The ER was very much like a US ER with lots of waiting and overcrowding. The one substantial difference was the sheer amount of interns. Three interns were the first to see me besides the admitting nurse. They looked at all my paperwork, lab tests, and the note my primary doctor had written detailing my issues. They poked and prodded and listened to practically my whole torso with their stethoscopes. They asked a hundred questions and conferred between one another. This took a couple hours. They eventually decided to refer to their lead doctor. The process was repeated at a faster rate, and she decided the gastro doctor should see me. So basically it took them 3 hours to decide to actually listen to my primary doctor's note requesting the aid of a GI doctor.
We're waiting around for the GI doctor when Jeremy's boss understandably has to leave. It is now 12 pm after all. We're still waiting when all of a sudden an intern brings in a chair with a bucket attached underneath and says I have to give a stool sample. There are two problems with this; one, I already gave a stool sample two weeks ago and the results were negative and two, my doctor had pumped me up with so much anti-diarrheal medication it was like Fort Knox down there. I was told it doesn't matter and a sample is needed.
An bit later and we're presented with some more problems; we are being moved to the hallway so instead of having a private room with a private potty chair, I now have to share a communal bathroom with about 15 other people. Furthermore, the collection basin doesn't fit in the toilet but is jammed in there anyway, so when I sit on the toilet my feet are a good 6 inches off the ground and I'm sitting at a high backwards incline. I felt like I was in a roller coaster, riding up to the apex. Can you poop while feeling like you're about to be launched into outer-space? Because I can't. They refused to give me a laxative and refused to let me see the GI doctor until I went. This was going nowhere.
They finally gave up and I got to see the GI doctor. He listened to my issues and said he was admitting me for a "short week" to run tests. Seven hours after arrival, I'm finally being admitted. Two days and an endoscope later, ulcerative colitis is confirmed. Tentative treatment is begun and I am monitored for another day which brings us to today. I am told that a complete colonoscopy will be performed next week at some point to determine how much of the large intestine has been affected. At this point I am bored out of my mind, missing my pets, my bed, my home "When can I go home?" I ask. The answer is unknown but since my blood levels and temperature have been steady I can, I'm told, go home for the weekend and come back Monday! My room will be held for me in case I feel I need to come back early. I quickly accept and within 3 hours I'm given all my medications and sent on my merry way!
Inpatient care, as far as an inexperienced person like me can tell, seems to be the same as the US. You are left to your own devices and checked on about 5 times a day. The nurses are very friendly and helpful, but not very quick to answer the call button. Meals and medicine are given on a very consistent schedule, I know exactly what time it is based on when a nurse comes in and what she is doing. Hospital food, however, is horrendous. I long for the hospital food I witnessed last year while visiting my father.
I am amazed at how long people are kept in hospitals here. I understand ulcerative colitis, while not an immediate life threat, is a serious condition that requires monitoring but in the US unless you are dying or are being administered medication or treatment impossible to give at home, you are generally out that door within 72 hours. On one hand I like the attentiveness but on the other, I feel like it is a bit of a waste. While ulcerative colitis is a painful, serious disease nothing they were doing could not be done in my own home. Either way, I am grateful for the weekend at home and will update once I am out again!