Sabbatical Day 8: ER in NYC

The morning on Saturday started with me being wakened by a thud. Susie was on the carpet, apparently uninjured and needing some help to get back up. She complained that her arm was numb, and she felt like she had a stroke. She was sure she could handle the bathroom.

She fell again, getting on the commode. I picked her up, and when I set her on her feet, she started to fall again. She tipped over to the left as if she had no strength in her leg. I then helped her get done what needed to be done.

I then danced with her to the hotel room’s small entranceway and set her in the traveling wheelchair. I got her dressed, and myself dressed and then headed down to the lobby. The staff called the EMT. They appeared in what seemed like a blink of an eye.

After the usual preliminaries, we road in the ambulance to Mount Sinia West. One of the EMTs explains that ambulance rides are the worst as we bounced over potholes and other more minor obstacles.

We got to the ER and were surprised that nobody met the ambulance. We had to find the triage nurse. I could see that the EMTs were a bit surprised to be wandering around the ER to get help. The place was out-of-a-movie.

Susie was immediately IV’d, CAT scanned, and reviewed. The initial reaction was that sometimes stroke symptoms return and that the CAT scan was clear. But, an MRI was recommended, and to admit Susie overnight and get the MRI.

There was a lot of drama and folks yelling and screaming with the staff talking calmly and explaining. There was a lot of racial abuse of the predominantly working black staff. The docs, mostly resident docs, were everywhere too. The Docs and the RNs seemed to be respected by the team.

We waited for the MRI and admission all morning. Susie was moved to a less dramatic ER section and was closely monitored, including a heart display, but the move the hospital rooms, a Covid-19 test was done. I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting and waiting with her.

I had dinner, no food is available in the hospital on weekends due to Covid-19 and labor shortages at the Olympic Flame near the hospital. A greek salad with pastitsio tasted great as it was the first food that day.

Susie was still in ER when I left. So I walked the 16 blocks back. It was a lovely night, a bit cold but no wind, and soon the walk warmed me. I enjoyed the crazy that is Hell’s Kitchen on 9th Street. My feet were sore from the miles of walking the day before. So I went slow and took a few pictures and called some folks and took a break.

Updated cleaner clothing and met Mariah and Kat (who lives here) for dinner.

I had matza ball soup with a potato pancake. Sandwiches for the girls. That had walked miles and enjoyed the MoMa (our original plans). This was at Junior’s near all the theaters on and off of Broadway.

We then took on the challenge of having dessert in NYC. Cheesecake! I had the Carrot Cake Cheesecake. Kat had a swirl of strawberry version. Mariah sampled.

I slowly and a bit painfully walked back to the hotel. I managed to sleep a bit, but dreams were troubled.

I called the hospital this morning, and after being hung up on once, it is NYC; I got them to tell me that Susie is in 10b and a nurse is supposed to call me. Still has not happened. The visiting hours start at 10. I will try to get there at 10:30.

Thanks for reading!