The condition of our roads in Nelson can only be described as a crying shame.
Just recently I had an incident and ended up needing emergency surgery. I was transported to Trail by ambulance, an extremely bumpy ride until we hit the highway.
About 30 hours after surgery in Trail, I was brought back to the Nelson hospital by ambulance. I had 17 staples in my stomach. Let me tell you how uncomfortable I was. I felt every bump. I give every credit to the ambulance driver as she was as careful as possible.
I knew immediately when we arrived in Nelson. During the 60-plus minutes I was in the ambulance, the last five to 10 minutes were torturous.
The morning I left the ER in Nelson to go to Trail, the ER was all abuzz with people moving everything into the new ER which was opening.
It really is a shame that our new big emergency room doesn’t have a surgical wing. I understand the reason is because we don’t have a surgeon.
Don’t you think that we could find a surgeon or a practitioner that is also a surgeon who could service emergencies and could have access 24/7 to the existing operating rooms?
It was hard emotionally being away from home, being in so much pain and alone, yet Nelson citizens are taxpayers as much as Trail citizens are, but when a Nelson citizen comes into our ER and needs surgery they have to be taken to Trail. It is very hard emotionally. It is especially difficult if your condition is life threatening as no one wants to die alone and all of us want to have our family close by when we are sick, in pain, or incapable of servicing our own basic needs.
I want to give my thanks and gratitude to all my family and friends involved in my healing. Your love, care and support means everything to me.
To all the ambulance people and to all the doctors: Lindsay, Schumacher and Bridger, and all the nurses, Lee in emergency, LJ, Sarah, Ron and so many others, thank you. Your dedication to patient care is amazingly wonderful, given the circumstances in a health care system that fails many taxpayers.
Karen Rymal
Nelson