The Italian hospital: A new kind of journeyMay 21, 2009
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| My blog takes you to yet another new place today -- the Italian hospital. It took some convincing but last night Riccardo's sister and I hauled him off to the hospital. He had been complaining of numbness. He felt like he was drunk but hadn't had a drink. Turns out his body was sending him a clear and direct message "take care of me buddy or I'll show you." He'll be in the hospital for a few days. A few lifestyle changes and he'll be fine. I guess that means I won't be enjoying his spaghetti carbonara anytime soon. I seem to digress into food fantasyland a lot. I thought you might be interested to hear a hospital story from a country where everyone has government medical coverage. As far as I can tell it is a same-same but different kind of thing. We walked into the Emergency Room around 7. It was a warm summer night. A few people were in line ahead of us. After waiting maybe 10 minutes a nurse took his name, symptoms and information from a government ID card. A few minutes later he was being rolled away on a gurney and into the examination room. As his sister and I waited outside I watched others coming and a few going. One man had been bitten by a dog while bike riding. A medic lay on a table with neck pain. Someone had an urinary infection. There were a few elderly people suffering from maladies of old age. There weren't any trauma victims. There's a trauma center nearby. I also didn't see any kids. I'm guessing there's another place for them. I have heard there's a problem with many people going to ERs in the US for colds or other minor problems. They do it because it's cheaper than doing to a doctor. I would imagine it's a non issue here because healthcare is free. While Riccardo was waiting for test results and an overnight room to open, his sister and I returned home. We packed a bag with PJs, towels, cutlery, a cup and a bottle of water. The hospital doesn't supply these things. This afternoon I returned to the hospital. Riccardo is in a room with 6 other people. There is no TV. There were a few chairs for visitors. There seemed to be less gadgetry than American hospitals. I washed his cutlery before stowing it in the nightstand next to his bed. |
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