Emergency rooms suck

Yesterday we spent 5 hours in the Heart Institute emergency room, waiting for my friend to be seen by a doctor. The site in her right arm where they had put the catheter for the ablation was sore, and had woken her up several times in her sleep the night before. The arm was swollen and bruised. She was worried she might have a blood clot. We figured the best place she could go to be seen was at the emergency room of the Heart Institute in Montreal since this is where she had the procedure last Tuesday. The staff would be familiar with possible complications post-surgery. 

The good points of having been at that emergency is that it's only for heart patients. So that also means that the majority of the patients there have non-contagious problems.  The downside is that patients were taken in order of severity. Her arm wasn't considered that severe, so it took about 5 hours to be seen. Thankfully the doctor spoke perfect English so she could speak to my friend directly.  

The other good point, is that I got to spend 6 hours with my friend. And although the circumstances were not the best, we had some great laughs, we talked, we giggled, it was like old times. And you have to cherish those little moments in life. Sure it's not a fun place to be, and she would have preferred not to be bra-less in a hospital gown for 5 hours in a waiting room with a really sore arm, that reminded her of this fact each time she moved it a hair, but I had a good time in her company. 

She's going back to the hospital on Monday where they will do an ultra-sound of her arm and hand to see if there is a blot clot. Thankfully since this is in an artery, it is less dangerous, and even if there was a blood clot, they would not need to do surgery to remove it. They just need to give medications and monitor it's progress.  

Personally I'm more comfortable the later she goes back home. I'm concerned about her driving back home if she's not recovered enough or if there are post-surgery complications. She's best followed at the Heart Institute. After all they developed the procedure she had and have only been using for a year on patients.