We sat in the main entrance of the hospital, surrounded by fellow seniors. Seniors volunteer at the information desk, and help direct people unfamiliar with the registration process. Notably, seniors are the majority of the people who have business at the hospital as well.
At registration, where you take a number, every wicket opened as patients checked in for procedures that day. We waited for the number to be called as the seats filled up around us, everyone needing directions to the appropriate clinic. Among those checking in, a child, young adults and middle aged people looked out of place.
Listening to the conversations around us, some like my husband and I, waited with a friend who had an appointment that day. People spoke of pain and its management, doctors they liked and didn’t, wait times in spite of appointments. Some sat alone and waited quietly. Several people used canes as friends linked into them, everyone eager to get on with the day.
We sat in several areas during the day. Young people had day surgery while family members waited. A roomful of grey heads occupied the eye clinic. The cancer clinic embraced people of various ages. A family waited excitedly as a young mother gave birth just as we had done when our first grandchild was born. In the chapel several people sat in quiet thought or prayer.
By supper time, the registration area and the various clinics and collection areas had emptied out. Patients left in wheelchairs, with patched eyes, casts on legs and arms in slings. A construction worker limped to a waiting vehicle. Otherwise, as earlier in the day, most were seniors, accompanied by fellow seniors or younger family members.
A day spent in a hospital watching the proceedings gave me pause.
25 comments:
A hospital is a busy busy place, at all hours of the day. I've been there with friends and family members, and also for myself in the middle of the night. Hats off to all the doctors and nurses and staff that keep the hospital running smoothly and look after us in our hours of desperation.
Were you there as observers, helpers, patients? Your description of the hospital for the day is very clear, except why you were there. The description reminds me how much I don't like to go to the hospital, even to visit.
Big Hugs
A hospital is always a sobering place. Unless one is there to have a baby, it is rarely a welcome journey.
For Americans, add in the worry of what this will cost and it can be downright awful.
My ex-husband got sick on New Years Day, 23 years ago. By the time he was diagnosed and on the road to recovery, we owed over $12,000. to so many different people I couldn't keep track. WE HAD INSURANCE and still owed $12,000.00. We were fairly young and had 4 little children and were in debt up to our eyeballs.
That was a hekuva long day for you. I hope your friend got good news -- or as good as possible.
Hello,
I have been to various hospitals for family members and myself. I can not help myself but I do "people watch" in the waiting rooms. Usually trying to pass the time. It is nice of you to keep your friend company during their appointment. Wishing you a happy day!
So very familiar.
I hope that all went well - for everyone. And thank the doctors, the nurses, the receptionists...
A very sobering experience, makes you appreciate life even with the aches and pains of everyday life that we sometimes complain about.
Well-written. Again, well-written. I could see everything there.
I hope things went well.
Yes watching the comings and goings in a hospital can be insightful Marie, makes you realise there are many people out there with health problems similar or worse than our own. I hope your friend is alright, she was lucky to wait with such good pals 💜
Not always the fun place to be...I have sure spent enough time at hospitals...
We are so fortunate that almost every one of those professionals know what to do.
As fascinating as it is to watch people, can you imagine the stories many of those same people could have told? Sometime I just wonder what life has held for some of these folks.
Yes, it makes you want to preserve your health at all costs. At least, that's the effect a day at the hospital has on me.
Being present in any hospital, as patient or carer, always gives me pause for thought. You see someone and think, That could easily be be or someone I know. It makes one appreciate what one has.
i senn hospital closely when after school i stayed with my mom in hospital dear Marie
i could not forget that experience until today ,when i saw people specially young girls laying on bed and i was told they did not see the sky since years ,all the rush ,pain and misery i witnessed there made me more sensitive ,and to be honest more grateful for the health i was blessed with
this was powerful painting of words you shared here ,i felt sitting there beside you !
I spent a lot of hours at hospitals when I was my mother's caregiver. You are right. If you have the patience to sit quietly and observe, you can see and pond a lot.
Watching people at any time is interesting but thu=is certainly gives one something to think about. Take care Diane
It makes us pause and think ... never take anything for granted..
wondering why you were there?? if you were the patient, i hope things went well!! i have been the patient, too many times, you described it well...it is all very familiar to me!!
So many different things going on at hospitals, a building full of some of the best and worst days of some peoples lives.
I watched a show last night where three different characters made a comment about why they were not going inside the hospital to see their injured co-worker. I'm not very good at waiting even with my cell phone entertaining me. They had various excuses but for most of us it is a very simple "I don't want to be there." You were kind to take your friend.
I have had 6 tests/procedures at the hospital in the last month....as I sat alone waiting to register, I did the same thing as you.....observed the different walks of life as they entered the hospital. I know it meant the world that you accompanied your friend.
Good observation, Marie. It's sobering all right.
Post a Comment