Saturday, February 28, 2009

The ER

Tonight, instead of going to the closing of my friend Linda's art exhibit, as I had been looking forward to doing, I had to take my father to the ER again. He needed to have his catheter removed and replaced, as he had developed a bit of an infection and I didn't want things to get worse, the way they did last month, when the infection almost killed him.
The ER was hairy, as usual. If anything, they didn't keep us as long as they generally do, but I felt ready to scream. I had to restrain myself. As it is, there were plenty of people already screaming for me. Some poor guy was shrieking in pain. There was a guy flailing around, children with injuries, an old person covered in wounds. It was definitely one of those nights.
Instead of going out to eat at a carefully chosen restaurant with my friend and colleague Kay, and enjoying looking at art and speaking to the artists about it, I was going to have to sit for hours at the hospital yet again, hungry, thirsty, and without anything to read.
But it's over now. I can go to bed. Let's hope I don't have to go back for a while.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a disappointment! I wish your dad's doctor would monitor this catheter so that you don't end up in an ER. That's exhausting for you and for your dad.

Robbi N. said...

I am beginning to wonder whether I should not change doctors. This one seems to have given up on both of my parents. I asked her several times to have someone sent to the house to monitor the catheter, but she never returned the calls.

Robbi N. said...

To be fair, a nurse from her office called several times, but this was a period when I was already overwhelmed with taking him to and from doctors and to the hospital, so I don't think I ever did get to discuss the matter with her.

Rebel Girl said...

So sorry to hear about your derailed evening - and the circumstances of it. It's so hard. Take care --

Robbi N. said...

Thanks Reb. I'm over it. But during the break, I definitely want to do something.