Net's trip to the Hospital

Maybe I tempted fate by saying that we were continuing on the road to recovery, or more than likely Net tried overdoing things. Those who know her will understand what I mean, as she is not one to sit idle for too long. Since last night, her Asthma has been playing up, and her inhalers haven't provided any relief. My suggestion that she sit in the bathroom with the shower running, was completely ignored, as I thought that the steam might help. Lo and behold the facial sauna was out this morning, and Net was trying to see if steam would help!!!! Sometimes I do wonder, maybe I dreamt about suggesting the shower. Either way it didn't help, and being the weekend there would be no chance of Net seeing the Doctor. We could go and see the village Doctor in Strelets at his house, although as previously mentioned I would only use him in the direst of emergencies, or we could go to the Hospital in Gorna. Even had we seen the village Doctor, there would be a good chance that we would then have to go to a chemist, our closest being in either Dolna or Gorna. So it was decided that a trip to the hospital would probably be the better option.

So bundled up against the cold, I tied 2 of the dogs up (the escape artists) and got the car out from under the barn, Fenny was left on patrol as security and he could also run about to keep himself warm. Then I encountered the first problem, we had had a couple of warm days which had started to thaw the snow, then the night time temperatures had re frozen the slush into ice, so I had to fight to get the driveway gates open. Luckily, I had a trusty shovel handy so was able to chip away enough ice to open the gates wide enough to get the car through. The next problem was soon evident, when the tractors had been round ploughing the roads they had once again left us with a snow/ice ridge at the bottom of the drive. So it was another job for the trusty shovel and I. Route clear, dogs sorted out, car out and heater on we slowly set off down the icy lane. Remember me saying on facebook that I had spotted a gritter in the village? Well it had only done the main road through the village, and the side roads were untouched ice sheets. We only had to drive a few hundred yards to get to the main road, but it still took a while. Better safe rather than sorry, even with winter tyres fitted and 4 wheel drive selected.

The main road was a lot clearer than when I caught the bus during the week, so I opted to go the direct route, and not out of the village via the cemetery road. The road from the village and past the frozen lake wasn't too bad, but parts of Strelets were largely untouched, their main road being like an ice rink. Once through there the road surface dramatically improved, so it  wasn't too long and we were out on the proper main road and heading off towards Gorna. We vaguely knew where the hospital was located, as it had been pointed out to us a couple of years ago. So it was into Gorna and then head back out on the Lyaskovets road, and there on our right hand side was the hospital sign, right next to a no entry sign.. The next entry was pedestrians only, oh well, third time lucky. We ended up in a car park next to a building, with no indication about what it was for. Do we go in or not? There were footprints in the snow on the steps, so hopefully there would at least be someone there to at least point us in the right direction, Wrong, it was like the Marie Celeste in there, just closed door after closed door.

So back out into the cold, and walk further round the corner of the building. The pedestrian access path that we had noticed earlier led up to another set of steps. So up the stairs we went, through the doors past 2 coffee shops and into a dimly lit corridor. I noticed a sign that said something that looked like registration to my rudimentary Bulgarian, so we headed for there. Once again, not a soul around, back to the dimly lit corridor, and look around again. There was light at the end of the corridor, and once again another sign for registration. We were in luck, there were people there. Unfortunately they didn't speak a word of English and spoke far to quickly for me to understand any of their Bulgarian. Eventually I managed to explain that Net had problems with Asthma, and being the weekend no doctor, who had told us that in case of emergency to go to the hospital. This seemed to cause some form of understanding as we were waved back down the dimly lit corridor and told to turn left. Oh well in for a penny.

Taking their directions we ended up in a brighter corridor, and wandered down to the end where there was someone sat on a bench seat. No sign of anyone in any form of a uniform, so all we could do was wait. Eventually a woman wearing a stethoscope emerged from behind a closed door, and more rapid Bulgarian followed. Once again I tried to explain the problem, and it seemed to make sense, as she waved us to wait on the bench seat. By then the early morning cup of tea was working on Net, but luck was on our side as there was a loo close at hand. It might have been a 'Pharaoh's Head', but as Net said "when you've got to go you've got to go". At least it was clean. Back to waiting on the bench seat and another door opens, and there was a Doctor. He even looked like a Doctor, in his hospital greens armed with a stethoscope, and he spoke some English. Once again we explained about Net's Asthma and her cold and flu. Luckily Net had brought all of her medication with her, including the empty boxes, so he was able to see what had been prescribed. Whilst he was doing this Net was having her blood pressure taken, as it had seemed a bit lower than normal this morning. He listened to Net's chest and agreed that it was an asthma attack, and said something to someone who I can only assume was a Nurse. At least I hope so as she returned with a syringe, and told Net to lay down and to face the wall. I knew what Net was thinking, but luckily she was injected in the arm. Back out into the corridor and it was time for Net to have a blood test, which came back all clear. So after having been prodded and poked, and having allowed time for whatever it was that had been injected to work, the all clear was given. We asked how much we owed but were just waved away with a smile. I'm assuming that we were in the right bit of the hospital for accidents and emergencies, as while we were there an Ambulance had turned up, but we might not have been. The next time that Mum has to go to hospital it might be an idea if we accompany her, just to make sure. The hospital might have been old, and missing the odd light bulb, but it was clean and we couldn't fault the attention that was given to Net.

On getting back home we discovered that instead of being on guard, Fenny had got through the fence and had helped himself to the cat food. We are now suffering gas attacks, Net probably wishes that she still had breathing difficulties. I know that I wish I had no sense of smell!!!!!