It doesn’t matter if I have a common cold or am barely conscious and in need of emergency care — the sight of my wheelchair too often puts medical assistants in a tizzy. Which room is best? What furniture needs to be moved or removed? How do we get him on the inaccessible exam table, chair, or bed? Can he stand, walk a few steps, do anything at all? Can we lift him? Should we? What if he falls or someone is hurt? What does the law say? What do our attorneys say? Do we have to follow the ADA? Can we be sued if we don’t?
For the last six months I’ve been dealing with an infection that resulted in an emergency operation to remove an abscess and home bed confinement. It was understood that when I healed, I would need an all-important imaging test to determine if I needed a second operation to remove the underlying cause of infection and prevent recurrence. I was given an appointment at a new urology clinic. I was excited — the waiting room was modern and comfortable. When the nurse showed me to the exam room for the imaging, there sat a new height-adjustable exam chair/bed in the middle of the room just the right height for my wheelchair. I successfully transferred to the bed.
Then came reality: They needed to move the portable imaging machine over me as I lay on the exam bed, but no one knew how to operate my bed to bring me up to the height of the machine. Either my bed malfunctioned on its maiden voyage, or no one had bothered to train the nurse and doctor in charge. The doctor, obviously embarrassed, ordered the nurse to find someone who knew how to operate the bed. The nurse returned empty-handed. No one knew what to do. I was sent home.
They rescheduled me for an imaging test at a new multi-story, all-purpose health center with state-of-the-art equipment. I arrived as scheduled. The procedure would take place in an operating room. They were taking no chances. I was shown to my day-stay room, but the bed was too high. No one would lift me because their policy didn’t allow for it, so they sent for a Hoyer lift but couldn’t find an adult-size sling. After a three-and-a-half hour wait for a sling, they finally got me in bed and wheeled to the OR two hours late. I’m still waiting for imaging results three weeks later.