After Surgery
After surgery, I came back to the room I had left the day before, with one other person, who then checked out that afternoon and for the next four days, I had a private room. It is hard to write too much about this period because, I laid in bed, watched my iPad, got IVs after IVs, mostly antibiotics, and learned to walk with crutches and a walker and had wonderful care from the staff.
I eventually went with the walker as it seemed easier to me with my balance. It made it pretty easy when I got home to get around the house. I have to tell one cute story. The younger staff could all speak English, and some quite well. The older nurses had issues and struggled. One night I asked for my sleep medication to a nurse and tried to explain the request and she didn’t get it at all. Suddenly she pulls out her phone and calls her daughter who is a charge nurse there and we have this lovely conversation as she enjoys getting the chance to speak English and was able to convey my request to her daughter.
So another man checked in the afternoon I left, my wife brought chocolates to the nurses and we managed to get me in the car and into the apartment up one step and I was home
(I just want to say and make a point that while the situation was so different than an American hospital, the staff could not have been nicer. In the end, I got very good care from highly competent individuals including the doctors, nurses and the support staff)