Now for my hospital impressions.
Two hospitals: Silvestrini (S) and Casa di Cura Liotti (CCL). I had my first operation in January 2018 in Silvistrini. It is a huge University Medical center. Casa di Cura is a small, partly private hospital in downtown Perugia where I am now, September 2019. Here are my impressions of the two plus some other things I found interesting. Some are a bit mundane but it’s what I noticed!
(CCL) Is rather dark and dreary due to the lurid paint they use here. And they don’t like putting the lights on in the halls. (S) Was more the norm that you’d see in the US with light walls and neutral colors.
The colors they choose differ with each floor. What were they thinking? 🤭
(CCL) The beds are electric and I can up and down as I wish. You don’t know how empowering that is! (S) had cranks, and I was stuck in bed and couldn’t get to it.
(CCL) There are two beds. No curtain between them. Cozy. A bit hard to get used to but it is what it is. (S) DID have curtains in it’s shared rooms.
(CCL) Each room has a private bath to share by its two residents. (S) there was one very odd bathroom which was shared between two rooms by four patients.
(CCL) The food is not so bad. Palatable I’d call it. And with my little pack of additions it’s almost good. I don’t have a lot of appetite but my blood is low so I’m eating. (S) practically inedible.
A little different from my normal food pictures ha ha. I ate the pasta which was pretty good. Not the mystery meat or eggplant. I normally like eggplant but not this.
(CCL) All the staff are young and nice. They go about their work cheerfully to a person. Not one has been mean or short with me. I don’t have a nurse Rachett or a Senore huff n puff like last time. Way better here than (S).
(CCL) Provides water for patients and delivers it, and other help you need if you ask for it. (S) Did NOT provide any water and would not bring any. Nor could you drop something on the floor and ask someone to help you get it back or ask your bed get cranked up or down. They expected the family of the patients to do that. Two very different places.
My medicines caused a stir. I always wondered why they have their pills in little blister packs. Lots and lots of waste. I prefer the easy bottles we have in the US. Well, today I think I figured it out. I had brought my own blood pressure medicines which I had removed from the blister packs and placed in small jars. No, no, no they aren’t good if not fresh. An aha moment.
They have a passaggita in the hospital. Just like in a village! All the crutches and walkers come out and it seems like all able patients walk up and down the hall.
I have a room mate. She’s a small rotund Italian woman who had a fall which got her here. I’m guessing she’s 80. Her name is Francesca. She’s sweet and we’ve become friends. She’s been here over two weeks and I just heard she leaves Thursday. Happy for her. And, get this, she came with at least three family members from Puglia! 550km away. Her doctor said she wouldn’t get the good care she could get here. So I guess he got her set up here. I had heard the health care is much worse in the south, a definite consideration if a person is planning to move here. Just goes to show the huge difference people talk about may be true.
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More tomorrow.