J
jyarmo
Guest
I know that many of us have had extended stays at hospitals because of our conditions. I've come to learn that no hospital stay is complete without atleast one wacky hospital roomate. Do any of you have any stories regarding hospital roomates that you have had?
I'll share one with you all.
Last summer I was in the hospital because I had a partial blockage. I have found in the past that the worst pain with blockages is experienced out of the hospital, and once I'm under medical supervision things tend to improve quickly! However, there was one thing, one person who made my stay less than stellar!
My roomate was a older, single man, somewhere in his late 50s or early 60s. To tell you the truth, it's hard to guess his true age, but his bitterness and rude behavior definetely made him seem older.
This guy was truely crazy. He would boss everyone around, regardless of whether they were a nurse, doctor, or visitor (including my visitors!) He asked one of his visitors to wet a facecloth for him with hot water. He sent her back FIVE times because "it wasn't hot enough" and he had asked for a "hot towel, damnit!"
What made things very strange was that although he had broken a bone (and potentially had a hernia), he was on the IBD wing! He frequentely told whoever was around that without a doubt, he was in the most pain out of anyone on the floor! Puh-lease!
The nurses hated him and this resulted in a terrible cycle. This guy would complain more, act ruder, which resulted in the nurses checking up on him less often, getting him to complain more. This was no fun to watch as his roomate, let me tell you! I had to hear about his constant complaints, many of which were trivial. The worst was him complaining about the small portions of food he was getting. I was not on any foods at this point (no liquids or solids...all my nutrition was getting taken care of via I.V) so you can imagine how sympathetic I was towards him!
It all came down to the night before I was able to leave. Remember, this was at the end of the Summer and I had just finished high school. Many of my friends were going out of town to different universities, so I wanted to call them and say goodbye. I called about 4 -5 friends, and spoke to each of them for a little while. I imagine this took 1.5-2 hours total.
Throughout this time, this guy was yelling,screaming, swearing and buzzing for a nurse. Eventually one came in, (don't forget! The nurses were avoiding this guy like the plauge) and he took the yelling to a new level. He claimed that he was roomed with a "lunatic" who was going non-stop between the washroom and the telephone, causing a raucus. Did this guy have any clue what IBD symptoms consisted of?!
At first I felt bad that this guy was complaining about me. The nurse came over to me after she had finished with him and said that if I wanted to I could move to a different room. At first I said no, I was fine where I was. The nurse asked me if I was sure two more times and I told her I was each time. After she left, I decided to go over to him to appologize. He essentially said that I was nuts and that I was wasting time on the phone because "I was listening to what you were talking about and it wasn't important". He than asked me what I was doing in the hospital and when I told him I had Crohn's disease he said "What, is that a mental disorder?" I had had enough.
I went to the nurses station and told a different nurse that I had been offered the chance to change rooms and that I wanted to take up the opportunity. This nurse knew the situation and went back to my room to help me get my stuff together. In a flash, I was moving my belongings to a new room! Two nurses told me how they couldn't believe I was able to handle that guy for so long!
My next roomate was an unbelievably nice guy and we had a great conversation that lasted well into the night. HE even knew about my roomate because the nurses had complained to him about "this crazy guy in another room".
I'll share one with you all.
Last summer I was in the hospital because I had a partial blockage. I have found in the past that the worst pain with blockages is experienced out of the hospital, and once I'm under medical supervision things tend to improve quickly! However, there was one thing, one person who made my stay less than stellar!
My roomate was a older, single man, somewhere in his late 50s or early 60s. To tell you the truth, it's hard to guess his true age, but his bitterness and rude behavior definetely made him seem older.
This guy was truely crazy. He would boss everyone around, regardless of whether they were a nurse, doctor, or visitor (including my visitors!) He asked one of his visitors to wet a facecloth for him with hot water. He sent her back FIVE times because "it wasn't hot enough" and he had asked for a "hot towel, damnit!"
What made things very strange was that although he had broken a bone (and potentially had a hernia), he was on the IBD wing! He frequentely told whoever was around that without a doubt, he was in the most pain out of anyone on the floor! Puh-lease!
The nurses hated him and this resulted in a terrible cycle. This guy would complain more, act ruder, which resulted in the nurses checking up on him less often, getting him to complain more. This was no fun to watch as his roomate, let me tell you! I had to hear about his constant complaints, many of which were trivial. The worst was him complaining about the small portions of food he was getting. I was not on any foods at this point (no liquids or solids...all my nutrition was getting taken care of via I.V) so you can imagine how sympathetic I was towards him!
It all came down to the night before I was able to leave. Remember, this was at the end of the Summer and I had just finished high school. Many of my friends were going out of town to different universities, so I wanted to call them and say goodbye. I called about 4 -5 friends, and spoke to each of them for a little while. I imagine this took 1.5-2 hours total.
Throughout this time, this guy was yelling,screaming, swearing and buzzing for a nurse. Eventually one came in, (don't forget! The nurses were avoiding this guy like the plauge) and he took the yelling to a new level. He claimed that he was roomed with a "lunatic" who was going non-stop between the washroom and the telephone, causing a raucus. Did this guy have any clue what IBD symptoms consisted of?!
At first I felt bad that this guy was complaining about me. The nurse came over to me after she had finished with him and said that if I wanted to I could move to a different room. At first I said no, I was fine where I was. The nurse asked me if I was sure two more times and I told her I was each time. After she left, I decided to go over to him to appologize. He essentially said that I was nuts and that I was wasting time on the phone because "I was listening to what you were talking about and it wasn't important". He than asked me what I was doing in the hospital and when I told him I had Crohn's disease he said "What, is that a mental disorder?" I had had enough.
I went to the nurses station and told a different nurse that I had been offered the chance to change rooms and that I wanted to take up the opportunity. This nurse knew the situation and went back to my room to help me get my stuff together. In a flash, I was moving my belongings to a new room! Two nurses told me how they couldn't believe I was able to handle that guy for so long!
My next roomate was an unbelievably nice guy and we had a great conversation that lasted well into the night. HE even knew about my roomate because the nurses had complained to him about "this crazy guy in another room".
had a 60 year old man staying at the hospital as well, hitting on me, flirting and following me around the whole time i was there, and yeah i was happy to leave asap lol
