Once they call you you enter the assembly line. Take your clothes off here, put the gown on, sit here, wait your turn again. I had pictured the relative privacy of the maternity ward (my only real experience with hospitals) and realized this was not the same beast. You wait in your silly gown with other people. The nurse lost me before she found me even though I was still sitting in the chair they put me in. Then they ask you a bunch of questions and get you ready.
Then another nurse takes you to the procedure room while asking you the same questions the first one did. Once again I had pictured some thing homey and friendly like you might find in the maternity area. Instead I got a stark, white room with awful harsh lights and a very intimidating looking exam table. I realize the philosophy is probably to create a sterile environment. However, there was also a rack in the corner with a mish mash of boxes and stuff on it that looked far from sterile. Given that, I don't see why the walls couldn't be a happy yellow. And I think they should offer you a radio with headphones like my dentist does for procedures.
Afterwards you are taken to the recovery area, which is really 12 beds lined up with curtains in between, and you meet your third nurse in less than an hour (no wonder mistakes are made). I then got to listen to the man in the "room" next door talking in excruciating detail about what went wrong with his colonoscopy. Ugh. At least Kevin could sit with me at this point.
In the end, the actual procedure and the recovery was not as stressful and annoying as all the rest of the hospital overhead. Plus, I was at the hospital for 3.5 hours for a 10 min procedure. In that time I was moved 3 times, had 4 nurses, 1 doctor, and 1 assistant. No wonder healthcare costs are skyrocketing. And what probably cost the hospital the most money is that I sat in the procedure room for an extra 30 minutes because the doctor was late. There has got to be a better way.
