ESL Podcast 567 - Visiting a Patient in the Hospital
in time - before something ends or before something is no longer a possibility; with time to spare
Fredy accidentally slept in, but he hurried and got to work just in time, arriving a few seconds before 8:00.
visiting hours - the periods of time when people are allowed to see and speak with patients at a hospital, because during the other periods of time the patients must be left alone with the doctors and nurses
I'm sorry, but visiting hours have ended for the day. You can come back tomorrow at 1:00.
emergency ward - the part of a hospital that deals with patients who have very serious problems that need immediate attention
Doctors don't like it when people go to the emergency room when they have just a mild cold.
intensive care unit (ICU) - the part of a hospital that deals with patients who have very serious problems and could die, and are in a condition that requires constant monitoring and care
Aunt Marge is in the ICU and the doctors don't know whether she'll live or die.
life support - machines that keep a person alive by making oxygen flow through one's lungs and by making one's heart beat
Grandma is working with a lawyer to make sure that doctors never put her on life support. She would prefer a natural death.
the prime of (one's) life - in the best years of one's life, when one has good health and things are going well
Hedwig is 34 years old and should be in the prime of her life, but her depression is making her miserable.
to collapse - to suddenly fall down because one feels very weak or loses consciousness (the ability to think and be aware of where one is)
Teri went running when it was 104º outside, and she collapsed due to the extreme heat and dehydration.
rounds - a doctor's practice of visiting each of his or her patients in a particular order
Next time the doctor comes in here on his rounds, remember to ask him for more pain medication.
condition - the medical or health status of an individual
Julius is in poor condition, but the doctor says he can improve his health through exercise and by eating better.
to dread - to not want to do something; to be very worried or anxious about something that will happen
Sequita dreads doing her taxes each spring.
respirator - a machine that helps a person breath, pushing oxygen through his or her lungs
If Dad keeps smoking, he might end up on a respirator within a few years.
hooked up to monitors - attached to machines, especially to medical machines that observe one's heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, and more
Please don't come visit me at the hospital. I don't want anyone to see me hooked up to monitors.
IV drip - a clear plastic bag that is filled with liquid and hangs next to a patient with a long, thin plastic tube that connects it to a needle placed inside the patient's vein, used to put liquid, nutrients, and medication in the patient's bloodstream
The doctors used an IV drip to rehydrate the runner.
lifeless - without life; not living; dead
The child held the lifeless bird in her hands and cried.
under sedation - affected by medicine that makes one fall asleep or become very calm, unable to respond normally to other people
The patient became very angry and violent toward the nurses, so the doctors put him under sedation.