To Whom It May Concern;

I sent the email below to Kelly, the President and CEO at the Simcoe Norfolk General Hospital and all I received back was a call from someone that she had forwarded my email onto. This person said the Dr. and Nurse would be spoken to the following week, asked me a few pointed questions about meds I was given and asked if they offered to have an orderly help me to my vehicle (the answer to that was no) and she apologized for my experience.

However, I do not want this issue to be a joke to them and swept under the rug as I was degraded, humiliated and not at all treated with respect, my cats at the vet get treated with more care then I was this day.

Hello Kelly,

I am writing to you in regards to a horrific experience I had on Monday June 22nd, 2015 at Norfolk General hospital.

I have a herniated disk between the L4/5 vertebrae and it is pushing on the root nerve and it’s been very, very painful for me.

On Monday morning at about 2:00 am I had to get up to use the washroom and found that I could not walk unassisted, I was in complete agony and took some pain meds. Around 4:00 I got up again and was able to limp to the bathroom. When I got up again at 7, I could not walk at all.

I called for an ambulance and crawled out to the kitchen to wait for them and it took 3 attendants to get me out to the stretcher.

They took me to the hospital and one of the nice ambulance people brought me a bag of ice for my back.

I laid there crying in pain for almost an hour before the Dr. finally came in and I was given a shot of something and two pills (I don’t know what either of them were) regardless, they barely touched my pain.

The Dr. came in a couple hours later and told me there was nothing he could do and I could go home.

I asked him “how” I was supposed to get home when I can’t sit to be wheeled out in a chair, nor walk. I then asked if an ambulance could take me home and the nurse said no, they don’t do that but there is some sort of ambulatory service that could come get me for $700. WHAT! I can’t afford $700! So I was told I could lay there as long as I needed to. (in the meantime I told the nurse that my bed was soaked, I was soaked because the ice bag melted and they made no effort to try to change the bedding or make me more comfortable in any way)

I asked a nurse to get the Dr. for me again so that I could speak to him about getting more pain meds so that maybe movement would be more tolerable, she went to speak to the Doctor and he refused to come speak with me saying again there was nothing more he can do.

So I laid there for about 10 mins and the nurse came in again and said, “oh, your still here (insert snotty tone), do you want me to call the service for you” to which I again said “no, I cannot afford the $700 so I guess I will have to crawl out of here if you want me gone”, and she said “ya, I guess so” …..SERIOUSLY!!!

So, with a lot of effort and pain, I got off the bed and onto my hands and knees, pushing my purse and flip flops in front of me, crawled out of the emergency room and out through the waiting room in front of about 20 people and crawled out of that hospital.

I have to say it was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. My husband and daughter were on the other side of the emerg door and my daughter took my purse and carried it for me but other then that they were helpless to do anything.

Another nurse who seen me crawling out asked me to come back in and talk to the Dr. I said “you mean the one that refused to come talk to me..no thanks! Plus that other nurse told me to crawl out of here, so that’s what I’m doing and I’m not coming back!”

There were sick people in the waiting room that all wanted to help me and I sooo appreciated their kindness, but I could not let anyone even touch me to assist me as I was in so much pain.

I crawled out onto the concrete sidewalk to the back door of our vehicle where my husband had to lift me in and onto my stomach to take me home.

I got home and my wonderful husband (who deserves a medal) got me to my bed and spent the entire day tending to all my needs.

I am disgusted by the care or lack thereof I received while at the hospital and every time I think back on that day or talk about it, I still get tears in my eyes.

I am bringing this to your attention and to the attention of the Ontario Hospital Board in hopes that no one else has to have the same experience I had that day. Even my cats at the vets are treated with more care and compassion then I was shown.

The doctor on duty was Dr. Bardon and the uncaring nurses name was Kristi(sorry I do not have a last name, just her name and that she was wearing purple scrubs)

I would appreciate a response to this email as to how this situation will be handled.

Thank you for your time,

Sheri Kantor

****If you would like to speak to me directly you reach me at 519-582-0473 or email at skantor@positec.com