Summoning emergency room demons...
I'm beginning to think my post with Sinpar must have summoned emergency room demons. Last Monday I went through a horrible nightmare experience getting help for a bad kidney stone. Now I'm sitting with a grotesquely swollen and discolored foot....pounding my head yelling WHY ME?!
I'd had a rather heavy patient load that day, but one patient in particular was very heavy and total dead weight. A lot of moving and transferring. When I felt some back pain starting on the left side while driving home, I chalked it up to some muscle strain. Did the motrin and hot shower thing and laid down. A few hours later it was obvious it wasn't a muscle and I knew it had to be a stone. Got into the car and decided, even though in a lot of pain by that point, to drive to my own hospital's ER rather than a closer one. Big mistake. By the time I got there I was in agony. Threw up, couldn't stand, couldn't sit, and about to lose it. After a half hour wait, it was so extreme I went to the triage area and excusing myself stated...I'm in severe pain and I really don't feel I can hang on much longer. The response was a very disgusted look and 'Well, you'll just have to wait a while'. DUH. If it hadn't been my own ER, I'm sure things would have gone down differently, but you try not to make a scene at your own place. I responded. I really don't want to go somewhere else because I work here, but I'm in very severe pain and I can't wait much longer. I had my employee badge on. She was hostile and dismissingly said 'Well, it's just going to be a while'. I went back and made it about half hour more, again vomiting. She came in several times and took back people who were sitting watching television or reading magazines in no visible distress. I really didn't think I was going to make it to the next ER. Had to slow down to a crawl on the interstate several times due to pain making it hard to drive. So much for the Emory ER. Never again. I stopped by my home, took 8 mg of Dilaudid, got back in the car and immediately drove to the Gwinnett ER. I was triaged within ten minutes, the dilaudid just kicking in....like, what kidney stone? It took about an hour to be seen, but I was treated politely and the place was friendly. The nurse said, if it gets bad let me know and we'll get you back some how. I said I'd be fine at the moment. About 15 min later I was running for the bathroom to vomit, and someone was asking if I was ok. Still, I'm never leaving home in pain without drugs with me. Live and learn.
Thanksgiving arrived and it was a light day at work. I took my kid to Golden Corral when I got home, one of her favorite places and she eats half price because she works there through school. I noticed my foot was sore as I was walking to the car. The next day I could hardly stand on it. Chalked it up to maybe a sprain somehow. Stayed off it over the weekend and it seemed a little better, but Monday was hell and it was not only very swollen but a dark red color on top. Putting it up after work, the color seemed better and I was so tired I fell off to sleep. Yesterday was worse. My toes were numb from the swelling and I had a very aggravating and entitled patient who ran me all day. When I took off my shoe at home that night, things were much worse and it was now purple and red. Sigh...why me? During my lunch I had called around trying to find a doc with late appointments without success...definitely not for a new patient. Funny you can't see the forest for the trees...if I'd looked at a patient's foot that looked like this I'd say..ewwww cellulitis...but mine? nah...can't be. No cut, no scrape and not even a hang nail. No trauma. WHo ever heard of a top of the foot sprain? esp one that got worse with time, even with rest. So, nope. I still don't get it, but the antibiotics seem to be working...it's back to dark red and a lot less swollen. I'm really worried about having to call in when I just started, people seem to be really caring and understanding, but it's pretty off the wall to be calling in twice the first month you're starting...sigh. After a dose of antibiotic, as they handed me scripts and dc instructions, they gave me a med bottle with 4 vicodin in it. That seemed odd, I'd never seen an ER give meds out like that. Very thoughtful, as who feels like sitting at Walgreens when something hurts...but makes you wonder about all those dispensing laws etc. I had gone to Emory Eastside Hospital...awesome. Never realized it was so close, as I still don't know where some of these towns/addresses are. Even had tv's in theh individual ER rooms to watch while you're waiting. Everything computerized. People couldn't have been nicer...outstanding doesn't begin to describe the place. Seen immediately, but they did mention it was just a good night and the night before I'd have been there a lot longer. Understandable. Now I just need some kind of exorcist to run these ER demons off...
I'd had a rather heavy patient load that day, but one patient in particular was very heavy and total dead weight. A lot of moving and transferring. When I felt some back pain starting on the left side while driving home, I chalked it up to some muscle strain. Did the motrin and hot shower thing and laid down. A few hours later it was obvious it wasn't a muscle and I knew it had to be a stone. Got into the car and decided, even though in a lot of pain by that point, to drive to my own hospital's ER rather than a closer one. Big mistake. By the time I got there I was in agony. Threw up, couldn't stand, couldn't sit, and about to lose it. After a half hour wait, it was so extreme I went to the triage area and excusing myself stated...I'm in severe pain and I really don't feel I can hang on much longer. The response was a very disgusted look and 'Well, you'll just have to wait a while'. DUH. If it hadn't been my own ER, I'm sure things would have gone down differently, but you try not to make a scene at your own place. I responded. I really don't want to go somewhere else because I work here, but I'm in very severe pain and I can't wait much longer. I had my employee badge on. She was hostile and dismissingly said 'Well, it's just going to be a while'. I went back and made it about half hour more, again vomiting. She came in several times and took back people who were sitting watching television or reading magazines in no visible distress. I really didn't think I was going to make it to the next ER. Had to slow down to a crawl on the interstate several times due to pain making it hard to drive. So much for the Emory ER. Never again. I stopped by my home, took 8 mg of Dilaudid, got back in the car and immediately drove to the Gwinnett ER. I was triaged within ten minutes, the dilaudid just kicking in....like, what kidney stone? It took about an hour to be seen, but I was treated politely and the place was friendly. The nurse said, if it gets bad let me know and we'll get you back some how. I said I'd be fine at the moment. About 15 min later I was running for the bathroom to vomit, and someone was asking if I was ok. Still, I'm never leaving home in pain without drugs with me. Live and learn.
Thanksgiving arrived and it was a light day at work. I took my kid to Golden Corral when I got home, one of her favorite places and she eats half price because she works there through school. I noticed my foot was sore as I was walking to the car. The next day I could hardly stand on it. Chalked it up to maybe a sprain somehow. Stayed off it over the weekend and it seemed a little better, but Monday was hell and it was not only very swollen but a dark red color on top. Putting it up after work, the color seemed better and I was so tired I fell off to sleep. Yesterday was worse. My toes were numb from the swelling and I had a very aggravating and entitled patient who ran me all day. When I took off my shoe at home that night, things were much worse and it was now purple and red. Sigh...why me? During my lunch I had called around trying to find a doc with late appointments without success...definitely not for a new patient. Funny you can't see the forest for the trees...if I'd looked at a patient's foot that looked like this I'd say..ewwww cellulitis...but mine? nah...can't be. No cut, no scrape and not even a hang nail. No trauma. WHo ever heard of a top of the foot sprain? esp one that got worse with time, even with rest. So, nope. I still don't get it, but the antibiotics seem to be working...it's back to dark red and a lot less swollen. I'm really worried about having to call in when I just started, people seem to be really caring and understanding, but it's pretty off the wall to be calling in twice the first month you're starting...sigh. After a dose of antibiotic, as they handed me scripts and dc instructions, they gave me a med bottle with 4 vicodin in it. That seemed odd, I'd never seen an ER give meds out like that. Very thoughtful, as who feels like sitting at Walgreens when something hurts...but makes you wonder about all those dispensing laws etc. I had gone to Emory Eastside Hospital...awesome. Never realized it was so close, as I still don't know where some of these towns/addresses are. Even had tv's in theh individual ER rooms to watch while you're waiting. Everything computerized. People couldn't have been nicer...outstanding doesn't begin to describe the place. Seen immediately, but they did mention it was just a good night and the night before I'd have been there a lot longer. Understandable. Now I just need some kind of exorcist to run these ER demons off...