think , 700k likes +news articles and such were generated from just 6/8 people... shame they can have such power.

As for leaving, you will have to capture the heavens before you go there. You have toys to play with:eyepop:

and you never know a map might be handy



Steve

[GrahamL]

In lismore base for a couple of weeks several years ago, staff, doctors, nurses were all great .,48 waiting for an available bed the day they rolled me in.

The system to me seemed overstretched and broken ,yet the dedicated people working at the front of it made it work !


There was a sign on one of of the two lifts servicing all floors of the hospital ""Please use the stairs its much quicker this lift has been out of service for over a year"" and most of the staff did just that, which does raise a question if you needed to evacuate many bedridden patients ,how would that work?


As with the AMA i wonder what plans the govt has in place to deal with a surge in covid cases in regional hospitals as many barely cope with general admissions and given the vax rates in certain towns in the are are a lot closer to zero than 80 %

[JA]

It's not pretty Graham, but some hospitals have patient slides to emergency evac patients via the stairs. Think of it as a stiff backed stretcher that wraps around the patient and they get dragged along by 1-2 staff and carefully down the stairs feet first. It's not very friendly to accessory medical gear, but sure beats a fire

Best
JA

[xelasnave]

They were very stretched the last time I was in ... I imagine expanding a hospital must be difficult ..like if you look at "The San" at Wahroonga in Sydney they have built additional floors but end up with lifts that take you so far then you need to walk to another part of the building to catch another lift. I recall taking my father to see a specialist there and cause we were both using walikg frames getting there was an ordeal...but what do you do...ideally knock it all down and build bigger like say an office block in the city but with hospitals being necessary on a minute by minute basis you cant do that...and so you are set for a patch work approach.
Anyways today first time for a long time I am hunvry and called for a piece of fish for morning tea...before I was happy if I can manage a sustigen..

The moral of my story, which I have meant to mention much earlier is...DONT PUT IT OFF...you want that astro set up get it...the money..borrow it if you have no savings..sell something..whatever...just look at me...scrimped and saved gone without only to find there is no time left..how I wish I had been more realistic and realised as each day passes you run out of tomorows..."Oh I have to consult the minister for finance!!!" ..when I retire..blah blah..etc
I am sick of that cop out.. figure what you want and get it..now.
Thanks for listening.
Alex

[wavelandscott]

Glad you are out and feeling better!

I can only offer positive hospital stories from our days in Sydney. My oldest son was in critical condition when he was admitted to Westmead Children’s Hospital in Sydney. We did not know if he would make it, it turned out he was diagnosed as a Type1 diabetic. A few days in ICU and some insulin and he perked right up. The staff were so kind and attentive. My only complaint relates to the truly uncomfortable guest chair/bed that I spent too many sleepless nights in. But the nurse, doctors, attendants, educators and crew were unbelievably capable and competent.

[xelasnave]

Thanks Scott.
Great Hospital be Westmead ... I have been there a bit but can not remember why???
Alex

[Startrek]

Alex,
Glad to hear your out of Hospital and resting up at home
Keep us updated on your progress
Best always
Martin

[xelasnave]

Thanks Martin...to morrow going to start putting things together ..cant go anywhere because of lock down and after a week in a room with no windows I really would like to get out.
Alex

[Lariliss]

Dear, xelasnave,
Thank you for sharing your story, get better.

I’ve heard many stories of good and awful experiences from hospitals around the world (independent of the level of a country's development, but not developing).
I’ve got myself a miracle experience of neurosurgery proficiency and success and glamor of nursery.

Many would name being a medical field worker as the hardest work and the pinnacle of humanity.
Nobody’s perfect, not any circumstances are perfect.

‘For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life..’ - George Eliot.

[xelasnave]

Thank you for your wisdom and thank you for taking the time to contribute. I have asked quiet a few nurses why they follow such a thankless career and an almost universal reply was the desire to help folk and certainly my experience was nothing was too much trouble...I soiled my pants many times which is kinda embarrassing but they always would say that its not a problem they are used to it etc and to remember that I am after all very sick...I am not a particularly proud sortta person but such reassurance was extremely comforting...and , although I wasnt eating, my food would go cold and the night nurse would always encourage me to eat and offer to heat up my meal...I would love to help each of them one day like they helped me...
Well I am so happy this thread went the way it did ( and as I expected having stuck my neck out;)) .... I just wish idiots like my anti vax daughter would get reality and form some reasonable appreciation for our medical folk...Thanks again:thumbsup:
Alex

[toc]

Well, I have switched to decaf because I was starting to go nuts with it in lockdown/WFH - was up to about 5 or 6 a day. Coffee has never bothered me before, but giving it up can't hurt, and I'm getting to that stage where I need to give up the good stuff - fatty food, salt, booze etc...Found a decaf that I like so no biggy.

After reading some material about palpitations and Mg levels I have been on supplements - again, cant hurt. No return of the palpitations :thumbsup:

[raymo]

Alex, would you like to see some pics of my stay in a hospital in Peru,
had Salmonella. I was pretty bad.
They should make you so appreciative of what we have, and thankful that you weren't taken ill there.
raymo

[JA]

Good to hear all's well. One other thing I forgot to mention is to get your actual magnesium levels checked, especially if you are on the ever popular PPI drugs like Nexium, which can deplete Magnesium levels.

Best
JA

[JA]

Hi Alex,

It's great to hear you are back home and doing better. :thumbsup:

I think we are very lucky in Australia to have the system we have, despite it not being perfect it is better than many others I have read about and heard first hand accounts of. In all of my interactions with the system, either personally or through family or friends, I have only praise for the system and its doctors, nurses, paramedics, medical techs, imagers, orderlies, administrators, cleaners, kitchen, etc...

Keep smiling brother :D:D:D

Best
JA

[xelasnave]

:D

For sure Raymo..main reason I never traveled was a fear of overseas hospitals etc. As well as a absolute fear of flying...that would have been different if I knew someone like our Peter (Peter Ward) was the pilot:D

Dont worry having had three maybe four very close calls I am very appreciative...
Alex

[xelasnave]

Thank JA.
The way I was treated you would think I was their only patient...and so many of them know me from back to April...My surgeon for the thiroid visited, my cancer specialist came by...honestly each day was busy busy.
Feeling great...eating like a horse...eaten more in two days than previous two months...and get this...ten and a half stone...lost four stone...still its really hard to walk because I have been bed ridden totally for two months at least.
Alex

[astronobob]

Thats agreat sign Alex, body wants energy to function fully again :thumbsup:
Still take it easy and no risky stuff,, I guess you know , but thoughts all the same..
Happy days to ya :cool3:

[raymo]

Hi Alex, I was a Flight Engineer with over 7,000 hrs until the motorbike
accident and the advent of computers put paid to that, when I became a Marine Engineer instead. Both of those careers entailed a lot of worldwide travel. I can assure you[rather belatedly] that first world, and many third
world hospitals are just fine. If I had to worry about something foreign, it
would be travelling on many third world airlines.
Anyway, you will see in the pics that the toilets did not flush, the idea being that you used a bucket to get water from the blue drum, and tossed the
water into the pristine toilet. The blankets had holes in them, and food was
not provided. The hospital didn't have drugs, you had to get your own from
the pharmacy down the road. God help you if you were a lone traveller.
The staff were wonderful, so caring. One amusing thing was that I had a sink with taps in my room, but no water supply, and the sink had no drain pipe, just the hole that one could be fitted into.
cheers raymo

[leon]

Wow Raymo, that is just astonishing, :eyepop: one appreciates how lucky we really are in this Country, :thumbsup: well most of us do, except those idiots that tackle our Police on the streets most weekends, the fools.:mad2:

Leon :thumbsup:

[raymo]

Hi Leon, I have to say that many travel insurance companies have arrangements with good quality hospitals and/or clinics in many
developing countries. I was just unfortunate to be in a smallish town,
a long way from a large town or city where facilities would have been better.
I was taken ill in Cusco with a chest infection exacerbated by altitude, and
the clinic there was very good indeed.
raymo

Oh! and they're not fools, they're thugs.

[glend]

I have had similiar toilet experiences travelling in Mexico and Central America back in the 1970s, often with no toilet bowls at all. Funny thing is that you could buy drugs over the counter that were considered dangerous back in Canada (requiring a script). My dad had some great photos of public toilets in Paris at the end of WWII, basically holes leading down to sewer surrounded by a circular screen, a glorified latrine. Different cultures, different attitude. The Squat Blocks are still prevalent in parts of Europe today.

[raymo]

Hi Glen, Yes I remember seeing Frenchmen in Pissoirs as they were known,
holding hands with their girlfriends over the top of the curved screens while
having a piddle. Even today, walk along any main street in Paris [or
anywhere else in France] and you will see urine stains or streams running from a building wall across the pavement, and into the gutter.
raymo

[Lariliss]

xelasnave, thank you very much on response.
The most important things need time to be understood, this is a fact, I think.
And the last person who I would argue of doing their job, are the doctors, saving my life.
Best wishes!