Ughdate - I mean, Update

My mother is in the same hospital I stayed in when I had a hernia operation at age twelve. We were really impressed with it then. I can only hope the current medical staff is a better than the help desk operators.

Last night I called the hospital main line and was transferred to the ER. They told me to call back because they had no information; she wasn’t in for her procedure yet, no mention of what the procedure was. On the next call, they said she was undergoing the procedure so the doctor couldn’t talk to me. On the next call, they said the procedure was completed and she had been sent to her room. I called the main number again, and was transferred to somebody else’s room. It was late and I assumed she needed rest, whatever had happened, so I waited until this morning to try again.

This time the operator informed me that she had never been put in a regular hospital room, but was still in the ICU. I tried that number, but found it busy. I called asking for her doctor (her personal physician gave me his last name) and the operator made a guess (they had three doctors with the same last name). She guessed wrong, but the next person was able to find the right doc and forward me there. The doctor and his nurse were both out for the day, so I tried the ICU a few more times. I finally got through and laboriously explained to the person on the other end that I was looking for information. She attempted to transfer me, disconnecting in the process, but the next time fared a little better. Several more transfers left me with a guy named Jeff - no rank or position, just "Hi, this is Jeff." Naturally, Jeff knew more than anybody else and so I finally got a few answers.

She had been sent to them vomiting blood. They found some esophageal bleeding and fixed that, but massive blood loss caused her to have a heart attack. Anyway, she’s now listed in critical but stable condition. She’s in no condition for visitors today, but I’m driving up tomorrow to see how she is. Blogging will be nonexistent for the weekend, but I should be able to pick things back up on Monday.