I have gone back and forth about writing this revi...

I have gone back and forth about writing this review, mainly because I didn't want to think about this event in detail again. I've finally decided to write it. This review is strictly about my horrifying experience in the ER, not the rest of the hospital, where the nurses and doctors were very helpful.

In 2014, I had an appendectomy at Mackenzie Health. The following day, I was discharged and prescribed Percocet. I later learned that a side effect of Percocet is urine retention. By that same night, I was back in the ER with extreme pain and discomfort from massive urine retention. This could have been solved promptly if the ER nurse had put in a catheter. Not only did she not give me a catheter, she advised against it, all while giving me morphine and a constant IV drip for 8 hours, exacerbating the problem, as my body was unable to expel any of the liquid. At some point, she did a blood test, something she evidently did not know how to do. She jammed a needle in my arm, and poked around trying to find a vein. I continued to express how much discomfort I was experiencing, and after a series of unnecessary MRIs, the nurse eventually said, there's nothing else I can do for this patient. When my parents and boyfriend complained to the Head Nurse, she couldn t be bothered to help and instead argued with them. Hours after having been placed in a room and waiting without any nurse checking on me, I finally saw a doctor, who was uninterested and reluctant to treat me. He provided no medical help or answers, and eventually just disappeared. It wasn t until the next morning that a new nurse knew right away that what I needed was a catheter. The MRI results, which were consulted only after the new nurse had put in the catheter, revealed that the fluid accumulated in my bladder had surpassed capacity, and my enlarged bladder was pushing my other organs out of the way, a potentially fatal situation. The results also showed a mysterious fluid around my kidneys, something the doctors initially suspected was an infection that could lead to septic shock. I was hospitalized for another week, kept under close supervision and given antibiotics.

It is baffling that over the course of 8 hours in the ER, two nurses and a doctor were unable and reluctant to provide me with any answers or medical help. In addition to them being alarmingly incompetent and unprepared, their attitude was perhaps the most disheartening aspect. I am well aware that after years of being in the medical field, you might become desensitized to some degree. However, when your job involves interacting with ill patients who rely on you to give them answers and a sense of comfort, the very least you should do is treat them with respect, compassion and professionalism.