The Golden Lounge

[Wayne R]

I'm so sorry.

In Nov 1999, I contracted pneumonia. It was cleared up with a visit to the doctor and antibiotics.

Jan 2000, pneumonia again. Same end result.

March 2000 I'm coughing up blood and it being a Sunday, off to the emergency room.

While it took 5 hours to get to see someone, they immediately admitted me, things were serious.

At first, it was not so bad, I had a bed, an oxygen mask, IV drip... OH, the nurse missed the vein 4 times before hitting home.

A couple hours later, some woman 2 curtains down, started crapping in a bucket beside her bed, yelling, she's gonna die. She went on for hours.

A few hours later, the nurses came and said they needed the bed for the oxygen for someone else. So I got a gurney in the hallway, in front of the nurses station.

Every time I managed to doze off a damned phone would ring.

Then the torture, IV antibiotics. As soon as they started the flow my arm would start to burn then turn into excruciating pain.

After 3 days of torture I begged them to just send me home with oral antibiotics and a bed where I could sleep.

Now, pneumovax once every 5 years, flu vaccine every year, jumped on covid vaccine as soon as my doctor called to say he had an extra shot, did I want it?

I suppose my point is that if you go through hell once, you take every precaution not to do it again.