Sunday, April 20, 2003

 
Oh what a day ! (since I missed the midnight deadline I need to point out that this was all YESTERDAY, Saturday)

This day, our second in New York, started with me being woken up by Ritsu crying, caused by terrible back pain ... so before 8 AM I made my first walk to the next pharmacy place, to find out they open at 9 ... so .. i returned, held her hand, went back out at 9 ... just to find out, that 'coz it is easter weekend, they open at 10 !!! .. SO back to comfort her, then back to the pharmacy at 10 ... they were open, yeah ... I bought some cooling patches and painkillers ... Ritsu had some back pains before and this stuff usually helped ...

But not this time .. around 11 AM it got so bad that she could not stop crying and I started calling "Physician referral services" .. great experiences ... they first ask you a bazillion questions, that have nothing to do with the ailment, more sounding like marketing data collection, and the this guy had only one doctor on the list that was open this Saturday, according to his computer ... well .. after several phonecalls it turned out his computer was wrong ... Dr. Adlersberg must have been out golfing or something, or enjoying Passover with his family ... good for him ...

I finally decided to bring her by cab to the next emergency room ... but at this point the poor thing could hardly move at all ... and we called an ambulance (which also makes sure you get attention at the ER right away ... not after 1 hour of sitting ... upright sitting at that point sounded as comfy as laying on a bad of nails for her at that point) ... So .. 20 minutes later we added another popular New York mode of transportation: the ride in an ambulance.



The paramedics were nice and helpful and so was the staff at the New York Prespetarian Hospital on York and 70th street. Ritsu had to repeat her Q&A with our nurse Jennifer who then drew her blood and made some very general comments ... then an hour later, our first Dr. showed up. Dr. Ellis was interview #3 .. and he could not really pinpoint what it was and he said she would get some strong pain killer and the he would send his boss ...

From time to time we were visited by "John, I am a volunteer" ... an old chap who took his role very serious, though he could not really do anything ... while he offered "what can I do to make your stay more pleasant?" he could neither take Ritsu's pain away, nor could he fix me a Gin & Tonic ("those you may find in the doctor's office") .. but he had a very friendly aura and I can imagine he is a tremendous help for people who come alone ... we later found out a good way to put those volunteers to work: "can you find out where our nurse is?" or "what is going on?"

another hour passed before the painkiller (something nice with codeine in it) and Dr. Lappin (the Boss?) showed up (interview #4, same questions, new showhost) .. the painkiller seemed to work great, Ritsu got all woozy and felt better ... the blood results showed nothing and other test revealed that we are indeed NOT pregnant :) (that was a standard quiz question) at some point she even got up and we felt like just getting more of the stuff and go home .. that was around 5 PM ...

But then the waiting game started .. we asked what's going on .. the codeine stuff wore off, then Dr. Ellis came again, said he'd bring another pill, then nurse Jennifer said "I am just waiting for the paperwork" ... we got a new volunteer offering pillows again (seems this is the only thing they are actually authorized to do) and an african lady with unspeakable name showed up "I am from patient-liaisons" and wanted to know if we are happy ... all we could say was that the IV drip was finished, but we expected to leave soon anyway ... little did we know ..

I went outside (getting lost in the hospital maze on the way) and i found some cookies for her, which she ate .. we had not have any other food that day ...

anyways .. we both were very tired and wanted to go .. finally Ritsu got knock-out pill #2 and so we kept waiting ... at some point I was sleeping with my head on her bed ... Then suddenly there was a speaker announcement that all visitors and relatives have to leave and wait in the waiting room .. seems around 8 PM the doctors make "their rounds" and they are scared that some of the relatives could ask silly questions, so they want them out.

Anyways .. those rounds were luckily over quicker then I thought and finally I could get my wife out of the ER (in a wheelchair) and then in a cab and then back home .. it was 9 PM by then ... Not the next adventure started .. finding a place on saturday night before easter that would fill the prescription for more happy codeine drops .. I walked to the closest Duane Reade but the place was closed already ... a sign told me that the next 24h place is only a 15 minute walk away ... but it turned out that while this place was open 24h ... the pharmacy section closed already at 8 .. great ! ... and I found out from the manager that the next place with a 24 h pharmacy was another 20 minutes walk away .. so i started my walk ... but gladly I came across a CVS store before I crossed half manhattan and they had their pharmacy still open. I just had to wait 20 minutes for them to print out everything and count 40 pieces of Ritsu's new drug and then I made my way back, just in time so she could take it as recommended at 10 PM ...

I made us some clam chowder for dinner .. that was pretty much the only meal of the day .. and now I am tired and will go to bed very soon ... we are just very glad that it was nothing serious .. and that we were together when it happened ... imagine her being in Honiara, Solomon Islands, where doctors can be paid with food .. and she has something like that ...

well .. but not everyone can say they've been to the ER in NY ... and in the end it was sure an interesting experience .. even though at time I was just bored and she was just in pain .. and there were so many other things we wanted to do ... but also .. it could have been much worse .. it could have happened just before flying ... gee .. i guess i always like getting something positive out of things :)
posted by Peter 2:09 PM