Cotham Private Hospital

I'm all for space utilisation, but Cotham Private takes it to the next level. They seem to have crammed as much into as little space as possible. They have four operating theatres and only forty five beds.

I have now had three procedures here, and I was really only OK with it because they were minor operations (two lithotripsys and one stent removal). I would not go there for a larger procedure. If I had a larger procedure there I would be seriously worried, and they do them too. I just feel that if something went wrong it would take more than they had to fix it, so you would need an ambulance trip to another hospital.

So, when I got there I was sent to day surgery, which was really just a double room with curtains and four chairs so you could sit down and get changed. When my time came I was wheeled by bed to the OR where their pre-op was merely a spot in the corridor. The OR itself was fine, but when I woke up I felt like Harry Potter waking up in his cupboard. At least that is what post op felt like. The room only had room for three beds and the back wall was shelves full of medical supplies.

When I was done I was whisked back to the ward where I was put in a two person room and told I couldn't leave for two hours. The food was bad the nurses seemed grumpy and the TV's were old and only showed free to air TV.

On the good side for me, it is nice and convenient and they did lithotripsy under a general, but any procedure tougher than that I would be going elsewhere. Next time, it's off to have a look at Epworth Eastern. Until then, stay well:)

Sydney Adventist Hospital

To get me to go back here you would have to pay me an obscene amount of money. I have so much to say about this hospital it will be at least two posts and none of it good. So, I'll start with my horror stories.

I have two of them. The first was when I was booked in for a routine lithotripsy (shock waves sent through your body to break down kidney stones). At Warners Bay I used to get a general anaesthetic for this surgery and when I did, I normally woke up feeling groggy but otherwise OK and the need for pain killers was rare post-op. At the SAH they used to sedate you and give you a massive hit of pethidine for the pain, which you needed because it hurt like hell.

When I had this they came to get me from the day surgery ward and as of yet, they hadn't given me the sedative or the pethidine. So they hurriedly gave me the drugs and told me that it would take a long time to get to the lithotripsy room and the drugs would kick in on the way.

Two minutes later the drugs hadn't kicked in and I was served up on the table with what felt like someone kicking me in the back. After another five minutes the drugs had kicked in but the damage was done. Between the pain and the drugs I was spent and little did I know I was only halfway through my nightmare.

When I returned to the day surgery ward I asked for more painkillers. They said I was not allowed any more pethidine and so all I could have was panadol or panadeine forte. Now panadol would not touch the sided so I opted for the panadeine. One problem, I am allergic to codeine, the active ingredient in panadeine, and I had a red wrist tag that told people of this, but the nurse just went ahead and gave it to me anyway.

Right now I am feeling like crap. I am so wired I can't even walk and I feel nauseous because of the panadeine and they want me out of there so they can close down day surgery, so they wheel me out in a wheel chair where my then girlfriend is ready to drive me home in my new BMW. We get out the front of the hospital and I vomit all over the inside of my shiny new car.

Yes, I hate the Sydney Adventist hospital and yes, I learnt a valuable lesson that day.

Next time I will finish off my tales of the Sydney Adventist Hospital. Until then, stay well:)