A trip to the ER for my back Made me think

I knew the doctor the hospital is named after and I rather think he would have been unhappy at the state of it. There are not even close to enough beds, and the staff or worked to the bloody bone, as there are not enough of them. The ER has experienced a lot more traffic since 2020 than ever before, and it's not letting up any time soon.

The aging population of our city and province in general, is an issue for the health case system. Us old folks are sick and injured more often that the younger more healthy folks. So we end up in the ER more often and end up staying in hospital more often.

I have to say that I think I needed to stay a day or two to be safe. I could not move at all without level 10 pain for 2 days. Every time I did walk, or stand up, or get into bed, I experienced light headedness from being in too much pain.

It did NOT help that the doctor who last saw me in there, looked at the X-Rays and saw there where no broke bones and told me to go home.

I wanted a prescription for the muscle relaxant they used on me in the ER, as it worked well, and the pain would have been manageable with it. However the doctor for some reason was not willing to give it to me, so I ended up doing things like cooking food and so on, when I was not totally safe to do so, and risked passing out from the pain.

I just needed a weeks worth at most to get over the spell, so I could keep from the possibility of hitting the floor. It's the last thing I need to do, to drop to the floor with a pot of boiling water in my hands. But some doctors these days just WILL NOT give out pain meds or most meds in the ER.

I was told to follow up with my doctor, but there was not a possibility in hell that I was going to make it into his office in the massive pain I was in. I feel safe today, but I sure as hell did not feel safe on the first 2 days home from the ER trip.

I have to say, the nurses and the one aid worked their asses off to help me. They had to lift me from the stretcher into the bed, as I just could not do it at this point in time. The also managed to get all my clothing off of me, and being I'm a very heavy man, this is a task I'm sure. I was wheeled in the bed to the X-Ray room, and the nurse had to explain to the tech that there was no possibility of my getting up and onto the table.

There was also no chance the nurse was going to let her put me in a sling and use the lift, as she figured the sling was not good enough for my size, and I would not be safe.

After this, I was taken back to the ER room, and several of the staff got me onto a "sliding board" and I was taken back and slid onto the table for X-Rays.

I have to say, the tech was just not getting the, "I can't freaking move" idea. She wanted me to roll on my side. If I could roll on my  side at this time, I would not have needed to be slid in place by 6 people now would I?

I do however not expect the tech to actually understand anything about this kind of thing, and to need it explained to them. They don't have the training for the nursing staff, so how the hell would they possibly know?

I will in the end, go to my grave wondering why the hell I could not get a prescription for a weeks worth of muscle relaxants to help me be safe at home. I live alone, and there is not a chance in hell I am getting anyone in to help me for a couple of days - it's just not able to happen.

As for the hospital, they knew they might end up short on beds when they built it, and guess what? They where correct. So now we have a hospital for a town sized population in an actual city. We also have not enough staff in any of the Saskatchewan hospitals.

This I'm sure has caused harm to people in the past and will continue to do so in the  future. The Sask Government needs to freaking listen to medical staff and fix some things. There has been an influx in government revenue and I think some of this should be going to expanding hospitals for more beds and trying to get staff to come to Saskatchewan.

I'd like to end  with a big thank you to our medical staff for all they have done for me in the last few years. The ER doctors, not so much at times, but definitely the other staff.