Veneziana Hospital Day 1

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Veneziana Hospital...A 15 minute water taxi took us to the S.S. Guianni E Paolo (St. John & Paul) Hospital in Venice. As you have read by now (from Aaron's blog), Beth's foot continued to hurt, & she began throwing up (8 times in 4 hours!). "Pronto" service means standing & waiting until someone appears at the desk or decides to help. Often the hospital staff are doing other things inside & outside the hospital (i.e. The ER doctor put on an red emergency jacket & took off out the front door - he returned a little over an hour later.). The Medico took special interest in Beth because her grandmother & daughter share the same birthday. People wait & wait to be seen here. The hallways are constantly lined with beds & high back wheelchairs that convert into "beds". Birds even wander around the ER! Beth's wait to be seen was shorter than most - she began vaomiting in the waiting room. Examinations take place in the reclining wheelchair contraption. They did her EKG with the oddest equipment. They put different colored HUGE clothespins on her wrists & ankles. Then they put glass balls with suction cups on her chest & legs! I wish I could have taken a picture! Our hospital adventures continued as we we saw the different doctors. The first trip to radiology (echo of abdomin) took us through the ER waiting room (you have to dodge patients & families)...through the outdoor courtyard...down the partially covered sidewalk...into the old hospital... & up the smallest hospital elevator I've ever seen (the bed barely makes it in)! The trip to cardiology was fairly normal. You only had to dodge the ER waiting room chairs & those in the entrance hallway. However the trip to gynocology (to rule out ovarian cysts) was unbelievable. We went out the back door of the hospital...through the staff smoking area...across the gravel parking lot (remember Beth is being wheeled in a bed!)...into a different part of the old hospital...past the Carrara statues & across the marble floors (by the way, no lights are on!)...up the tiny elevator & into a dark hall on the 3rd floor. The Medico left us alone there. We sat there for 1 hour - no other person was anywhere in sight! Finally we hear footsteps & a nurse opens up the office. The doctor arrives 15 minutes later. I think they called them in from home! After the procedure (no cysts) they wheeled us back into the hall, turned off the lights, & left! We sat there for 30 minutes. When the sun began to set (remember - no lights!), I thought that I better try & find a way back to ER. So I began pushing Beth's bed & off we went. In route, a medico came & helped us get back to the ER. Now you may be thinking that things can't get any crazier...but they can. Beth's bed was once again in the ER hallway with the crazy lady in the wheelchair behind her. A man plugged his phone into an outlet in the hallway. Apparently this is a BIG no no. The Italian gentleman ignored the medico's instructions to remove it, so 5 Polizei (policemen) showed up! My oh my...the Italian words were flying! Then 2 more Polizei came for the crazy lady. Now I don't want you to get the wrong idea. There were very kind & helpful Italians who blessed us throughout our ER visit. Around 10:30 pm the doctor talked about admitting Beth for observation (we only arrived at 3 pm). We insisted that thy examine Beth's foot before taking her to the floor. The new ER doctor (change of shifts) did not know anything about Beth's foot! So off to radiology we went again! Thankfully we did not have to wait as long this time because I'm renaming the hallway to mosquito central! Beth did not break her foot - just sprained. Around 12:30 am she was admitted to the Infectious Disease & Recovery Ward. I spent the night while Aaron went back to the hotel with John & Pat. The last water taxi is at 1 am so they just made it!

Joyce

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