In the end it was 4 am before they called Simon’s name.
Well, actually they called “Simone” which I assumed was some weird local pronunciation but became clearer when we saw they’d misspelled his name on his wristband.
We were privileged to get a cubicle all to ourselves, because some people were lying on beds in corridors, or even still sitting in chairs, as if they hadn’t had enough sitting in the waiting room.
A nurse called Agnes did some basic obs – BP, heart rate, oxygen levels – then a urine dipstick and an ECG. Then we waited another hour for a doctor to come. When she arrived she was briskly efficient, with a fairly perfunctory history and examination before taking some bloods. We were then left for another hour while we tried to figure out what the plan was, or if there even was a plan. I had tried earlier on to have a wee nap on the floor but regretted it when I saw how grimey the floor was. I was really tired by now though and was wondering about whether I should go back to our accommodation. To be fair, the blood results came back very quickly – very abnormal and supportive of Simon’s self diagnosis of gallbladder inflammation. The doctor returned and told us the plan from now on: admission to hospital under the surgical team for IV antibiotics, with some sort of scan likely later today. Unfortunately the hospital is bed blocked – a common problem around the world – so he’s going to start his treatment in ED. Apparently in the US the trend is for early surgery to remove the gallbladder, a so called “hot cholecystectomy” but we don’t believe that’s something the NHS would tackle. Anyway we’re supposed to be cruising to Norway on Friday so hopefully he improves with antibiotics and supportive therapy. I also hope he accepts pain killers because he hasn’t slept for two nights now.
I left him to it soon after 6, to come back to our accommodation and try to get some sleep.
It turns out Simon and I were the only people staying at the club last night, so the manager Scott stayed here just for us! And we were supposed to check out this morning, so he’s having to stay another night when they were going to be closed. He’s just made breakfast for me, and I’m now feeling much better. It was quite a nice walk home in the early morning, although nippy.
Simon has messaged to say they’ve started him on three antibiotics, much to his dismay. He’s been checking his treatment all the way through using AI and various medical references, and apparently the latest thinking is that bacteria are not usually involved. In any event, he’s feeling much better, which is the important thing.