Geta Private Room

[temp69]

If you possibly can. I had the roommate from hell, a nice man who had a case of verbal diarehhaffffhhha....could NOT stop jabbering on the phone, changing channels, in general making as much noise as he possibly could.

I could feel my body straining....it was REALLY a struggle. I kept thinking, WHY the hell didn't I spend the extra 90 bucks a day for a private room? Man, oh, man if ANYBODY benefits from my experience, the pain and agony will have been worth it.

You never know, you might get a sweet, quiet, respectful roomie. But why take the chance. So, for anyone facing surgery, get a private room! You won't regret it. And take some music and headphones...mozart is so healing...all music was so healing...

hope this helps someone.

 

[JohnnyV_46]

I have to agree.....I got my private room not by choice but necessity...They told me after my surgery that my ear infection was in fact a Staph infection. So It was nice I got to be isolated.

 

[geebee]

I had a wonderful roomie during my first OHS. She was a 15 year-old in for closure of a hole in her heart. We had a blast dealing with all the other "old" patients (I was only 28) who couldn't figure out why we were in their group. She made my days waiting for surgery much easier.
However, she left the hospital a number of days before me as I got an infection. I had the worst roommate after that. She was a much older woman who would watch TV all the time and moan out loud about the atrocities in the world. It was awful.
After my second OHS, I was in a private room because that was the only room available. When a semi became available, I refused to move because I realized how wonderful the privacy was. I had to pay about $30 a day (in 1982) but it was well worth it. I have paid for private rooms ever since because I realized getting another great roomie like Christina (the 15 year old) would never happen again. And, of course, I didn't want anyone else to end up hating me for my bad habits either.

 

[LadyBlue]

Oh roomies from hell! I had one once after a pacemaker implant! I was out of ICU and in pain and trying to rest and she had the tv on REALLY loud with action type sounds going on... The she would be talking on the phone, loudly... Then when she finally turned out the lights to sleep, she snored like a baboon.... Then she used the bedpan...and the smell...THAT WAS IT!!!!! I started calling my nurses and of course my head was drugged and drowzy as I had not been able to rest YET in my room, and put up a stink ( no pun) about wanting to move and NOW! So they went to look for a room and while they were gone, my roomie's Nurse Cratchit came over and started roughly explaining to me that her patient was there for a long time and has a terminal illness....so I'm now crying... My nurses come back, and move me to a private room ( HEAVEN) and kept saying " don't worry, it's ok, we understand...." I slept like a baby for 2 days LOL! That was at a Mass General and since attending Children's my docs always get me a private or semi prive room....love those guys! I think they try to understand what it would be like to have to share a room with a baby or young child as an adult and do all they can to get me a private. One time I had a room with a teenaged girl who's breathing tent made so much noise that I couldn't sleep! It sounded like a very loud vacuum cleaner!! I always take earplugs with me and that helped, plus I asked for strong sleep meds...no messing around I tell them, I was real sleep meds, non of this tylenol PM stuff! LOL

It's kind of sad to think I have become a seasoned hospital patient! I have been in the hospital so many times, that I know all the tricks of the trade to get rooms, bring earplugs, ask for strong meds, tell them how to flush out my IV ( very slowly as I HATE that cold feeling in my viens arrgggg!

 

[Der Biermeister]

Every room in my hospital is a private room. (It's a pretty new and fancy facility -- maybe 5 years old now.)

And five years ago, when I had my knee replaced (at an older hospital), I was on a special "joint replacement ward" and all those rooms were private too.

I had never been hospitalized before my knee replacement - so I have no idea what is like to share a room with someone.

 

[pfsinger]

For my first OHS I was only 4 1/2 and shared a room 3 other little girls.

I'm having my 2nd OHS this Friday at the age of 32. I called St. Mary's in Rochester, MN (this Mayo hospital is where I'll be) to ask about this topic and was told that all rooms on the Cardiac Care floors are private. Woo-hoo!

I'm so glad that I won't have a roommate. I'd probably annoy her...my family will be there a lot and they would annoy her too.

 

[musician2k]

I wasn't aware you had a choice regarding type of room. Is this because insurance won't cover a private, but will pay whatever they would normally pay for a semi-private room TOWARD a private room, if you just make up the difference yourself? I suppose this varies from place to place. I hadn't even considered asking this question. It's going on my list Thanks, Temp & everyone...

Chris

 

[MikeHeim]

I didn't request a private room, mainly because the idea seemed way too snooty for me.

My roommate was awful. He was a guy in his mid-60's who had Alzheimers, Parkinsons (sp?), and had gotten into a car accident. In the accident, he damaged his throat, shattered his hip, and fractured his back. Of course, he was in traction (sp?). He had a feeding tube in, about 8 IV's, and (here's the best part) he couldn't remember where he was or what had happened to him every time he woke up. One of the times he worke up, he had ripped out all of his IV's, so they had to restrain his arms to keep prevent him from doing that again. He certainly was not allowed to get up and move around because of the hip and back, so he was constantly accumulating fluid in his lungs. Therefore, the nurses had to suction his lungs on a regular basis. I've never had this done to me, but if his screams and thrashing were any indication, I think I would rather light my hair on fire. Anyways, when he could talk, he spent all of his time screaming and cursing out the nurses. His condition actually got worse everyday that I was in there.

 

[geebee]

I wasn't aware you had a choice regarding type of room. Is this because insurance won't cover a private, but will pay whatever they would normally pay for a semi-private room TOWARD a private room, if you just make up the difference yourself? I suppose this varies from place to place. I hadn't even considered asking this question. It's going on my list Thanks, Temp & everyone...

Chris

You are correct, insurance pays only for semi-private rooms. If you want a private, you pay the difference. You should ask the hospital since, as many have pointed out, a lot of hospitals have cardiac wings with all private rooms. I had a lot of visits to a hospital in New Jersey where all the cardiac rooms were private so there was no extra charge. One of our local hospitals now has the same thing so, should I ever need hospitalization again, guess where I'm going?

 

[denobobeno]

Funny you brought that up

Funny you brought that up

My husband and I were talking about this yesterday..I pray, pray, pray that I get a private room. The last time I was in the hospital I didn't have one~~~my roomy had a severe case of smokers cough along with the whole gaaa gaaa gaaa spit thing!! I thought I was going to spit up right along with her!!
They told us that my hubbie could stay in the room with me at night soo..I'm thinking at Baylor maybe they're all private rooms too. (fingers crossed)
I'll request one but, that doesn't mean you always get what you want!
Deana

 

[Georgia]

I was supposed to have a private room; cardiac was overcrowded & I also got the roommate from hell. Old lady with horrid family who congregated and cussed and yelled up a storm. I complained, but it didn't do much good.

However, it was preferable to being stuck in CICU for four days like a couple of other ohs patients were, due to overcrowding.

It was awful.

 

[Cris N]

I, too, was very lucky since the hospital I went to is new (3-4 years) and all the rooms are private. Really helpful for getting rest!

 

[Ozmercy]

Absolutely worth it

Absolutely worth it

All the rooms at Cedars are private and boy was I glad. The guy down the hall was snoring so loud I could hear him with the door closed. I put my ipod in to my ears and listened to a guy named Fernando Ortega (musician2K, I think you would like him) playing worship music on piano, very George Wintsonesque. I slept great and was only awakened by the staff once or twice for vitals. I was hooked up to a mobile ekg, that sent the messages by a bluetooth kind of thing. It was very cool. I highly recommend spending the money if you have to to get the single room.

 

[Debbrn]

The last time that I had a semi-private room was a few years ago. I had asked for a private room, but there was not one available. Luckily I had a good roomate. The only problem was that I was working night shift at the time and had been sedated for a procedure so I slept all day. I woke up bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 3 AM. Because of the room mate I did not turn on the lights or TV. I was bored silly. I walked the halls, talked to the nursing staff, and made a quick phone call to work. Who else is going to be up at 3 AM except other nurses.

Also as a kid, it was not unusual for me to have 3 roommates. The only time that I had a private room as a child was the night before my OHS. Actually after my OHS when I was 6, I ended up in a bed in the corner of the nursery. The ICU needed my bed and there were no pediatric rooms available so they stuck a bed in the corner of one of the sick nurseries. Babies were crying all of the time. You know children though, they can sleep through anything.

Debbie

 

[ClickTicker]

I was fortunate enough to be placed in a private room without having to ask for it. I was, at the time, the only teenager on the floor with an elderly population. They figured I wouldn't really relate to well with any potential roomies, and the wouldn't want to put up with my friends either.

 

[terryj]

For my husbands AVR surgery he had a private room because all the rooms are private for heart surgery patients at Emory. When he had his cardiac catherization prior to surgery he shared a room for the day with another guy and all of a sudden the guy started bleeding profusely from his catherization and the nurses were all running around and talking about how he was on coumadin and it scared us to death because we knew my husband would be starting coumadin soon. When our doctor came in to let us know about the results of the catherization he explained that the guy was an alcoholic and did not monitor his coumadin and had actually drank prior to his test. I don't know if that was a logical explanation knowing what I do now about coumadin but it made me and my husband feel better.