I had a little accident a few days ago. We had a home inspection coming up on top of everything else going on right now. So Ted and I have been running around to clean and straighten things up. It's like cleaning for company; company that has the power to evict you. I decided that the shelf/stand unit I built would look better on the other side of the kitchen so I rolled it over. It's on wheels you see, aren't I clever? Yes, I'm so bloody clever that the damn thing fell apart and all the kitchen appliances on it fell over; one of them on my head.
I never blacked out or fell over, however, pretty quickly I started feeling "off" and needed to sit down. Thank God Ted was home so he helped me to the couch, gave me some ice and some nurofen (advil in American speak). That's when I noticed my stomach coming up through my throat and how standing was now an Olympic event. After the vomiting stopped Ted drove me to Hornsby Hospital.
When you are here on a Tempory Resident Visa there is no difference between public and private hospitals. You pay top dollar for both so you might as well go private. We learned that tidbit when Teddy trashed his arm a few years ago. When you are a Permanent Resident, it matters. Being concernend about spending any extra money right now, public hospital we went. I have to admit I worried about that choice when we first arrived as there was no extra wheelchair to be found to take me back. I'm clutching an ice bag to my head, walking like a drunken Quasimodo and Ted had to carry me to the triage room. I didn't have to walk too far but still, it was a little weird not having someone pounce on me as soon as I got there to throw me on a gurney. Fortunately I was so out of it that wasn't much of a big deal to me.
FYI the term Punchdrunk is spot on correct. I felt like I was drunk out of my mind. I couldn't walk a straight line or even stand up straight. People had to repeat their questions over and over and I felt I was viewing the world through foggy glasses. Ever been so drunk that you had to sit and concentrate on sounding sober? That was me, trying to over-enunciate every word I said and sounding like Stephen Hawking's voice generator. The only thing that different from a drunken bender was me not calling everyone "Hon" or telling everyone how much I love them. At least as far as I know. I'll let you know if flowers start arriving.
A cat scan, some intravenous panadol (Tylenol for Americans) an uncomfortable neck brace and a few hours later I'm discharged with a diagnosis of a concussion. One of the things I do love about Aussie hospitals is the ease of discharge. The doctor gave me the results, made me promise to go seemy GP and to stay away from falling things, then she showed us the door. No waiting for 6 hours for Admitting to send back paperwork and to clear things through. No waiting for the orderly to wheelchair me out to the curb. "You're fine, don't hit your head again. Come back if you start throwing up again. See ya." the doctor pointed the way out and We walked out-which I could do now without tipping over back and forth, and headed home.
For everyone in the US screaming about the horrors of socialized medicine and having yourrights to choose your doctors let me offer this bit of wisdome. Of all things going though my head on the way to the hospital, "How will we get the kids? Owe, my bloody head hurts. Crap I forgot my phone! Jesus, there is no damn parking! Damn, I think my brain is oozing out my ear!", know what I didn't worry about? How are we going to pay for this? We decided to go public and that was that. I was seen, got treatment and I don't have to panic about a bill coming. Think about that the next you are heading off to the hospital in the US. How many people do you know who will be panicking about a hospital bill? In Australia, not too many.
Now I'm at home, resting and trying to reconnect the synapses in my brain. Yesterday I spent 7 hours just on the couch watching Netflix on my iPad. Today I got up and planned on getting back into cleaning. Our home inspections was postponed but the realtors will be coming back soon with their checklist of issues. Unfortunately my brain is still in lolly-gagging mode I'm afraid I didn't get a lot done. That's fine. My new, swished-about brain is telling me that it doesn't matter. I think I like this new brain. Now if it could just come up with the winning lottery numbers or reveal super powers to me, now that would be cool. I think I'll play it safe another day and sit more on the couch waiting for these powers to come to me.
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