April 13 2014 ICU VGH 3:00 pm

Quote from the Second Edition of Privileged Presence: Personal Stories of Connections in Health Care, by Liz Crocker & Bev Johnson, page 230.

"The wife knew that the end was near and asked the nurse if she could get into bed with her husband and snuggle.  And the answer was, Of course you can, dear."

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This isn't what happened to me when I asked the nurse who had twenty years experience in the ICU if I could lay down next to Randy for a few minutes.

The nurse said  NO.  I said why not.  The nurse said that it was not allowed as it was a liability issue. I asked what liability. The nurse then said that the bed Randy was dying on belonged to the hospital.

I was taken aback with the refusal and the stupid reasoning, and backed slowly into an alcove.

As I stood there, slightly out of sight, two Paladin security guards ran to the pod questioning "where is she, where is she."  The nurse had called security.

What was security going to do: pull me out of the room by my hair screaming.

This VCH did to me and Randy.  This I will never forgive.

If you find this behavior vomitoid by VGH, email Randy's MLA, Moira Stilwell.  Moria.still.mla@leg.bc.ca or phone her office at 604.660.8360 and tell her so.