On Friday, Aug. 5, I found myself in the emergency room waiting to be seen for a dull lower abdominal pain that had shown itself on Tuesday.
I too, like many long-term locals (over a decade for myself), find myself with no family doctor. I kept telling myself that this pain will just go away, that it was nothing. I started to feel generally off, and couldn’t shake the feeling of the dull pain and decided it was time to see a doctor. My only option for in-person was emergency, as I figured after waiting to be seen by an online doctor they would most likely tell me “go to emergency and see a doctor.”
After the exam, nothing showed any concern but the pain in my abdomen. Tests all came back fine, showing no issues, but luckily enough, the doctor ordered an ultrasound for that afternoon anyway. The ultrasound showed immediately that I had appendicitis (to the doctor’s surprise).
I won’t bore you all with what follows, but it required surgery, and out came my appendix. With the town being overworked and just asking for too much to be achieved in general (as we have all had different versions of these conversations amongst ourselves) I feel extremely grateful for the time and effort that the doctors and nurses took for me at the Whistler Health Care Centre.
The biggest part being getting me an ultrasound. Things could have gone a lot worse for me. The emergency team is already busy, and now being required to take on general inquiries too, I’m sure their days are getting longer and longer. We only have one emergency room/hospital in town, and it isn’t a massive place. Hopefully a solution is found sooner rather than later. Until then, remember we are all working hard in this town, and this team most likely more than most.
Years back one of my chefs would say, “it’s just food, Rachel.” Well, these people actually have real pressures and sometimes our lives in their hands. Be kind and patient to other people.
Thank you to the team at the Whistler Health Care Centre. You all do an amazing job.
