Stupid Instacare...
So, Pipes got in last night at about seven from teaching swim lessons... by that time I was pretty lethargic. She couldn't get me to wake up. She could barely get me to sip at a drink. I was pretty far gone. And she transported me to the Instacare.
They checked me in, took my vitals, while I kept a small paper "barf bag" nearby. Not that I had anything to barf... I'd barely been able to drink a few cups of gatorade during the day.
Then the Doctor came in, "Well, normally what I'd recommend would be an IV to get your fluids back where they ought to be. But, since we're closing in a couple of hours, we aren't allowed to do that."
"You gotta be kidding me." I was grabbing my head... the lights in the office hurt.
"I can give you a prescription for some over-the-counter meds. Some immodium would probably help. If you still want the IV you could come back in the morning."
"Would that require another $50 copay?"
"Yes"
"Doctor, this is ridiculous. I can do all of that myself. I've BEEN doing that, taking immodium and antiemetics. My problem is, I can't take in fluids. I get nauseated. The whole reason I came to you, is so you could top me off with an IV."
"Well I'm sorry, our policy is not to do it."
"Your policy is NOT TO TREAT."
"What?"
"Your policy is not to treat. My treatment obviously requires an IV, but you don't want to do one so you can be sure to leave here, on time. Look, I'm real sorry I'm being grumpy. But I'm kinda upset that the one thing I need you guys for, you won't do."
He said it was okay, and offered to refund me the $50 copay, and said that maybe they should have told me that their treatment options change after a certain time in the evening, before they admitted me.
I got up and stumbled out. I could go to an ER that night and pay a $150 copay. Or I could try to come back to the Instacare in the morning. We'll see. I was feeling pretty disgusted, as I walked out. I was so ill, that all I could think about, as we'd driven to the Instacare, was how wonderful it'd feel to have them putting that IV into my arm... it would mean my gas tank was about to be filled up.
We stopped at Walgreens, and picked up some more Gatorade, Sprite, Aquafina and such.
Pipes worked on getting me to sip at some drinks for awhile. I could feel my strength returning a little bit. And then I ended up puking about half of it back out, an hour later.
She debated on whether to drive me to the Instacare this morning, and call in to the Rec Center, but I told her to go to work. She'll come back around 1300 and check on my progress.
Bless her heart... instead of getting me prepackaged Jell-O in cups, she got boxes of powder. I'm not up to making it most of the time. (Most of the time I'm not up to posting on my blog either) So, she tried making me some... but I think she got the proportions a little mixed. It's Jell-O-Aid. ;-)
I'm going back to my bed. Catch you all in a bit longer. Maybe I'm over the hump with this... I hope I can kick it in a couple of days. I've got a Gatorade and a pack of Saltines. Sputnik is devouring a couple of them right now, curled up next to me. Crazy cat.
They checked me in, took my vitals, while I kept a small paper "barf bag" nearby. Not that I had anything to barf... I'd barely been able to drink a few cups of gatorade during the day.
Then the Doctor came in, "Well, normally what I'd recommend would be an IV to get your fluids back where they ought to be. But, since we're closing in a couple of hours, we aren't allowed to do that."
"You gotta be kidding me." I was grabbing my head... the lights in the office hurt.
"I can give you a prescription for some over-the-counter meds. Some immodium would probably help. If you still want the IV you could come back in the morning."
"Would that require another $50 copay?"
"Yes"
"Doctor, this is ridiculous. I can do all of that myself. I've BEEN doing that, taking immodium and antiemetics. My problem is, I can't take in fluids. I get nauseated. The whole reason I came to you, is so you could top me off with an IV."
"Well I'm sorry, our policy is not to do it."
"Your policy is NOT TO TREAT."
"What?"
"Your policy is not to treat. My treatment obviously requires an IV, but you don't want to do one so you can be sure to leave here, on time. Look, I'm real sorry I'm being grumpy. But I'm kinda upset that the one thing I need you guys for, you won't do."
He said it was okay, and offered to refund me the $50 copay, and said that maybe they should have told me that their treatment options change after a certain time in the evening, before they admitted me.
I got up and stumbled out. I could go to an ER that night and pay a $150 copay. Or I could try to come back to the Instacare in the morning. We'll see. I was feeling pretty disgusted, as I walked out. I was so ill, that all I could think about, as we'd driven to the Instacare, was how wonderful it'd feel to have them putting that IV into my arm... it would mean my gas tank was about to be filled up.
We stopped at Walgreens, and picked up some more Gatorade, Sprite, Aquafina and such.
Pipes worked on getting me to sip at some drinks for awhile. I could feel my strength returning a little bit. And then I ended up puking about half of it back out, an hour later.
She debated on whether to drive me to the Instacare this morning, and call in to the Rec Center, but I told her to go to work. She'll come back around 1300 and check on my progress.
Bless her heart... instead of getting me prepackaged Jell-O in cups, she got boxes of powder. I'm not up to making it most of the time. (Most of the time I'm not up to posting on my blog either) So, she tried making me some... but I think she got the proportions a little mixed. It's Jell-O-Aid. ;-)
I'm going back to my bed. Catch you all in a bit longer. Maybe I'm over the hump with this... I hope I can kick it in a couple of days. I've got a Gatorade and a pack of Saltines. Sputnik is devouring a couple of them right now, curled up next to me. Crazy cat.