A male client in his mid-60’s living in the West End neighborhood of Boston called us recently regarding a colonoscopy procedure he had scheduled at the Kenmore campus of the Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates office near Fenway Park. He had a very simple request for us: to wait for him after the procedure at the Endoscopy Center waiting area, then walk him safely out of the medical facility so he can take the subway home. Because he lived alone and had no immediate family in the area to turn to for help, this was something he needed us to assist with.
A colonoscopy is a screening test that helps a doctor examine the inside of a patient’s large intestine and aids in the search for tissue abnormalities such as polyps, tumors, or inflammation. Following a colonoscopy procedure, patients typically require the assistance of another person to take them home because the patient may have received sedation medications during the test to help them relax and would not be in a position to be operating a car afterwards.
On the day of the client’s procedure, his test was scheduled for 2PM, but he requested that we wait for him at the Endoscopy Center starting at 4PM. At that hour, the client anticipated he would be completing the recovery phase and would be discharged soon after.
As we kept in mind the client’s requested wait time, we got on the road a whole hour early and decided to check out the parking situation at the medical facility’s Brookline Avenue address. It turned out the main entrance to the facility was off of Brookline Avenue, following a quick turn onto Fullerton Street, in between Fenway Park and the Landmark Center shopping complex. Intent on not being limited to pricey parking rates at the facility garage, we opted to circle over to nearby Beacon Street in Brookline and enjoyed the ample on-street metered parking. A quick five-minute stroll through Miner Street led us straight to Fullerton Street, to the main entrance of the medical office.
We were 20 minutes early as we checked in with the receptionist at the Endoscopy Center. At the time of our arrival, the waiting room was not very busy, with no more than six people waiting around. The receptionist alerted the nurse of our arrival and we were then told the client was still recovering from his procedure and there would be a delay in his discharge time, as much as 30 minutes. As she gave us the update, she immediately went back to her task at the moment: stuffing envelopes and answering the phone.
As we settled into a comfortable seat in the quiet room and tried to concentrate on the reading materials available to us, we were occasionally distracted by conversations and foot traffic entering and leaving the area, from nursing staff to the patients and their families.
Exactly one hour after we arrived at the Endoscopy Center, the client was finally discharged and we were able to walk the client out of the office and onto Fullerton Street, towards Miner Street. The client said the colonoscopy and post-procedure recovery went quite well, and he expressed his gratitude that we were able to be there to help him. As we walked on, we got the sense the client was comfortable on his own and it was then we said our good-byes and parted ways. We watched the client slowly made his way towards the Fenway stop on the D branch of the MBTA Green Line. From there, we were comforted knowing the subway would safely transport the client back to his apartment in downtown Boston.
Images credit: Susan Ho
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