Wednesday, June 21, 2023, 9:45 a.m.
Well, so much for leaving Exeter and heading to
Salisbury. Instead, we’re still in Exeter, in the hospital. Yesterday morning,
Ann experienced a urinary blockage resulting from bleeding and blood clots. The
ER visit (inevitably) led to admission, bladder flushing, etc. At this point
(9:45 a.m. the next day) we’re awaiting a transfusion to deal with anemia and
praying for normal-enough urinary function to be able to drive to London this
afternoon and get on a plane tomorrow morning.
In the category of silver linings, I’m grateful this
happened in Exeter, a city with a real hospital, rather than on the long rural
drive from Scotland to Wales. And if our greatest worry now is having to
reschedule the flight and a hotel stay … that’s a First-World problem if ever
there was one.
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| Nothing like hospital tourism.... |
The experience at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital has
been good, overall – very attentive care from the nursing staff, as well as
understanding from the physicians about our desired treatment outcome being
“good enough to travel.” The major difference from what we’d expect in the
States relates to privacy. Patients are in wards in the old-school sense, six
people in a large room with the beds separated by drapes. Of course, you can
hear the other patients’ conversations with their doctors and nurses (“Did we
collect some poo yesterday?”), as well as the other patients’ TV shows, phone
conversations, and late-night moaning. Another difference relates to the
facility itself: English buildings typically don’t have air conditioning, and
hospitals are no exception. So, the windows are open to let in fresh air,
allowing you to hear the pigeons and seagulls on the ledge outside. (Given that
they don’t use screened windows here, the pigeons could hop right in if they
wanted to.) But the quality that matters most has been excellent: The
caregivers are present, attentive, and compassionate to a fault (“Do you mind
if I remove the catheter now, Luv?”). Again, more than anything else, I’m
grateful.
Wednesday, June 21, 2023, 4 p.m.
We’re free! Now, on to London and tomorrow’s flight.
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