A bicycle accident in Tonga on March 1st cut short my South Pacific tour. I had to return to Vancouver on March 17, 2013 from Auckland, NZ for medical treatment.
I was hospitalized for 8 days in Tonga. Even though the hospital was recently refurbished, it remained a very basic hospital where nurses still wear the traditional uniform and doctors' ward rounds are kept formal. The Tongans took me in as one of their own and took excellent care of me. They had little but they gave their all. Nurses regularly came to the ward to make sure that the patients were comfortable. If it weren't for the multiple infections on the open wounds all over my body, I would have stayed in the hospital even longer.
I arrived in Auckland on March 13th in terrible shape. The following morning I went to Auckland Hospital, trying to get my dressings changed at an Outpatient Department. Well, I stumbled into a "Transition Lounge". A nurse there took pity of me and changed my dressings on her break. Afterwards, she even looked up the phone number of a medical centre and urged me to see a doctor about the infected wounds. I was sent back to Auckland Hospital by the GP on duty at the medical centre.
After waiting in the emergency ward for no more than a couple of hours, I was seen by an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital. He reviewed my wounds and recommended immediate surgeries with a hospital stay of 7-10 days. I did not have additional travelers insurance and opted to return to Canada for medical treatment. The nurses were kind and encouraged me. The hospital supplied me with compression stockings, blood thinners, new dressing and antibiotic prescription for the 13 hour flight.
My sister picked me from the Airport and drove me to Vancouver General Hospital directly on Sunday, March 17th. I was seen by emergency doctors, trauma doctors, plastics, orthopedics. They all took pictures of the wounds and poked at my wounds. After waiting for eleven hours in an emergency treatment room, a young doctor came to tell me that they would not do anything. He told me that I should see my family doctor instead and ask her to arrange for a home care nurse to change the dressing daily.
Well, they forgot to contact the community nurse to change my dressing on Monday. When I went to see my family doctor on Tuesday, my dressings were soaked and gave out a terrible odor. My family doctor sent me back to the Emergency Dept of VGH right away. This time the Emergency doctor said that I should be able to change the dressings myself. I replied that I might be able to change the dressing on my left knee but I doubted if I could do that for my left elbow.
I might have grown up in Canada and considered myself a Canadian through and through after living here for so many decades. This whole experience nevertheless taught me valuable lessons.
"My true neighbor is somewhere else in the world."
I was hospitalized for 8 days in Tonga. Even though the hospital was recently refurbished, it remained a very basic hospital where nurses still wear the traditional uniform and doctors' ward rounds are kept formal. The Tongans took me in as one of their own and took excellent care of me. They had little but they gave their all. Nurses regularly came to the ward to make sure that the patients were comfortable. If it weren't for the multiple infections on the open wounds all over my body, I would have stayed in the hospital even longer.
I arrived in Auckland on March 13th in terrible shape. The following morning I went to Auckland Hospital, trying to get my dressings changed at an Outpatient Department. Well, I stumbled into a "Transition Lounge". A nurse there took pity of me and changed my dressings on her break. Afterwards, she even looked up the phone number of a medical centre and urged me to see a doctor about the infected wounds. I was sent back to Auckland Hospital by the GP on duty at the medical centre.
After waiting in the emergency ward for no more than a couple of hours, I was seen by an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital. He reviewed my wounds and recommended immediate surgeries with a hospital stay of 7-10 days. I did not have additional travelers insurance and opted to return to Canada for medical treatment. The nurses were kind and encouraged me. The hospital supplied me with compression stockings, blood thinners, new dressing and antibiotic prescription for the 13 hour flight.
My sister picked me from the Airport and drove me to Vancouver General Hospital directly on Sunday, March 17th. I was seen by emergency doctors, trauma doctors, plastics, orthopedics. They all took pictures of the wounds and poked at my wounds. After waiting for eleven hours in an emergency treatment room, a young doctor came to tell me that they would not do anything. He told me that I should see my family doctor instead and ask her to arrange for a home care nurse to change the dressing daily.
Well, they forgot to contact the community nurse to change my dressing on Monday. When I went to see my family doctor on Tuesday, my dressings were soaked and gave out a terrible odor. My family doctor sent me back to the Emergency Dept of VGH right away. This time the Emergency doctor said that I should be able to change the dressings myself. I replied that I might be able to change the dressing on my left knee but I doubted if I could do that for my left elbow.
I might have grown up in Canada and considered myself a Canadian through and through after living here for so many decades. This whole experience nevertheless taught me valuable lessons.
"My true neighbor is somewhere else in the world."
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| My angels of mercy and me at the Vaiola Hospital in Tonga |
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