My Health Care Report:
Last Thursday I left home, returned Saturday.
❤️
Too good a story to be left not shared.
A prayer I often say goes something like this: “Eagle East; Coyote South; Brown Bear West; White Buffalo North; Great Spirit, Mother Earth, and all my relations, Thank you, for the many blessings bestowed upon me, and show me the path that I may be a blessing myself."
So I find myself last Thursday being driven to San Francisco to get an operation at Fort Miley. Around Bodega Bay we hear the EARTHQUAKE ALERT. Not much longer we hear the TSUNMAI ALERT. We were somewhat concerned about the surfers. The alerts are called off and we arrive in SF and I get my physical and covid test. (Found neg) We have a little time before they hand out the meals at the Hoptel, so we drive to the beach below the cliff house. We can’t stay so long as to see sunset, but we sit in the car and share a joint. Make some calls to loved ones to keep them informed. Back at Hoptel we pick up our meals (there was beef, chicken or pork options for the carnavoir, but only PB&J on an English muffin for the vegetarian). Ready to bathe I couldn’t find any towels. My neighbor who had driven down went on a search. She didn’t find anyone at the front desk and took to wandering the halls. She finds a man sitting on a couch. She finds out he had been in town playing poker and when he got back he couldn’t find his key. My neighbor says she is looking for towels. He said “I have a lot in my room", he shared with two other beds, all had towels and he hadn’t seen other people. The man moved his jacket and my neighbor heard keys. She asked to look at the jacket. She found a hole in a pocket, and the keys had slipped behind the liner of the jacket. She enlarged the hole, retrieved the key, he got her some towels and all went on their way. I find it very uplifting that amongst all that is going on in the world, two complete strangers can meet and solve each others difficulties. This is what my neighbor had to say about Fort Miley: "Every time I go to the SFVA, I am amazed at the sheer beauty of the place. The cliffs and ocean views are breathtaking and I am even more amazed that on the edge of a city, nature is still alive and well; hawks eating gophers, bats eating moths and everywhere I walk I hear hummingbird songs with waves in the background! Ho."
At the hospital. A short walk from the Hoptel, I checked in at 6 am, woke up in a room about 11. Every time they asked if I was in pain I said no, just felt minor discomfort. They fed me well. Dinner was chicken, leg and thigh. I had lasagna one meal. Scrambled eggs and cheese with English muffin, mush and coffee. Fresh apple slices. Was one breakfast.
I was treated very well by everyone. I tried to read DU but only reached the pages a couple of times. I use a key board at home, and couldn’t find the proper touch with this touch screen stuff. The guy I was in the room with seemed to have his TV turned to Jurassic Park as there was lots of strange noises and screaming. It was on low volume and the guy was on his phone most of the time. I feel very good about the service I have had. I was retaining urine, they had a rubber thing they could cover with KY jelly and rub on my belly and it showed how much my bladder still held. The first time they used it I peed 350ml and the device said I still had a lot so a cathature was inserted and it drained 650ml. The second time a cathatour was inserted it drained 700ml, so they sent me home with some tubes up my pluming to drain my bladder and a tube in my mastectomy to drain the fluids there.
Friends came by and cleaned house while I was gone, so there is a lot more room for me to get around. Still, I managed to fall once since my return.
With all the bad news about health care, I feel I should share my good experiences. I love DU and read it every day if I can.
Good Health to you all,
ADW
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