F 1 D 0 - 2004 12 07 at 0015

Telehealth Ontario.

Phone 1-866-797-0000.

Let me say a few good things about this service. It's run
by registered nurses. They seem to have computer access,
where they run the symptoms you offer freely into the terminal,
and it shows them other questions to ask you.

I dislike the way it was introduced here: the government was
treating the nurses badly, and many of them left to the 
United States, and others found different careers, even
though Ontario and Canada needs many more nurses than it
actually has. So to appease the people, this Telehealth
Service was introduced.

On Saturday morning, I spent many hours at North York General's
emergency department. From  700am until 330pm. They did a lot.

But I've now got a dry cough that concerns me, and
I wanted a real answer from someone knowledgeable whether
I caught something at the hospital, and what to do (since
going back there seemed ill advised).

My nurse was a gentleman, and asked me lots of questions. I
wanted to remain anonymous. I wanted information, not to be
forced into another hospital visit.

He asked me many, many questions. I told him about the incident
at Dominion, how I was Emerg, and everything I could. He asked
more questions.

After looking at his screen, he decided that what I had
was minor. All I should take at this point was 
a cough suppressant, such as DM. It would stop 
the tickle. I'll get that tomorrow from the 
Pharma Plus at the Xerox building.

I didn't think I had SARS. I wanted to exclude
the so-called walking pneumonia virus. How can 
anyone really know without a computerized database 
of popular symptoms?


I hope to teach dance tomorrow. It will be the last
dance of the season I lead.

Wish me luck. You already have: I don't have a dreaded
disease from the hospital.


Call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 for 
free medical advice. You may remain anonymous 
if you wish. 

That's all I know.