I spent 3 days in the hell that was San Camillo's Emergency room. 20 hours I spent laying in my…read morewaste on a gurney in the hallway, I had a broken femur and was in horrible pain. I woke up alone, with no knowledge or memory of where I was, how I got there, and what had happened. I have never been treated more like an animal than I was there. I gave 2 stars because the actual treatment, cat scan, MRI and x-rays were top quality.I didn't eat or drink for over 36 hours but I had a drip. I begged for water but was ignored. I kept hearing myself referred to as Gli Americana like it was a dirty word. When they transferred me from my gurney to take a test I begged for them to be gentle but each time they yanked my mat over while I howled in excruciating pain. It was almost like they did it on purpose. I had a catheter put in in the middle of this huge emergency room with no privacy. The one little trifold screen that I saw was in use. Mercifully, after 3 days an orthopedic surgeon arrived to tell me my diagnosis. He was so kind and empathetic that I sobbed. I was trying to arrange to be medevaced home, but the Dr said that was too dangerous.
The story had a happier ending as I was transferred to the Casa di Cura Pio XI hospital which was like a Ritz-Carlton. I can't say enough good things about my treatment there.
As for Camillo, I feel like a survivor with PTSD. I never cry, but in the last month I find myself collapsing in sadness with no explanation other than the experience I went through.