The Canberra Hospital - A first timers experience.
On the night of Monday 19th Jan I was struck down with Cellulitis which I have had a few times before. Cellulitis is a potentially fatal infection and it usually makes me quite ill and in need of IV antibiotics ASAP. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulitis
My wife took me up to The Canberra Hospital's A&E dept straight away. I was triaged immediately and then had a 3 hour wait to see a Dr. Given that A&E here is a busy place, 3 hours wasn't too long to wait. I was seen by Dr Usman who identified Cellulitis and asked my previous history of infections. I was taken to Acute bed 7 and placed on IV antibiotics at 2am. A nurse named Frank looked after me. I then had another IV at 8am and sent home with oral antibiotics and pain meds. Instructions were given to me that if the infection looked like it was getting worse, to come back in.
On Wednesday morning I was sitting outside and noted that the infection had indeed spread beyond the lines drawn at A&E less than 24 hours earlier. Cass was not at home to transport me to the hospital but our lovely next door neighbour happened to be outside at the time and asked me how I was. I mentioned that I had Cellulitis and it was spreading. She dropped everything and took me straight away back to A&E.
Once again, at A&E, I was triaged and waited about 2 hours to get back in to see a Dr. This time Dr. Raj consulted. He was of the view that I should be admitted as soon as possible. I was experiencing fevers and chills and a considerable amount of pain. This time I was looked after by nurses Veronica and Jason.
Later that evening I was finally in a bed on Ward 7B. I was under the care of Dr. Antony Nicholls, Dr. Ashwin Swaminathan and their staff. I spent 6 days here and was very well looked after. During this time it was decided that I would need very powerful antibiotics. Normally I get an IV of 2g Flucloxacillin over a 1 hour period. Clearly this wasn't enough and they decided that 12g over 24 hours was probably best. They found a vein in my arm and proceeded with the IV. I lasted about 3 hours before my vein was in agony. Fluclox has a nasty habit of buring out veins. I could manage this pain with Endone but clearly this was not an ideal situation. They decided that a PICC line would probably be the best idea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripherally_inserted_central_catheter
I had never had a PICC line before and the idea of something running through to just near my heart didn't really excite me too much. Kerry and Sam from IV services placed the PICC line in on the Saturday, were very reassuring with my anxiety, and I didn't feel a thing. I was able to then have 3 bags x 24 hrs each, of 12g Fluclox IV'd through my system over the next few days. I had no worries with this at all. Only bug bear was having to drag an IV pole around with me everywhere I went.
Yesterday I was discharged and sent home. I have plenty of antibiotics to finish this damned infection off. The discharge was quick and painless.
For all the rubbish I read about The Canberra Hospital online or hear on the radio....its all bollocks. I have never felt so cared for by any other hospital. The staff here are just absolutely wondeful and I can not praise their professionalism enough. The food from the kitchen was top notch. I'm usually a little dubious of mass produced food, but this was great. Healthy, tasty, and good portion sizes. I never went hungry.
I would like to thank the wonderful A&E staff, Dr's Usman, Raj, Nicholls, Swaminathan et al. Nurses Frank, Jason, Veronica, Kelly, Flint, Gaby, Lali, and any I may have missed from Ward 7B. The kitchen staff, the imaging staff, Kerry and Sam from IV services. The Pharmacy staff. Pathology staff. Discharge lounge staff. You all are simply wonderful and thank you for taking good care of me.
THANKYOU!!!
My wife took me up to The Canberra Hospital's A&E dept straight away. I was triaged immediately and then had a 3 hour wait to see a Dr. Given that A&E here is a busy place, 3 hours wasn't too long to wait. I was seen by Dr Usman who identified Cellulitis and asked my previous history of infections. I was taken to Acute bed 7 and placed on IV antibiotics at 2am. A nurse named Frank looked after me. I then had another IV at 8am and sent home with oral antibiotics and pain meds. Instructions were given to me that if the infection looked like it was getting worse, to come back in.
On Wednesday morning I was sitting outside and noted that the infection had indeed spread beyond the lines drawn at A&E less than 24 hours earlier. Cass was not at home to transport me to the hospital but our lovely next door neighbour happened to be outside at the time and asked me how I was. I mentioned that I had Cellulitis and it was spreading. She dropped everything and took me straight away back to A&E.
Once again, at A&E, I was triaged and waited about 2 hours to get back in to see a Dr. This time Dr. Raj consulted. He was of the view that I should be admitted as soon as possible. I was experiencing fevers and chills and a considerable amount of pain. This time I was looked after by nurses Veronica and Jason.
Later that evening I was finally in a bed on Ward 7B. I was under the care of Dr. Antony Nicholls, Dr. Ashwin Swaminathan and their staff. I spent 6 days here and was very well looked after. During this time it was decided that I would need very powerful antibiotics. Normally I get an IV of 2g Flucloxacillin over a 1 hour period. Clearly this wasn't enough and they decided that 12g over 24 hours was probably best. They found a vein in my arm and proceeded with the IV. I lasted about 3 hours before my vein was in agony. Fluclox has a nasty habit of buring out veins. I could manage this pain with Endone but clearly this was not an ideal situation. They decided that a PICC line would probably be the best idea. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripherally_inserted_central_catheter
I had never had a PICC line before and the idea of something running through to just near my heart didn't really excite me too much. Kerry and Sam from IV services placed the PICC line in on the Saturday, were very reassuring with my anxiety, and I didn't feel a thing. I was able to then have 3 bags x 24 hrs each, of 12g Fluclox IV'd through my system over the next few days. I had no worries with this at all. Only bug bear was having to drag an IV pole around with me everywhere I went.
Yesterday I was discharged and sent home. I have plenty of antibiotics to finish this damned infection off. The discharge was quick and painless.
For all the rubbish I read about The Canberra Hospital online or hear on the radio....its all bollocks. I have never felt so cared for by any other hospital. The staff here are just absolutely wondeful and I can not praise their professionalism enough. The food from the kitchen was top notch. I'm usually a little dubious of mass produced food, but this was great. Healthy, tasty, and good portion sizes. I never went hungry.
I would like to thank the wonderful A&E staff, Dr's Usman, Raj, Nicholls, Swaminathan et al. Nurses Frank, Jason, Veronica, Kelly, Flint, Gaby, Lali, and any I may have missed from Ward 7B. The kitchen staff, the imaging staff, Kerry and Sam from IV services. The Pharmacy staff. Pathology staff. Discharge lounge staff. You all are simply wonderful and thank you for taking good care of me.
THANKYOU!!!