10 1/2 hours in limbo

By Tom Moore
Ever spend 10 and half hours in limbo?

You can do just that if you’re need medical attention and go to the
Gulf Coast Hospital with symptoms that a nurse determines is not immediately life-threating. You go to the bottom of the list. And that means those with better ailments than yours push you farther down the line. And there’s no appeal. In fact, there’s a prominent sign that suggest if you get abusive—with verbs or fist, you’ll find a security person in your face.

It all started shortly after noon. I had congestion, bad cough (is there a good cough) but also a bit of blood in the old plumbing. Because of the latter, the clinic wouldn’t see me and sent me off to hospital ER. I signed in, answered a multitude of questions, handed over my insurance and things seem to be humming, even though there were a few people in the waiting room.

But from there on out it was wait, wait and wait some more. Finally a nurse took my vitals and had me give a sample from the plumbing for analysis. Fine. Back on track.
Wrong. So I sat there listening to other patients conversations…a real cross-section of this great country. But I’d sure prefer to hear it elsewhere. Finally I inquired about treatment. I’m third in line—barring any life-threating cases.

Of course, with my luck, those cases came.One was a fellow who had just dropped a 1300 pound trailer on his hand. He came in with that hand wrapped in a paper towel. A nurse came over and removed the towel and wrapped a bandage around the hand.
You could tell the fellow was in real pain. And I thought he was going to go into shock sitting there in the ER waiting room, so approached the admittance desk and said so.
The nurse came back to told him to hold his hand still—in the air and to breathe slowly. And so he sat there until they finally took him into the ER.

I again inquired about myself, telling them I had been there over 6 hours. I was told in no uncertain terms that if I had been there 24 hours, I couldn’t get attention as long as somebody else was determined to be in a more life-threating situation.

Of course my bad luck held. Finally, about 7:20 p.m. I’m taken back to the ER—only it’s not a room, but the hallway, where I’m giving one of those God-awful gowns and told
to lay down on a mobile bed. At least I got a blanket…that covered up the shivers I experienced in the waiting room.

A guy in blue approached. Ah, a doctor at last…He took my vitals and walked away.
About an hour later a nurse did the same thing. And then I was wheeled out of the room and into the x-ray place for chest x-rays. I was returned to the room. Then 45 minutes or so, a nurse came in for a plumbing sample. I told her I already game. She seemed surprised until she leafed through a bunch of papers and her face lit up: “Oh, yes here’s the lab report.”

Finally a doctor came. He asked me the same questions I had given earlier to a couple of people. He walked away and the “sample” nurse returned with a bunch of vials and
a big needle. She stuck that needle in my arm and proceeds to draw blood. I told her:”please leave me some.”

Another long, long wait….and a person couldn’t sleep. At least two babies screaming their heads off came in, and a deputy sheriff interviewed the fellow lying near me about his accident. I joked with the deputy and with the young EMS guy who brought the
victim in.

Finally, about 10:30 or thereabouts, the doctor came back with a prescription and diagnosis. The diagnosis was typed in English and Spanish. I have bronchitis and a plumbing infection. The Boss picked me up about 10:40 and took me back to my motel.
I found it was a very tiring day. I hit the bed without putting one bristle of the toothbrush to my mouth and fell asleep...

If I every have to go through this ordeal again, I’ll go, but screaming and hllering…maybe that’ll get their attention to give me attention.

[Blogger Note: The old caricature from Tom’s old website seemed a fitting illustration. Is the guy just getting old?]