This past week I had the infuriating experience that Ontarians have to face at least a few times in their life. Waiting in the ER. I'd been getting these weird chest pains off and on for a couple months now but they didn't last long. I awoke Monday and the pain was steady throughout the day. I shared this information with several work friends and my girlfriend who advised me to go to the ER. I decided to wait it out because I hate going to the ER. Tuesday morning came and I continued to have the same pain so after work I broke down and called TeleHealth.
TeleHealth is Ontario's medical hotline where you can talk to a Registered Nurse who will advise you on whether to go to the ER or not. I was hoping I would get advised to stay home. However, my RN told me to take a taxi or ambulance to the hospital stat. I decided to drive myself.
I arrived at the ER and after about 20 minutes got to see the triage nurse. She was wearing what appeared to be a see through welder's mask. Turned out it was part of our province's new Ebola safety measures. Anyways, after seeing the second nurse, much to the dismay of those in the waiting room (some who gave me dirty looks) I was taken in right away and hooked up to an ECG. After the ECG was complete I was asked to go back to the waiting room (much to the chagrin of those already there, including the ones who had thrown me a dirty look). And wait I did.
I sat down and began to read my book and people watch every now and then. The place was full. I observed that I seemed to be the only one with a book. I can never understand how people can show up to the ER or even a doctor's office without anything to do. Most of the people glanced at the TV with CP24 running (very low volume) or just stared into space. Several people were complaining of the long wait. I had gotten there at approximately 5:00 PM and many had already been there since around 2:00 PM. I would later learn that a lot of people were there for approximately eight hours.
I notice one lady who was there with he elderly mother who was telling anyone who would listen that they'd been there for hours and that she was told that if her mother's doctor had just called ahead they would have gotten in right away. This went on for a long time in which I went from feeling empathy to just wishing she would shut up already.
There was one kid there with his Mom and Grandmother who had been there for a long time. He became very agitated when told his Dad would not be coming to pick him. He kept telling his mother that he wasn't going to stay and that it wasn't fair. I had to agree with him. I later observed it was his Grandfather they were all there for.
Finally at 10:00 PM I got to see the doctor. I met with him for approximately five minutes and was then sent off to get a blood test. The lady who took my blood (the very same who gave me the ECG) jabbed the needle in. I have never had a blood test hurt so much. There were several other people getting blood taken and they were all in agreement with me. While waiting for blood I noticed an old priest lying on a gurney. He shimmied off it and was struggling to put on his jacket. I went over and helped him get it on. A few minutes later I saw the nurse run after him for he had decided to wander off. She got him back and laid him back on the gurney.
After the blood was taken I was sent back to the waiting room once more. An hour later everyone I had sat with to get blood taken were getting called back in save for me. It turned out I had missed my name being called as I was in the bathroom. Luckily I figured that out within 15 minutes. Turns out my ECG and blood tests were all fine. The ER referred me to a cardiologist and told me his office would call me the next day. The next day came and the cardiologist's office never called. I waited until the end of work the next day and called them myself.
I'll have to see what happens when I go to the office later this week for some sort of test. I was told not to have any caffeine for 24 hours and to wear comfortable clothes. Hopefully it goes well.
Dave the Dude
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