Something to think about

It might not be a subject that might have become taboo in Columbia or forgotten about.
I think it is probably five years or so since Lancaster General Hospital closed the former Columbia Hospital.
I’m sure, I’ll get a response or two about this column, but it has to be written or said.
Each day, I sit here with a police-EMS scanner on and more often than not I hear that LGH is on Emergency Room divert, which means patients must go to another hospital.
I recently experienced a reason why LGH should consider re-opening what is now called the Columbia Health Center.
That being an over-crowded ER. The first time I was in back in May, was an early Saturday morning, but still didn’t get a room until the afternoon.
The last two times I was in, my room was in the hallway and the next day, I didn’t get a room until almost 10 hours after being treated.
I had a friend to had a family member check into the ER and it was almost 24 hours later till they got a room.
Here’s my point, if the LGH ER is that busy and there are not enough rooms to go around, why not re-open Columbia and take some of the pressure off the downtown hospital.
Like I said, I’m sure there will be some responses, but I thought I would just throw it out there and see if anyone else feels the same way or had similar experiences.
I know of some doctors that I talked with who would like to see it as well.

My summer hasn't been the greatest

If you are wondering where I’ve been for the past few weeks, well, my summer has been the pits.
I recently ended up back in the hospital with gall bladder problems and continuing my recovery from my leg wound.
Here’s what happened this time around.
Wednesday, June 21, I ended up in the emergency room at Lancaster General Hospital with stomach pain. Well, some antibiotics and a shot, four hours later, I was heading home, as good as new, or so I thought.
The next morning I work up, getting ready for an appointment to get my leg rebuilt and vomited a couple of times. It wasn’t good, but I made it home from my appointment and asked a friend to take me to the hospital.
That was 11 o’clock in the morning. Again, the ER wanted to release me to come home, but I knew better because the pain was still there. So they decided to keep me and almost 12 hours later I got a room on the fourth floor this time.
It took about five days for the doctors to figure how where my pain was coming from. Those who visited me or called me during that time, know I wasn’t the easiest person to deal with.
Monday afternoon, there was this test that showed my gall bladder needed to come out. Surgery was the next day and the pain went away.
I still have some issues with my leg. There’s an infection and I am on IV antibiotics and started therapy for that on Monday.
The next four or five weeks are going to be critical for my leg.
I don’t want to sugar coat anything with this problem, but I remember back about seven or right years ago when I had my leg taken off. I had a pretty good attitude dealing with that. I think that helped get me back on my feet so quickly. However, this time around, I am very scared that the path I am on with antibiotics and therapy won’t work and I will have a big decision to make.
I’m not much of a religious person, but I have found myself more over the last month praying several times a day. I hope it helps.
I’d like to take this time to thank my co-workers for picking up the slack and also my friends and family for being there when I really need them. I know I can count on them and I really am not sure how to say thanks, but please stay with me through this and I’ll make it.
I haven’t been to a Phillies’ game since April because of my problems. A trip to see the first-place Phillies is in the making and that will help me recover.
I came back to work on Monday and am trying to keep things normal, so I don’t sit around and worry. But it’s been tough.
I turn 50 in about a month and one of my goals is to be walking at that time and be able to make it out to football practice.
I know I need to listen to what the various docs are saying and believe me I am trying.
So, if you don’t mind please say a prayer or two for me and just knowing there are a lot of people out there willing to help and support me is a big help.

My 15 seconds of fame.

You’ve probably heard the expression, if you watch movies and those television shows such as Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood, when people talk about parts of their shows or lines being left on the cutting room floor.
Well, Monday, I thought I was going to be one of those people.
In case you haven’t heard or seen it, our town was featured for about four or five minutes Monday night on ABC’s World News Tonight with Charles Gibson.
A crew of four, a reporter, camera man and two techs came to our small town to get some reaction to comments (see page one for details) that Barack Obama, one of the two Democrats running for president made in San Francisco about small towns.
I heard the story over the weekend and have to admit my first reaction is “why did he down small towns,” but, I didn’t realize that the next day that the national news would come to our small town for a reaction.
Columbia, come on, we only make the local television stations when something bad happens. Forget the many events we have here in Columbia; forget the fact that our school board will honor a number of students of the month at its meeting tonight; forget the fact we were almost the capital of the United States.
That’s not newsworthy enough.
I also have to tell you that when I first received the phone call on Monday morning, I was like, sure, okay, whatever. I thought one of my many friends was pulling an April Fools Joke, three weeks late.
But then, I got an email from ABC in Washington, confirming the visit and their producer/reporter who was in Columbia.
Yes, we’ve made the big time and I was kind of excited.
I was excited that our town was going to be featured in the national spotlight, although I did expect it to be for about 30 seconds, and it was going to portray the town in a positive light for once.
So as the ABC crew made their way down Locust Street, people were taking notice.
I was kind of worried about how I would come off when I got interviewed. The ABC crew was extremely professional and made it easy. They didn’t ask the real tough questions like reporters are trained.
ABC News spent about four or five hours in our town.
Still, I thought my interview would end up on the cutting room floor and no one would believe me that I was going to appear on national television without it.
So when the piece aired, there I was sitting inside our office and getting my 15 seconds of fame.
In case your interested the cost of my autograph because of my appearance on national television is no longer free, but it’s still relatively inexpensive. Can you say priceless!
I wish we would have had more time to get the word out, but Columbia looked good in the eyes of a nation, I think.