After a great, very port intensive cruise through southern Italy and the highlights of the Greek Isles as well as Athens, we arrived back in Rome. We picked up our car and we were making our way from Rome to the apartment we had rented in La Spezia. About an hour into our trip, Ed started complaining of stomach pains. And, as the trip progressed so did the intensity of his discomfort. By the time we arrived (4 hours later), Ed was in horrible shape. Fortunately, the rental agent and his wife met us and helped me get Ed to the apartment and in to a bed. Within minutes of lying down, the pain moved from his stomach to his lower back and he KNEW what the pain was. Another dreaded kidney stone! (If you are keeping records, that would be one for France and now one for Italy).
The next several hours were spent with a variety of doctors and Ed having an ultrasound done.We elected to go the "private" route because our rental agent/translator informed us that it would be much faster. I will say that a urologist did come to the apartment at 6:30 p.m. and he prescribed some pain medicine. But, that's about the best I can say about our experience with the Italian medical system! The kidney stone treatment in France was far superior. By the next day, although thoroughly wiped out, Ed's pain was pretty much under control. He had to take it easy for a couple of days and at this point we assume he has passed the stone.(fingers crossed).
So, after resting and Ed feeling more himself, we decided to visit the close by local mall for some groceries. On our way home, an 88 year old woman, driving in front of us, decided to stop her car, for no reason, without any warning. Our cars embraced! The woman was angry but fine. I think she kept repeating, "Why did you hit me!" I wished I knew how to say,"Why the h---, did you just stop short without any warning?!!!"
Ed had a bleeding knee from whacking the car key, but the impact and seat belt thrust and pull really did me in. I could only move my arms a little without great pain. As a precaution, when the ambulance arrived, the EMS people put me in a too tight neck brace and then I really had trouble breathing and swallowing as I was transported to the hospital. And thus began my first hand experience with the Italian medical system. The xrays they took were about the size of Ed's dental xrays. By the way, there is a project on the drawing board for a new hospital in La Spezia--it can't come soon enough.
My stay in the hospital was a horror. No one spoke more than a couple of words of English and I literally couldn't move. I could only see the ceiling which, by the way, had lots of cracks. It was a totally bizarre experience! Most patients in the Emergency Room had their cell phones and they kept receiving or making calls between groans! I kept thinking that I was having a nightmare and that I would wake up...The only English I heard the whole time there, was a poor woman who had been beaten by someone and her mother was advising her to tell the truth about what had happened and let the police arrest him.
Fast forward 4 hours and I was told that I was badly bruised from the seat belt impact with no broken ribs and that I had not had a heart attack! Then, I was given a prescription to help with the pain and dismissed.
