The Usual Hospital Quagmire

I was thrilled when a friend from the east coast recently informed me that she had the use of a video phone during a recent stay in the hospital in her area. 'Thanks to a very large deaf population in the east, our deaf friends, family and acquaintances there are fortunate to have such up to date technology.

But I live in the "toolies". I recently found it necessary to take my husband to Emergency at our local hospital. After several days of heart attack symtoms, we finally made the trek that we had been dreading. Our hospital, fairly new, is high on a hill overlooking our little beach town and with a glimpse of the ocean and a grand view of both the sunrise and sunset. It it sits high enough so that if the big tsunami does come, the hospital will be safe from harm. 'Extremely intelligent planning.

My husband had been in the hospital there before, so there was no paperwork to be done. We have excellent insurance, with the same company for over 40 years. And of course, Medicare. The Emergency staff hooked him up to all of the appropriate machines, IV's, beepers and so on. They worked smoothely and precisely. I had utmost confidence in these people.

But where was the COURTESY? I sat in a chair in the Emergency room with my husband holding his coat, billfold, etc. for several hours. I did not receive even a glance from the nurses or the interne on duty even tho I sat only a foot away from my husband's bed. Once they realized that I was deaf, I got the cold, fisheye stare, that was all. I got up a couple of times to "thaw out" my knee replacement, which can become stiff from constant sitting. The nurse caught my husband's attention and ordered, "Will you tell her to sit down?!!?" I was not standing up in my husband's room, I was pacing the hallway. (I felt like telling her to tell me herself!) If I asked what a particular machine was, or what it was for, or just some simple information so I would know what was going on, the nurse and the interne (who was my grandchildrens' age!) didn't bother to acknowledge that I had asked a question. Silence! Nothing! I felt less than sub human.

After the 4th hour, they decided to "keep" my husband and place him in the ICU. So I left for a little while to do some errands and catch a bit of fresh air. The nurses in the ICU were a great deal nicer, some of them even had personalities! I had planned on spending sometime with my husband in his ICU room, but he was busily watching t.v. trying to relax. Guess what? No CC t.v.! My husband is HOH from age and vocation and depends a great deal on captions, (OR) he turns up the sound loud enough to awake the dead.

The next morning, the hospital decided that they had done all they could for the time being and let my husband go, with the understanding that he visit his own doctor the very next day. But my husband had no way to get ahold of me. When he dialed Relay, he could not get past the switchboard. When he asked a young nurse about a tty (how primitive!) she didn't even know what a tty was! This nurse was an RN!

I finally showed up at 11:30 a.m. and we got outa there. I am not sure what to do about all of this, since we are a small town. I did not ask for an interpreter, no special priviledges, nothing except common courtesy and a way to get to my husband via a telephone. Since I was not the patient, I am not sure I would have been provided with an interpreter, anyway. What is the protocol on this? My money is just as good as anyone else's and I CAN PAY. Why treat me so rudely?

Thanks for listening.

Lantana