More Hospital Visits

But they are not for me. Sunday evening our son Martin rang. He was in a lot of pain and wanted us to take him to Emergency. He lives about 20 minutes drive from us and his local hospital (Rockingham-Kwinana) is another 15 minutes away. He had tried to ring an ambulance but they had said his symptoms were not severe enough. So we picked him up and took him to the hospital and left him there.

He rang us in the morning from Fremantle Hospital. After some tests the Rockingham hospital had decided that his condition was severe enough to warrant treatment at a major hospital. The diagnosis is one or more abscesses on the spine. He is having antibiotics and will continue with them for 6 weeks. They will be administered intravenously and so he too will have to have a PICC line. Untreated, the condition could result in paralysis.

I went to see him yesterday afternoon. He was on an IV drip and had a catheter. He is not a good patient - complaining that he needed more pain relief and that no-one would help him shower. I admit to being relieved when a middle-aged nurse came with the pain relief and dealt with him in a no-nonsense way. I made a quick exit.

Last night the hospital rang us to advise that he was being transferred to yet another hospital - Sir Charles Gairdner - so that he could have access to the major specialist in this field. This morning Martin rang us and told us that they were talking about surgery, though later we were told they are just continuing with the antibiotics.

He has been admitted as a public patient which means all his costs are fully covered. Thank goodness for MediCare. He doesn't want us to visit today, but we will probably call in tomorrow after I have had my chemo since the two hospitals are quite close.