Original rating:

Original rating:

I'm in this hospital right this minute. I've been here for over 4 hours, and although they've already given me an ultrasound, drawn blood twice, and given me an influenza screening, they still haven't gotten my blood pressure, temperature, or heartrate. As a matter of fact, up until an hour ago, they didn't even have me entered into the system here, and I still don't have a wristband.

I've seen some guy that acts like he's running the show here twice, both times he drew blood, and I would have asked him some questions, but every other word out of his mouth was a curse word, so I really didn't want him talking much.

I haven't eaten in 24 hours, and every person I ask about food and if I can eat, can't seem to give me an answer. I'm so thirsty, but I can't seem to get anyone to bring me any water either. I really wish the lower keys hospital wouldn't have sent me here.

I'm going to give this hospital 4 more hours to pull their stuff together, or I'm leaving.

UPDATE:

I'm still here, just had surgery, and let me tell you, things have gotten MUCH better. Once I left the emergency room, it was like a switch flipped. I've received some excellent care from everyone involved, save one. The nurse responsible for me the first time after leaving the ER must've been having a bad day, or a chip on her shoulder, because she couldn't have cared less about coming by to see me, and when she did, she wasn't very pleasant. She had told me she was going to 'be right back' to flush my IV to keep my fluids flowing since they had stopped, but 3 hours later she hadn't been back, and ignored 2 of my calls, and 1 of the head nurse's calls. But then,

Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has been amazing, from the transport guys who drove expertly and didn't bounce me around, to my techs and nurses, the MRI staff, the CT staff, the security guards, the surgeons, even the guy I talked to that was cleaning my room have been tremendous, and I'm so happy that I was here in this hospital, even after the rough start.

I even got a visit from Carmen the RN director and Nurse leader. She was amazing, stopping by to ask me about my complaints, fixing those issues, and we even got to talk about our exercise regimens (I'm a distance cyclist, she runs marathons!). Good luck in Sweden Carmen, thanks for everything you've done. Claudia, the patient experience coordinator stopped by as well to get my thoughts, and she was so gracious. I'm glad we got to have those talks while I was here.

My surgeon is Dr. Santiago. He stopped by multiple times to tell me about the procedure on my gall bladder, made sure that I was at ease about it, and when he found out I was a guitar player introduced me to a guitarist I hadn't heard, but I'm now a fan of. He was really good at cutting me open, so much so, that he managed to work around my chest tattoo so well that there's no damage to it. That was important to me, and he nailed it. He came by after the surgery and told me how great I was while I was under anesthesia, and that meant a lot. What a genuine fellow, and all around great person.

I still haven't had any solid foods yet, so I can't really attest to the quality, but I've been by the cafeteria a few times, and it smells delicious.

I haven't seen anything that would even come close to dirty since my initial visit to the ER, and I think maybe the ER was just busy that night, and was playing catch up. It is Miami after all. My room has even been completely done every time I'm out for a procedure, and that's nice.

The staff here is quick to respond when you press the button or call, the nurse and tech even have their own number to call so you can get directly in touch with them. That's a nice touch, a lot of hospitals won't do that for you.

One last thing: I was completely unprepared for a hospital stay, with no extra clothes, not even a phone charger. Fortunately, everyone has gone above and beyond to make sure I can keep my phone charged, and that is just the icing on the cake. Thanks everyone!

Chris.