How to survive in a (Russian) hospital?

“When I was asked to describe this experience, I realized that I remember almost nothing. Or I don’t want to remember…

Gradually, reluctantly succumbing to my strong-willed efforts, the events of these days began to recover, pictures appeared.

Picture one: ambulance

The heart attack happened quite out of place. Just crashed into my plans during the New Year holidays.

The first question that had to be decided was whether or not to call an ambulance.

Well, it will pass now, I thought sluggishly. It was creepy and a little scary. The husband made the decision. He must have been scared too.

The young paramedic, who came to the call, took a cardiogram, but could not send it to the medical center for interpretation. Telephone conversations with the doctor ended with an offer to go to the hospital. Again, a decision had to be made. I didn’t want to go to the hospital. Make a decision too. I wanted someone to tell me where I would be better – in the hospital or at home. Doctors and my husband gave arguments “for”, but at the same time they offered to decide on my own. The decision came with difficulty.

Picture two: emergency room

There was no rest, you know. The next question, which had to be solved after the procedures and tests required for admission to the hospital, was about the bed. There were seven beds in the ward where I was sent. One was free.

“We are coughing,” two future roommates immediately announced to me. I didn’t want to get sick with the flu in addition to heart disease, and I went to the doctor on duty with a request to be transferred to another ward. There was a free chamber. Right outside the door.

“Cough is nonsense! They don’t have a temperature. It’s not the flu,” the doctor on duty consoled me.

There was no way to get the truth. I got the flu on the third day, but this is what happened before that.

Picture three: treatment under control

On the second day of treatment, for some reason they didn’t bring me a box of medicines. I reported this sad fact to the nurse on duty. In the following days, they tried to force me to take pills under the supervision of the medical staff at the nursing station.

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Picture four: flu and scandal

I became seriously ill with the flu, with a high fever and severe cough. I was forced to prove the fact of a high temperature by measuring it, again at the post, under the supervision of a nurse. I lost trust, “losing” the medicine.

During the rounds, the doctor accused me of simulating a temperature and demanded proof.

Here I could not stand it and asked her to apologize – here, in the presence of other patients. And she apologized! Alas, everything that happened before that hurt me so much that I almost did not feel satisfaction, and the sediment still remained unpleasant.

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Correct solution

I spent about two weeks in the hospital, trying to recover not so much from heart disease as from influenza with complications. She was treated on her own, buying medicines in a pharmacy stall.

The best decision I made during this time was to run away from this hospital. Discharged on receipt. And for a month I still tried to cope with the consequences of the flu and heart disease under the supervision of a local doctor.

And I didn’t even go for an extract, my memories were so difficult.

Now, sorting through the pictures in my memory, I think: what wrong decisions did I make?

Each of them seemed to be correct at the time I took it. Why such a result? It turns out that a bad result is not necessarily a consequence of wrong decisions. We do not always have complete information about the outside world. And we make decisions based on our ideas about it. In theory, it is good to be treated in a hospital: constant care, all specialists come to the patient themselves, there is no need to look for them in different rooms … But this is if the hospital is good. And if not?

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Search exit

It is not customary to talk about this, but everyone knows that many hospital problems are solved with the help of money. They don’t call them bribes, they call them gifts – to a doctor, a nurse. They can help you move to a better room, get more attention and less resentment. But if the doctor is incompetent, then no gifts will help. And you also need to know to whom, how much and when to “give”. And the strength to find out is not enough. When you are sick, you really want to trust someone strong, kind and smart, who will make the right decisions!

There are heroic relatives who follow all the nuances of the treatment process, from operations, medicines poured into a dropper, and to … There are friends and girlfriends. Roommates can also support – both with advice, and literally, arm in arm, when you need to go to the toilet or call a nurse at night. Feel free to ask for help and don’t hesitate to accept the help offered! That is if you are already inside. And if it’s still outside, get ready. Thinking about the hospital, of course, is not very pleasant. But, perhaps, it is worth finding out in advance where which hospitals are, which doctors, read reviews, ask around friends. In general, collect as much information as possible and carefully evaluate it in a calm environment. To know where to ask an ambulance to take you in case of emergency.