A Pandemic Hospital Visit

Thinking that every hospital would be the same in these silly times, I did not intend to post about last week's visit to the hospital to see the foot surgeon. However, when I saw an American hospital visit described on a blog, I realized that not all hospitals everywhere are dealing with the pandemic in the same way. That blogger found themselves sitting in a crowded waiting room next to an unmasked person.

The following is how it went for me.

Sue came with me to assist with hearing. We had to get special permission for this. It turned out that I heard the surgeon fine, but getting to him without a thousand "Ehs" and "Pardons" would have been problematic.

We were met at the door where we were instructed to remove our masks, don theirs, and sanitize our hands. These protocols were overseen by a masked and face-shielded young lady. She sent us along to the person in the glassed booth just behind here. He informed us that I couldn't be accompanied, but he then gave Sue a special arm band when we revealed that we had been granted permission due to my impairment. We were then directed us to the second stop, or actually the third, I guess.

There, I finally registered by presenting my health card to another person behind glass who spoke through a microphone. That's where I needed Sue because that was tough on my ears; even Sue had to strain. I was given paperwork to take to the next stage.

Once at stage 3 (or 4 depending on how you are counting) , in a well-spaced waiting room, we presented ourselves to yet another enclosed and difficult-to-hear interviewer who then sent us onto my first actual appointment – radiology. 

At radiology, we were instructed by signage to wait in the background until waved forward to the next shielded booth in the process. Then, within a moment or two, we were sent along to a waiting room where there was plexiglass between seats. Here, as everywhere during the whole visit, every person was masked.

The wait was very short until the radiologist came to collect me. The x-rays didn't take long, and she soon took us into the hall to point the way to the foot clinic. In my initial, pre-pandemic appointment last year, it had been easy to lose our way, but signs were now clear and abundant. We followed #7 signs until we arrived at the next waiting room where we checked in with yet another well-barricaded receptionist.

We only had to wait a few minutes before we were collected by a masked lady who guided us to the doctor's consulting room. He was not only masked but also wore a face shield.

He already had my x-ray onscreen and took me through his findings very efficiently. I could hear him well despite his mask and shield, but I had needed Sue's well-attuned ears to help navigate me to him. 

The surgeon's report can wait for another day, for this is simply to describe my first personal, medical appointment since the pandemic engulfed us.

I felt completely safe through the whole process. I don't think a hospital could possibly be any more careful or any more safe than this one was.