After 50 years of marriage, Audrey and Richard still take their wedding vows very seriously, especially the part that mentions, “in sickness and in health.” Right before Labor Day this year, Richard collapsed, and Audrey took him to Alameda Hospital immediately.
“Richard never gets sick, so to see this happen was startling. If he weren’t awake I would have called an ambulance,” said Audrey. “All I could think of was get him to Alameda Hospital right away. I knew our neighbor was home and he helped me get him in the car.”
Prior to Richard sinking to the floor, he had been battling what he believed to be food poisoning. Anyone who has ever experienced food poisoning knows aside from the excruciating pain, fluid comes out of your body in ways that the average person probably doesn’t want to read about. He had become severely dehydrated.
“I can tell you what it felt like. One time I heard a doctor speak about food poisoning symptoms, he said, you think you’re going to die, and you hope you do,” said Richard. “I was appreciative and glad that the hospital was less than five minutes away.”
Richard and Audrey have lived in Alameda for over 30 years, and they knew without a doubt that the place they needed to go to was Alameda Hospital. They have both been treated there before for other ailments, and from the previous service and care received, they didn’t hesitate to go back.
“They (AHS staff) didn’t miss a beat. This was one of the fastest admissions we had in a long time,” said Audrey. “First of all, Richard looked terrible, he was pale, he had become covered in hives. The nurse could look at him and tell something wasn’t right. All I wanted to do was get him in that room. I was nervous; I didn’t know what was wrong.”
Richard ended up being admitted to the hospital and had a 3-day stay. They administered a saline drip for the dehydration and gave him Benadryl right away to get rid of the hives. “I’m a diabetic so unfortunately I had to receive my insulin shots and they were continuously drawing blood since my vitals were all over the place.”
He added that throughout the process the hospital internist kept the lines of communication open, explained what the tests were for, what the results were and never seemed to lose patience or be in a rush. He also mentioned that his nurse was very attentive and had a great sense of humor.
Richard and Audrey lead a pretty active lifestyle, Audrey is into archery and community service, she even received the volunteer of the year award from the City of Alameda in 2015. Richard enjoys photography and traveling, so being in a hospital is not something either of them were looking forward to or used to. But they were pleasantly pleased with the level of service, care and communication received.
“The staff at Alameda Hospital showed up, paid attention and were very honest. All aspects I believe were essential ingredients in my care. Keep doing this with your patients. Thank you!”~Richard Hausman
“Hospital staff are rightfully focused on the patients and can easily forget about the families. They didn’t forget about me! I felt confident when he was finally admitted. I knew I could go home. I knew they were going to take care of him. I asked questions and staff were responsive. It was comforting. We felt confident when he was released that he was thoroughly looked over.” ~Audrey Lord-Hausman
Richard has fully recovered. Since his hospital stay, he has taken a trip to Japan. And most recently, they traveled to Maui together to celebrate their golden anniversary.