DAY 87 – CHECKING OUT THE CARNARVON HOSPITAL

It was an early start for us this morning as we were hopefully heading to Denham today.  We wanted to be gone between 8am and 8.30pm and we were well on the way to being ready which suddenly my heart started racing. 

This has happened in the past, but until the previous week, it had been a couple of years since I had experienced it.  Not something, you want to happen to you when you are far away from home and your medical practitioner.

Carnarvon  Hospital

As I had had a previous episode of this the week before when we were staying at North Mandu,  I really didn’t feel comfortable about hitting the highway and heading away from any help, so Steve and I decided that we needed to stay an extra day in Carnarvon and visit the hospital.  

The others all decided that they would stay with us also, so around 8.30am Steve took me up to the emergency department at the Carnarvon Hospital to get checked out.

 

Emergency Department

It was still irregular when I got there so they rushed me into emergency and did and ECG.  Drips went in, and they took blood samples and just when they were about to give me some drugs intravenously to bring by heart rate back to normal, it went back into it’s normal rhythm  all by itself.  

Just to make sure that everything was OK before they left me go home, I had to endure another set of blood tests, and two more ECGs, and then go back the following morning for another blood test.  

In all I spent about 7-8 hours in the emergency department of the hospital and boy wasn’t that an education.  There was plenty of entertainment as they tried to sedate a patient, whom appartently was well known to them as she verbally abused them up hill and down dale for hours.  I take my hate off to the nurses and doctors these days that have to deal with patients like that.  She was bought in handcuffed and wanted them off, she was kicking and screaming and at times the language was so bad that I had to block my ears.  Her threatened them and the behaviour was appalling. 

When I wasn’t mad at her I was feeling very sorry for her also as her life must be hell to be in the situation that she was in.  

Anyway, it was certainly an education, and made me realise that it isn’t just teachers and aides that have to deal with appalling behaviour, but essential service people, like police, nurses doctors, paramedics as well. 

  

I have to say, the service I received from the hospital was absolutely fantastic, every doctor and nurse couldn’t have been kinder or more thorough and I really appreciate all they did for me.  

In fact our whole experience in Carnarvon has been wonderful and we will leave here with very happy memories of our time here and it is certainly a place I would love to come back and visit.