Hospital Food

I didn’t expect to be eating hospital food today. I didn’t expect to be eating anything at all. From Monday’s breakfast until this morning, I haven’t been able to keep anything down, due to an extended bout of vomiting. I’ve thrown up at least half a dozen times.

It all started on Monday morning when the first thing I did was vomit. It was after waking, and a dizzy experience where “the room went spinning round”. Thankfully, I didn’t follow in the footsteps of the great song “The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan” and “climb to the rooftop when all the laughter grew too loud”.

Further bouts of dizziness followed by vomiting continued throughout Monday, as I wrote about in my previous blog post. On Tuesday morning, my friend Andrea read the post and dropped me a quick message, checking in on my welfare. I replied quickly, asking if she could visit.

“I think we need to call the ambulance,” she said as she arrived at my apartment. By the time she had arrived, I was in a pretty bad state. I had already vomited in both bedrooms, the bathroom, and the lounge room. I was also unable to get up off the floor, as I was instantly dizzy, and vomiting followed shortly after. When I opened my apartment door for her, I was flat down on the ground, and without my prosthetic leg.

We called the ambulance, described the situation, and they offered to send a team of two people as soon as possible. While we waited, we chatted, and I also called a few people at work to explain the situation.

When the paramedics arrived, they were quick to diagnose the possible cause – Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo – though noting neither was a doctor.

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a disorder arising from a problem in the inner ear. Symptoms are repeated, brief periods of vertigo with movement, characterized by a spinning sensation upon changes in the position of the head. This can occur with turning in bed or changing position. Each episode of vertigo typically lasts less than one minute. Nausea is commonly associated. PPV is one of the most common causes of vertigo. BPPV is a type of balance disorder along with labyrinthitis and Ménière’s disease. It can result from a head injury or simply occur among those who are older.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benign_paroxysmal_positional_vertigo

The diagnosis was later affirmed/confirmed by the doctor at St. Vincent’s Hospital Emergency Department. As with my previous experiences at the hospital, I can’t speak highly enough of the speedy, careful treatment I received. There was even a friendly, recognizable smile from one of the medical staff who recognized me from my time at Sacred Heart Rehabilitation. “James, I thought we had told you to go home and never come back,” she said with a laugh.

The doctor gave me some medication and performed a number of physiotherapy-like exercises on me to reduce the dizziness. Slowly moving my head from side to side, there were moments when I thought I might vomit again, but thankfully did not.

In the “short stay” area of the Emergency Department, there was only one other person, so we were well looked after by the staff. Our part of the department was incredibly quiet, in stark contrast to what must otherwise be quite a busy area. The peacefulness of the space was also an observation shared by a woman I was sharing the room. The discussion which later revealed I have worked (distantly) with her daughter for over a decade. We chatted briefly when she came to pick up her mum. Small world, eh?

Today I had further visits from a physiotherapist and a doctor who also confirmed the diagnosis, took me through some exercises, and gave me a sheet to take home with things I will need to practice.

I also had a CT scan, which confirmed nothing unusual except for the “expected impacts of aging.”