M.S.A.T.H...The Final Chapter....

.....this time, its personnel.....
yes I meant to spell it that way:)

Ok, I think I left off on Wednesday....Thursday and Friday were pretty quiet, as was most of Saturday. With the exception of 1 individual and I am not sure if he was important in the hospital or not...my guess would be that he was just the poor schmuck at the bottom of the totem pole, stuck working on a weekend. Anyhow, we (my roommate Kristina and I) were outside smoking with some other ladies when this idiot pulls up and starts running on about something....I had no clue at the time as I do not speak Croatian. So he goes over to some note that was posted on the window of the hospital and all of the women put there cigarettes out as I still have mine. He looked at me and said something similar to "blah blah blahich" and I responded with one of the only phrases I know "ne razumijem Hrvatski" (i don't understand Croatian). He goes back over to the note posted and says "Can you read?" really sarcastic...which of course opened a window for me to respond with "not Croatian" and smiled. So he led everyone inside and that was about it for the excitement of the day.
Sunday morning rolls around and going to the basement for my cup of coffee, I was told by another patient (actually Kristina was told and then interpreted it) that visitations were not allowed at all for that day due to the flu going around. It must have been some strange 24 hour Croatian Flu I never heard of, because they were already informing us that visits will be back to normal on Monday.
So we arrive in the basement, I get my coffee out of the machine and head outside (not for a smoke, but for the fact that I like sitting outside drinking my coffee in the morning). To my surprise, the doors were locked. I went to the other doors marked "Emergency Exit"..those were locked also. Every door in the hospital was locked and only certain personnel had the keys! Was this a lock down that is often shown in women's prison movies?! Was that safe?
I am certain, that somewhere along the lines, lock down on a hospital is not only a hazardous situation, but illegal and immoral as well. "In case of emergency, jump out the window" type of deal, does not set well with my brain. I must admit, that part of me..ok, half of me, wanted to pull the fire alarm just to witness the chaos. I still get an evil grin just thinking about it :)

for those who missed the first post in the "My Stay at the Hospital" series..click here

Hospital Menu

so i won't have to describe the nutritional value (or lack thereof) of every meal, i will list the food that was offered. this list includes everything: meal, condiments, and drinks....bread is always white

Monday
lunch: broth

Tuesday
nothing

Wednesday
breakfast: 2 slices of bread, bowl of milk (what am i, a cat?)
lunch: broth, hot dog, 2 slices of bread
dinner: rice with some kind of meat (i think it was meat), 2 slices of bread

Thursday
breakfast: 2 slices of bread, a packet of butter (breakfast is now known as "whats for bread?")
lunch: pickled beets, 2 slices of bread, noodles
dinner: cream of wheat, 2 slices of bread (by now, i was wondering if they just keep giving us the same 2 slices of bread we didn't eat from previous meals)

Friday
breakfast: 2 slices of bread, cream cheese
lunch: 2 slices of bread, fish, spinach-potato-cabbage mix, broth (actually, this meal was pretty good)
dinner: macaroni and cheese (i think this was diet mac and cheese because it had half the milk and cheese of others), 2 slices of bread

Saturday
breakfast: 3 slices of bread (must have had an extra slice laying around), butter, jam, bowl of warm milk
lunch: corn grits, beef stew, seasoned salad, 2 slices of bread, broth (again, not bad)
dinner: chicken and dumplings, banana, 2 slices of bread (not as good as mine, but still ok)

Sunday
breakfast: 2 slices of bread, cream cheese, bowl of warm milk
lunch: 2 slices of bread, broth, macaroni and cheese (wasn't too bad after i mixed it with my broth)
dinner: boiled potatoes, seasoned salad, and of course...2 slices of bread

Monday
breakfast: 2 slices of bread, bowl of white coffee (must have been my "farewell" present)

for those keeping track..that was 33 slices of bread:)

M.S.A.T.H...Part 7

Wednesday morning i was woken up as usual at 6:00 am sharp by a nurse. good news was, i was allowed to finally eat, so i anticipated the arrival of breakfast, which was due at 7:30 am, cracked open my book and began to read. btw..nothing else to do there without a television or radio.
like clock work, my first meal arrived and to my dismay, it was less than typical hospital food. it consisted of 2 pieces of white bread (not toasted) and a bowl of warm milk. ok, i will repeat just in case you think i mistyped or you misread....a BOWL of warm milk, as in, not a cup. now, rather the milk was for me or the vermin, i am not sure. though someone should inform these people that it is a woman's hospital and not a veterinary clinic. the only time i drink milk from a bowl is after i am done eating cereal, which apparently, they forgot to add. they also forgot butter, jam, jelly, or anything else that may go with bread.
at 8:00 am, the doctor came in with about 6 interns to check on us and remove the gauze from my vagina. of course, without curtains, my entire womanhood was there for all to see, including my roommates.
the rest of the day was long, but i did manage to finish my book, and since one of my roommates was sent home, it was just 2 of us, which made it a little more quiet and peaceful.

My Stay at the Hospital Part 3----Monday

We arrived bright and early on monday morning at "klinika za ženkse bolesti i porode"...basically it translates to "hospital for women". after asking 3 or 4 people for directions, we finally found the ward we were to be in. the wait was only about a half hour, so it wasn't so bad (though having more than 3 chairs in the waiting area would have been nice). but then we found out that "monday was preparation day". so basically, sunday was just a trial run and i was regretting not having that morning cup of coffee i deprived myself of. my boyfriend, bela, had then informed the nurses that i spoke very little croatian and i was from america. one nurse (we will call her blondie) , responded with, and i quote, "no problem".
so we go into the room that i will be staying in. it is what i described, with the 4 beds, 1 toilet, 1 shower, 2 closets, and 1 tv (which i guess is only for the lucky 2 people on the one side of the room), no curtains which equals no privacy. upon further inspection of this facility, i noticed that there were not any towels in the shower room, no hospital gowns (not even the paper ones), no juice or watered offered (even at meals), no toothpaste, toothbrush, paper towels, shampoo, or any other little complimentaries you might receive at a hospital. we even had to ask for our toilet paper. this just all seemed odd to me as i was under the impression that hospital was in fact short for hospitality. pretty much, if you didn't bring it, you didn't have it.
so i picked a bed, only 2 left (yes, the ones without the tv) and bela left. i unpacked some belongings and waved to my 2 roommates, who waved back but that was about the extent of our conversation for the day. i cracked open a book that i had bought just for my visit (very good btw..."one last scream" by kevin o'brien). i then fell asleep reading it due to lack of sleep the previous night....to be continued