[2021-12-03] Home
Tonight's Jenesis post comes to you from my home. I was discharged from The Ottawa Hospital late this afternoon. Oh happy day.
My care was excellent: attentive, professional, efficient, integrated and friendly. Over the course of my 24 hours in hospital, I received visits from a parade of experts in surgery, wound care, infectious diseases and other disciplines—each building on the information in my chart, either reported by me or others, or gleaned from tests. Behind the scenes, each member of the healthcare team would report back to their colleagues, providing recommendations for my care. Every interaction was efficient: the experts knew what they were doing and what they needed to accomplish. At the same time, I always felt that I could pose questions and that the healthcare professionals would give me all the time I needed.
As usual, the nurses were stars. I appreciated their calmness and friendliness, despite their obvious workload.
But I was especially impressed by Dr. Tropiano, a general surgeon in Dr. Boushey's team. (Dr. Boushey performed my surgery on November 15.) Dr. Tropiano came to see me multiple times in the emergency department yesterday, returning whenever he had new information to share. He continued his attentive service throughout today, dropping by to review my progress, to report on his discussions with Dr. Boushey and others, and to update me on steps he had taken. When I inquired whether he could have the nurses draw my blood for my monthly blood work, saving me from having to go to the hospital lab, he readily obliged. When he gave me a printed prescription for antibiotics, I asked whether he could send it to my pharmacy to speed up the process of its being filled; he later told me that the pharmacy's fax machine wasn't working, so he had called in the prescription. At the end of every visit, he invited me to raise questions, which I often did, repeating back to him what I had heard so that I could be sure that I understood. In our final chat, when he asked whether I had any questions, I replied: "Not a question, but a comment: you are exceptionally professional and empathic." I could see his smile even under his surgical mask.
I also can't say enough about MyChart—an app that, among other things, provides to patients the results of their tests as soon as they are available. Having this information during my hospital stay made me feel like an integral part of my healthcare team. I was reassured this morning to see that my white blood cells had dropped from yesterday's high-normal number of 9.5 to 3.2, which is in line with my usual result. Similarly, I was encouraged to see that my neutrophils had dropped from yesterday's high number of 8.3 to 2.2, which is, again, where they normally sit. Seeing those numbers provided evidence that my infection was subsiding and that my treatment was working.
In returning home, I've traded antibiotics administered via IV to antibiotics in pill form, and care in the hospital for care in my community, at a clinic two kilometres from my house. My first appointment is tomorrow.
But the best part of being home, beyond sleeping in my own bed and eating home-cooked food, is to once again be with my family.
