Saturday-Day 35-I'm actually writing this on day 39, quarantined in the Polish hospital without any internet. On Saturday, we left Los Arcos hospital at 06:00. There was the driver, Jose Ramon, the nurse, Alex, Joan and myself. Joan was in the back on a stretcher bed with the nurse beside her in the beginning. Joan had 2 IV's connected and the nurse had to make sure they were dripping correctly.
Jose Ramon did all of the driving. Every couple of hours we would stop for a break and I changed places with Alex once the IV's were securely in place. It was a long trip but by morning we were at the German border. We stopped there to sleep.
Sunday-Day 36-After another 4 hour drive, we reached the border cross at Frankfurt into Poland. In front of us were 3 lanes packed with cars, vans, and trucks. The lines were at least ½ km long. We arrived at 09:30, by 10:00 we hadn't moved one inch. I thought it ridiculous that an ambulance should wait in this line so I got out, walked all the way to the control points and talked to one of the officials. I explained to him the situation of the ambulance and she was kinds enough to maneuver us to the front of a line. Even with that assistance, we didn't actually start to Poznan until 11:30.
When we got to the hospital we were treated unkindly. The nurse in charge was like a stormtrooper with his commands. Once we were inside after letting us stand out in the cold wind for 20 minutes, Joan was taken in one direction while I was taken another to be tested. Once the preliminary tests were good I joined Joan. She was laying on a stretcher in a diaper she had urinated in a few hours ago. No one made any attempt to take if off and change it. That wasn't their job. They said I had a 14 quarantine at home but Joan had to stay in the hospital, alone. Frankly, It terrified me. The thought of her being here with no one to talk to or comfort her. They said I had to leave and they ordered transport to take me home. I waited 2 hours for transport until a nurse came out to get me. Joan refused to be admitted to the hospital. IT was what I was afraid of. Her mind is in a delicate state right now. She is worried, scared, frightened and does not need to be alone. I explained that to the nurse and she managed to talk to someone who agreed to let me stay with her for the 3 days it takes blood results for the virus. We actually have our own room together. The room doesn't compare with the room in Spain. The beds are smaller and older. When she did arrive to the room and the nurses were trying to change the diaper, one of them was so rough I told her to leave Joan alone. She didn't do anything gently. The nurse she has during the day is more like the nurses in Spain
Monday-Day 37-Not much to say really We are both in quarantine in the hospital. I'm hoping to talk them into letting me stay with Joan for her whole 14 day period. I don't want to leave her alone here with no one to talk to or understand. No one will have the patience to care for her like I do.
Tuesday Day 38- If the Corona doesn't kill us then the food will. How can you exist on lunch meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 4 pieces of bread, butter and cream cheese? Is that the Corona diet?
Wednesday Day 39-Medications, they are given to the patient by the spouse. It's a good thing I had all of Joan's with me. You are also expected to bring your own soap and towels. How many people go on vacation and take their own soap and towels? Breakfast was a repeat of last night's dinner. The same 4 slices of bread, butter, lunch meat, oh, and coffee, if you could call it that. Later, someone came in with very large red plastic bags and told me to put everything we had into them. They were moving us to a ground floor room even though we didn't have the final results of the Covid-19 test. The doctor said if both of us test negative then Joan will be moved to a rehab facility in the town of Srem, about an hour south of here. I really hope that is the case.
Jose Ramon did all of the driving. Every couple of hours we would stop for a break and I changed places with Alex once the IV's were securely in place. It was a long trip but by morning we were at the German border. We stopped there to sleep.
Sunday-Day 36-After another 4 hour drive, we reached the border cross at Frankfurt into Poland. In front of us were 3 lanes packed with cars, vans, and trucks. The lines were at least ½ km long. We arrived at 09:30, by 10:00 we hadn't moved one inch. I thought it ridiculous that an ambulance should wait in this line so I got out, walked all the way to the control points and talked to one of the officials. I explained to him the situation of the ambulance and she was kinds enough to maneuver us to the front of a line. Even with that assistance, we didn't actually start to Poznan until 11:30.
When we got to the hospital we were treated unkindly. The nurse in charge was like a stormtrooper with his commands. Once we were inside after letting us stand out in the cold wind for 20 minutes, Joan was taken in one direction while I was taken another to be tested. Once the preliminary tests were good I joined Joan. She was laying on a stretcher in a diaper she had urinated in a few hours ago. No one made any attempt to take if off and change it. That wasn't their job. They said I had a 14 quarantine at home but Joan had to stay in the hospital, alone. Frankly, It terrified me. The thought of her being here with no one to talk to or comfort her. They said I had to leave and they ordered transport to take me home. I waited 2 hours for transport until a nurse came out to get me. Joan refused to be admitted to the hospital. IT was what I was afraid of. Her mind is in a delicate state right now. She is worried, scared, frightened and does not need to be alone. I explained that to the nurse and she managed to talk to someone who agreed to let me stay with her for the 3 days it takes blood results for the virus. We actually have our own room together. The room doesn't compare with the room in Spain. The beds are smaller and older. When she did arrive to the room and the nurses were trying to change the diaper, one of them was so rough I told her to leave Joan alone. She didn't do anything gently. The nurse she has during the day is more like the nurses in Spain
Monday-Day 37-Not much to say really We are both in quarantine in the hospital. I'm hoping to talk them into letting me stay with Joan for her whole 14 day period. I don't want to leave her alone here with no one to talk to or understand. No one will have the patience to care for her like I do.
Tuesday Day 38- If the Corona doesn't kill us then the food will. How can you exist on lunch meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 4 pieces of bread, butter and cream cheese? Is that the Corona diet?
Wednesday Day 39-Medications, they are given to the patient by the spouse. It's a good thing I had all of Joan's with me. You are also expected to bring your own soap and towels. How many people go on vacation and take their own soap and towels? Breakfast was a repeat of last night's dinner. The same 4 slices of bread, butter, lunch meat, oh, and coffee, if you could call it that. Later, someone came in with very large red plastic bags and told me to put everything we had into them. They were moving us to a ground floor room even though we didn't have the final results of the Covid-19 test. The doctor said if both of us test negative then Joan will be moved to a rehab facility in the town of Srem, about an hour south of here. I really hope that is the case.
Jose Ramon zajmował się prowadzeniem pojazdu.. Co kilka godzin zatrzymywaliśmy się na przerwę, a ja zamieniałem się miejscem z Alex, kiedy kroplówki zakończyły się. To była długa podróż, ale rano byliśmy na granicy z Niemcami. Zatrzymaliśmy się tam, żeby się przespać.
Niedziela - dzień 36 - po kolejnych 4 godzinach jazdy dojechaliśmy do Polski do przejścia granicznego we Frankfurcie. Przed nami były 3 pasy wypełnione samochodami, furgonetkami i ciężarówkami. Kolejki miały długość co najmniej ½ km. Dojechaliśmy o 9:30, o 10:00 nie ruszyliśmy się ani o cal. Wydawało mi się śmieszne, że karetka powinna czekać w tej kolejce, więc wysiadłem, przeszedłem całą drogę do punktów kontrolnych i rozmawiałem z jednym z urzędników. Wyjaśniłem sytuację, a ona była na tyle uprzejma, że skierowała nas na początek kolejki. Nawet z tą pomocą ruszyliśmy do Poznania dopiero o 11:30.
Kiedy dotarliśmy do szpitala, zostaliśmy nieuprzejmie potraktowani. Pielęgniarka prowadząca była jak szturmowiec wydający rozkazy. Kiedy już byliśmy w środku, po tym jak pozwolono nam stać na zewnątrz na zimnym wietrze 20 minut, Joanna została zabrana w jednym kierunku, a ja w innym na badania. Gdy wstępne badania nic nie wykazały , dołączyłem do Joan. Leżała na noszach w pampersie, do którego oddała mocz kilka godzin temu. Nikt nie próbował jej tego zdjąć i zmienić. To nie było ich zadanie. Powiedzieli, że mam 14. dniową kwarantannę w domu, ale Joan musi zostać w szpitalu, sama. Szczerze mówiąc, przeraziło mnie to. Myśl o tym, że nie ma tu nikogo, kto mógłby z nią porozmawiać lub ją pocieszyć. Powiedzieli, że muszę wyjść i kazali odwieźć mnie do domu. Czekałem 2 godziny na transport, aż pielęgniarka po mnie wyszła. Joan odmówiła przyjęcia do szpitala. Tego się obawiałam. Jej umysł jest teraz w delikatnym stanie. Jest zmartwiona, przestraszona i nie musi być sama. Wyjaśniłem to pielęgniarce i udało jej się porozmawiać z kimś, kto zgodził się pozwolić mi zostać z nią przez 3 dni, do uzyskania wynikow badań krwi na obecność wirusa. Właściwie to mamy razem swój własny pokój. Ten pokój nie ma porównania z pokojem w Hiszpanii. Łóżka są mniejsze i starsze. Kiedy Joan znalazła się w pokoju, a pielęgniarki próbowały zmienić pieluchę, jedna z nich była tak szorstka, że powiedziałam jej, żeby zostawiła Joan w spokoju. Nie zrobiła nic delikatnie. Pielęgniarka, którą ma w ciągu dnia, jest bardziej podobna do pielęgniarek w Hiszpanii.
Poniedziałek - 37-ty dzień. Niewiele do powiedzenia. Oboje jesteśmy na kwarantannie w szpitalu. Mam nadzieję porozmawiać, żeby pozwolili mi zostać z Joan przez cały jej 14-dniowy okres. Nie chcę zostawiać jej tu samej z nikim, z kim mogłaby porozmawiać lub być zrozumiana. Nikt nie będzie miał tyle cierpliwości, by się nią opiekować, tak jak ja.
Wtorek, dzień 38. Jeśli Korona nas nie zabije, to jedzenie z pewnością. Jak możesz egzystować na obiadowym mięsie na śniadanie, obiad i kolację, 4. kawałkach chleba, maśle i serku śmietankowym? Czy taka jest dieta w czasie koronawirusa?
Wtorek, dzień 38 - Jeśli Korona nas nie zabije, jedzenie to zrobi. Jak możesz jeść na lunchu na śniadanie, lunch i kolację, 4 kawałki chleba, masła i twarogu? Czy to dieta Corona?
Środa Dzień 39 - Lekarstwa, są podawane pacjentowi przez małżonka. Dobrze, że wszystkie dla Joan miałem ze sobą. Masz też przynieść swoje własne mydło i ręczniki. Ile osób jedzie na wakacje i bierze własne mydło i ręczniki? Śniadanie było powtórką wczorajszej kolacji. Te same 4 kromki chleba, masło, mięso obiadowe, oh, i kawa, jeśli można to tak nazwać. Później przyszedł ktoś z bardzo dużymi, czerwonymi, plastikowymi torbami i kazał mi włożyć do nich wszystko, co mamy. Przenosili nas do pokoju na parterze, mimo że nie mieliśmy ostatecznych wyników testu Covida-19. Lekarz powiedział, że jeśli wynik testu będzie negatywny, Joanna zostanie przeniesiona do ośrodka rehabilitacyjnego w Śremie, około godziny na południe stąd. Naprawdę mam nadzieję, że tak będzie.
4 comments:
Hi David, I'm glad that you and Joan finally made it back to Poland. The trip may have been long and tedious but you made it. When you had no postings for almost a week I hoped you were not bouncing back and forth between countries. I recall a sad story from my childhood - The Man Without a Country. Stay safe and stay strong. Shaz in Arizona where things are pretty much shut down!
Thanks, Shaz. Things are pretty much shut down here also.
Glad to hear you made it back to Poland, as difficult as the trip and arrival quarantine sound...
Hopefully you are home and Joan is in the Srem hospital now?
We are locked into our Flat in London, although Ania being a doctor has to go to the hospital nearly every day...
She being Polish and me being American, we cannot even go together to either country under the current border lock-down laws. We would have loved to go to Krakow now or to my home in the USA. But will have to await the re-opening of things. Minor stuff compared to what you and Joan have been going thru.
Sending best wishes.
Ania asked if there is anything she could do to help? (she is fluent in English and Polish of course) and a licensed doctor in Poland. So if you need a polish speaker who understands the medicine for any purpose, let us know. She doesn't know anyone in your area, but still...if you think of anything or have any questions, I think you can get me via my email on this blog.
Regards,
Dave
Dave S. Please thank Ania(I love that name) for her offer of help but my Polish friends here have been doing most of the important communications for me. Your email addy doesn't show on my end of the blog. Where are you from in the States? I'm assuming Ania is from Krakow.
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