Released!
The following day, 5 April, I met with my doctors (Jasper and Fiona), they gave me some written medical records to give to my doctor and my cardiologist, and said that I was cleared to fly. I said, "Even if the flight (Sydney to Los Angeles) is about 15 hours duration?" Jasper said "No problem! I'll be taking that flight in a few days!" I asked why and he told me that he was going to go to Coachella. I knew vaguely that that was some kind of major concert venue with multiple sound stages, and shared a smile with Fiona. Jasper was quite a character, and very laid back. Then, having been released from my ward, I had an interview (in the "Transfer Lounge" of the hospital -- love that name!) with a member of the hospital's financial staff, during which we called my travel insurance's case manager. That was the first step in what appears to be a long procedure attempting to claim from them. An Appreciation At this point, I feel the need to say something about the care I had received at St. Vincent's Hospital. I short, I can say with confidence that the care I received was the best health care I've experienced anywhere in the world. Absolutely everyone was great! Nurses, doctors, staff. They were all conscientious, caring, cheerful, etc. And the ethnic diversity was amazing. There were white Australians, Brits, Asians from China, Nepal, India, South Korea, Myanmar, Thailand. Some first generation immigrants, some established. Everyone worked together, and everyone -- doctors, nurses, staff, cleaning staff -- was on a first name basis. Even the food was good -- although, as you'd expect with hospital food, somewhat bland. The only quibbles I had were that the coffee was instant (I'm pretty sure of that, and it was a contrast to the excellent coffee I'd had during my entire Australian experience), and that breakfast choices were limited; I ended up choosing scrambled eggs every day. Pretty minor quibbles, I'd say. Waiting for Neb... After my interview, I had a very welcome real coffee (a long black) in the coffee bar at the hospital entrance, while I booked a room at an airport hotel (the Holiday Inn Express Sydney Airport hotel) using my mobile, and waited for Neb, who had kindly offered to drive me to the hotel. He arrived at the main entrance and whisked me away to the hotel (pictured above). I settled into my room, and made my flight reservation for the next day -- a Qantas flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, leaving the next morning. It was after lunch time, and I was hungry. There was a pie shop directly opposite (Patchett's Pies) that would have been a great choice, except that I misjudged things, and missed their opening hours (they closed at 2:30pm). So, I ordered a pizza delivery from the main desk at the hotel, and when it arrived ate it there, in an area where people could…
