Bridge Over Water Trouble
It started last Wednesday morning when I got up and went to the bathroom. I thought at first that I was dehydrated, but it soon became clear that I probably had a UTI. I drank plenty of fluids and had paracetamol and tried to let it take its course. Late Friday evening, blood in my urine told me I needed attention, and that’s how it was that I spent Friday 23.00 to Saturday lunchtime in the Medical Assessment Unit at the Western General Hospital, a lot of it hooked up to an IV drip of antibiotics in solution. I think the blood and a temperature of 40°C (104°F) helped convince them I should be admitted!
I got home Saturday afternoon and slept 9.5 hours last night, and felt somewhat better when I got up. A further blood test today showed that the relevant markers in my blood are now only ‘very’ high as opposed to ‘extremely’ high on Friday night. A week of very heavy-duty antibiotics is prescribed and primary care now shifts from the hospital to my GP (though I was given a direct phone number to call at the hospital should things turn for the worse.)
There were, oddly enough, some upsides of the experience. One thing about being a 65 year old man with a 40° temperature and blood in his urine is that they test everything to make sure there is no misdiagnosis. I am now reassured that my ECG is good, my chest x-ray is clear with no lurking nasties, my renal function is good and my prostate seems fine (subject to a confirmatory PSA in a few weeks when this infection has left my system.)
The hospital team were great, from the consultant to the nurses to the porters who went out of their way to find me a bed and pillow so that I might try and get at least some sleep in the busy assessment unit. I could tell from noises from other bays that there were other patients there in much greater distress than me, but everything was orderly, professional and good humoured. I don’t especially want to repeat the experience, but if it should happen then I have no concerns about the medical care.
Less good? There is a triage system in place to ensure that those in greatest need are treated first, and that’s fine – I have no problem with it, except it meant quite a long wait not knowing what was happening or when I might be seen. Worse, there was a TV in the waiting area that could not be switched off or even turned down. Again, great for those who need the distraction, but there was no quiet area for the rest of us. More information and less shite late-night TV would have made it much better.
Also, one would think that a hospital would be somewhere that pays attention to healthy menu options when it comes to food. It was not. I wasn’t there long enough for it to irk me too much, but it would have done had I been there a second night, which was a possibility at one point. They do serve a decent cup of tea though.
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