Another Visit To The Emergency Department Of My Local Hospital
[ Tuesday November 26th 2024 at 11:23 pm ]
I have come back to the hospital emergency department for help again. My right knee joint buckled. I heard a pop when it buckled. When I try to walk my right knee joint is all wobbly and loose. Walking now causes my right knee joint to contribute to the severe nausea I am experiencing.
My arrival to the emergency department of my local hospital was absolutely lovely. The volunteer fielding questions was so delightful and engaging. I felt welcome and cared about. It takes me about 5 minutes to get the extra layers off me and into my reusable shopping bags. A conversation naturally started. The volunteer was understanding, supportive and validated my reasoning for coming to the hospital to have my right knee joint checked out. The volunteer talked about her many joint replacement surgeries. I didn't feel alone with her listening to me talking about my right knee buckling and the challenges this has created me. What has helped me is that the volunteer understands what is involved with the recovery from surgery.
The hospital has a screen that displays the wait time. I asked how the wait time is determined. It is the average length of time the last 5 people spent in the emergency department from arrival to their treatment. For most of the time it was hoovering around the 4 hour mark. For me I spent a total of 5 hour 15 minutes. The waiting time passed quickly. The patients in the waiting room were casually talking to each other. While I waited I worked on the letter to update my hip and knee surgery about my right knee and the complications this is going to cause with my artificial hip replacement surgery. In short the time passed quickly and was very enjoyable.
The time I spent with the doctor was very productive. He was solely focused on me and why I had come to the hospital. He asked me good questions. He was very attentive as I spoke. Before coming to the hospital I wrote out when I took my medications and what the dose was. This was helpful in treating the nausea component of coming to the hospital for help. He performed a physical exam. Then he asked me what I wanted to happen and why. I explained how my hip surgeon has recommended a knee surgeon in Ottawa operate on me. I explained I came to the hospital in order to ask for an ultrasound of my right knee joint to see if the pop noise I hear from my knee buckling was a tear. The doctor thought was reasonable. The only catch is that the technician for performing ultrasounds had gone home from the day. I expressed that I was prepared to come back in a few days and that it takes me 12 minutes to travel to the hospital using my power wheelchair. He ordered the ultrasound and gave me a prescription for what now seems like a better nausea medicine for me to use.
I am happy with how this went. It was nice having a positive experience for my health care and the social component of attending the hospital this evening.