Hey, y’all! It has been a while since I updated. There has been plenty going on. I just haven’t been able to get to it.
Yesterday a friend of ours from church was taken to the hospital. She has been diagnosed with C Diff and is very sick. This lady was the one who helped our neighbor care for her husband while he was dying of cancer. So, our neighbor asked if we could take her up to Charlotte to see her friend.
Well, here is the story of our adventure. It is kind of long, but I hope you get a good kick out of it. We were certainly laughing, and our friend’s son who went with us said that he was going to try to find a different taxi next time. :-)
Depart around 6:00 p.m.; pick up neighbor and son, and head to Charlotte
Travel goes smoothly until arriving close to downtown
Get off on Exit 34 but miss next exit which is immediately after
Find 3rd street anyway
Get confused with directions
Follow blue “H” signs
Blue “H” signs lead to Presbyterian hospital
Turn around, go back, and find 3rd street again
U-turn and look for Pierce Street.
Take 2 more wrong turns and end up in residential areas
Find gas station and ask for directions
Gas station worker uses GPS to find directions
Leave hospital and look for road mentioned on GPS directions
While, looking for road, drive right past CMC on right
Turn left on road mentioned on GPS. (GPS says to turn right, but the road only goes left)
Find parking garage, but who wants to walk that far? Go around the block and back to CMC
Enter main lobby and get picture taken and badge to pin on clothes
Receive text from friend’s husband that friend is just now being moved from ED to a room - wait 15 minutes to visit
Walk over to Levine
Head up to floor 6 to pediatric ICU to visit son of other neighbor
No parents present so no visitors permitted
Go back down to floor 4 to observation wing to find friend. Check at information desk – no such room number and no such patient
Try to text husband of patient -- no cell phone reception on floor 4 due to lab and other machinery
Meet nurse in hallway who recommends trying observation wing on floor 3
Go down to floor 3
Check at information desk – no such room and no such patient
Meet same nurse in hallway. Nurse recommends going to floor 2, go down the escalator and check with information desk
Go to floor 2, go down escalator, check at information desk. Find out that patient is in another hospital (same system) a half hour away.
Go back up escalator
Head back up to floor 6 to see if patient’s mother has arrived
Stop at floor 4 for friend to get off and visit other friend
Attempt to continue to floor 6 with sister and friend’s son
Elevator says, “Going UP”
Push “6” button. Nothing happens. Press again. Nothing happens. Press “6” button on my side. Nothing happens.
Get off elevator and try another.
Read sign – “No access to floors 5 and 6”
Return to floor 3 and try another elevator.
Prepare to enter elevator and read sign – “No access to floors 5 and 6”
Back to main lobby
Take elevator to floor 6. Somehow come up through hallway behind nurse’s desk instead of in front of it. Arrive at room. No parent.
Return to floor 4 with friend visiting other friend
Visit a while
Too late to find other hospital – about 9:30 p.m.
Try to find way back out of downtown Charlotte in the dark when you forgot to print return directions
Almost turn down wrong road – people behind you blare horns
Almost turn down wrong side of road and go wrong way on the right road (It was only separated by a skinny cement “median” which was hard to see in the dark)
Swerve back into right place at last minute
Cars behind you brake and blare horns
Continue on until finding “West 74 signs”
Travel down 74 and miss exit to 85
Light turns yellow when relatively close, so brake quickly and scare passengers in back seat
Keep going and find another exit
Road very confusing; easy to go down wrong road; follow white line very carefully
Find your way to 85
Breathe sigh of relief
Continue uneventfully until you reach trailer park
Drop off friend and return home
Unwind and crash into bed!
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