Thursday, October 6

 I had the last appointment for this round of infusions yesterday although they handed me an appointment card for a return visit on November 1st, so I suspect there is more to come.  It was busier yesterday in the small ward but, for some reason there wasn't the same level of staffing I'd noticed on previous days.  I spoke to the nurse who was plugging me in and she commented that 'they' always get the rosters wrong.

The young woman in the chair next to me seemed to be known to the staff and I suspect she was or had been a nurse in that department.  The woman in the last bed came in in a wheelchair from one of the local nursing homes.  She was very cantankerous and awkward and said, "I'm not sitting in that chair.  I want a proper chair."  They explained to her that they needed to use the medical chair because if she had a reaction to the medication, they'd be able to lie the chair flat to deal with it.  I found out later she was called Charlene.

"No, I'm not lying flat," she complained.  After a bit more argy-bay, she finally gave in and they plugged her in.  A bit later, there was bit of a to-do from her vicinity and I heard one of the nurses telling her that what she was saying was not appropriate, it was rude and aggressive and racist.  I think the nurse was Asian and the old battle-axe had made a racial slur.

Charlene kept up her complaining and eventually the whole emergency team was called out in case she really was having a serious attack.  She wasn't, of course.  The doctor did discover that her blood-oxygen levels were low and suggested he do some proper tests to check whether she should carry a bottle of oxygen.  He got just as much abuse as the poor nurse but he was Irish.

Later in the afternoon, the young woman next to me was leaving and, before she left, she turned to Charlene and said, "I just want to say, Charlene, that you are awful.  You're a horrible person."

I thought it was almost a quote from Muriels Wedding: 'You're terrible, Muriel!"  I haven't had as much excitement in just one day for a long time