No one tells you anything

I have learned while being in the hospital that the least informed person is the patient. At least that is my experience.

One day I asked if anything was on the agenda for me as I was expecting company. I was told there was nothing. Minutes later I was whisked out of my room for a series of x-rays. When I was returned I was in my room for a short time and then carted off for more tests.

Part of the problem is that the nurses often do not know. An order may be put into the system ordering a test. You may get taken away for a test in a few minutes or wait a few hours. You do not get told until it is confirmed a porter is coming to get you.

Some of the tests they do not really tell you what they are. They just take you to another department and drop you off. I wound up in Endoscopy to get a camera put down my throat to check out my stomach. That is an interesting experience. You are awake for that one. Thankfully it did not take long.

What they did not tell me until a week later had to do with an issue I was having. My stomach was not processing food like a regular person and I was having gastro-intestinal issues. It might have been related to the accident, or not. I was not keeping food down and it was causing concern. It got better over time and I was given medication for it, medication that I was told I will have to be on for the rest of my life. Anyway I was told by a doctor on rounds that they thought I had a tumour, hence all the tests. I do not have a tumour, a number of tests eliminated that possibility. I was a little irked no one told me until much later that they suspected one. 

Some advice. If you find yourself in the hospital ask questions. Question everything they do and question everything they prescribe. Grill the doctor whenever they come around. Sometimes they forget you are a person rather than a project.