WOW have I been sick #club100

This kidney infection I have been battling is trying hard to do me in. I needed to go back to the hospital yesterday, in an ambulance no less, because I seem to be getting worse.

I have not been able to do much except lay around feeling sick and reflect about the state of the world. Things are rough.

The good news it that, based on all the tests they gave me, I actually am getting better. My kidneys are not failing and the level of infection has decreased. I am just feeling sicker because of all the work my body is doing to heal. The doctor said it could be several weeks before I am back to my old self.

Yikes.

While at the hospital, I was given two injections of some sort of anti-nausea medication. That helped a lot. I also received fluids through an IV that assisted in flushing out my kidneys. They did a complete blood panel to ensure I have nothing else going on and that produced a good result.

Overall, I am happy I went to the hospital, even though no one in their right mind would go to the hospital these days--unless they were super sick. The COVID19 pandemic has overloaded the system and there are not enough beds for patients who are seeking care. These are times of crisis.

As it was, I was bumped from the bed they prepared for me because a woman with a heart attack came in. I was disappointed that I didn't get the bed, but the other woman was sicker. Instead, I was given a reclining chair in the waiting room area that was surrounded with privacy panels. It doesn't sound ideal, but it was good enough.

Since the pandemic began, the main goal of governments in Canada has been to limit the pressure on the medical system. No matter where in the world, no matter the type of medical system, resources have been stretched. Some provinces did better than others in terms of keeping numbers of infections down.

In Canada the COVID19 response was governed by the provinces, and not the federal government. Each province was/is responsible for the level of restrictions in their own region. In my province, the premier made a mistake. When the vaccine became available, he opened the province up again and cancelled all measures to keep COVID19 measures under control. The result has been pretty disastrous.

First, it wasn't anticipated that people would reject the vaccine and succumb to conspiracy theories. In some parts of the province, the vaccine uptake was extremely low because people had come to believe that the vaccine was the "mark of the beast" from the bible, or that the vaccine contained nanobots that would be activated at some point in the future.

The Premier, his name is Scott Moe, had put all his eggs in the vaccine basket. In truth his pandemic response had been great, until it wasn't. Relying 100% on the vaccine to control the pandemic would have worked out and Moe might have been hailed as a hero if only enough people had taken the vaccine. They didn't, and after pressure from his base who had accepted numerous conspiracy theories, Moe continued to drop protections. Kids were sent back to school, people were ordered back to work.

The results were disastrous.

So many people became sick at the same time that our hospitals could not care for them. There just was not enough drs and nurses to physically care for them. NOT because the hospitals will not hire more drs and nurses, but because there are no more drs and nurses to hire. There are numerous job openings posted. Are you a qualified RN or medical dr? Come to Saskatchewan as there is no shortage of opportunity.

Anyway, at the peak of a recent COVID19 wave, we got to the point where dozens of patients, critically ill with COVID19, required ICU care, but there were no nurses to provide it. Moe, in his pride, refused to request federal assistance. Instead, he called the governors of several different US states in an attempt to transfer the patients there. He was unsuccessful in this bid. There was no room in any US hospital, either.

Think about that. The premier of Saskatchewan, desperate to save face, tried to get a mere 25 people or so into ANY US hospital, and would have offered top dollar to the hospitals that accepted the patients. NO HOSPITAL HAD ROOM. NO HOSPITAL COULD TAKE THEM.

In the end, Premier Moe had to tuck in his tail and accept federal help, just days after screeching that he never would. He took a hit to his popularity because his entire schtick is based on 'hating the feds'.

After requesting help, military nurses were sent to work in Saskatchewan, and 27 patients were airlifted to Ontario--where hospitals had some room because the province had tighter protections in place.

So yeah. Saskatchewan spent months whooping it up and partying only to later experience a complete collapse of the healthcare system, a need to airlift the sick to another province, and the distinction of transforming from the province with the lowest covid19 death rate to the province with the highest death rate. Ontario, meanwhile, had experienced rolling lock downs, had a greater uptake of vaccines, and were strong enough to absorb another province's ICU patients.

What was the difference between these two provinces? It isn't politics (not on the surface anyway). Both provinces are run by 'conservative' parties.

BTW, the same thing happened in Alberta where (the now former) conservative Premier Kenney removed all restrictions, and after a few months, they too were asking the federal government to help them airlift patients out. Something sinister though? Alberta waited until the day after the federal election to ask for help--simply because they were worried that their failed policies would help the Liberals gain seats.

Yes, the political goals of individual politicians were more important than people's lives.

So what is the take away from all this? Please tell me your thoughts.

I will say is that it is good that our medical system has such resiliency. Despite being under extreme stress over the last two years or so, and even in the face of short periods of time where it was necessary to practice 'battlefield triage', we survived. We made it through bad politics, worse policy, and high deathrates. Still, after such a long crisis, people, rich or poor, can go to the hospital and get the care they need. Currently, it might be in a chair in the waiting room, but it is still world class medical care.

This is a 100% POWER UP! post for #club100