Have just gotten out of the hospital. Yeah, again.
I am feeling a million times better, despite the emotional hell of being separated from my children, the fact the Ironflower developed pneumonia while I was gone and that I loathe pumping. Suffice to say they had to operate on the abscess. Oh, and I got IV antibiotics. And tons of really bad food. Weirdest thing? I was put in the same ward (section? area?) as my dad was after his heart surgery. I guess because all the rooms are private there and they weren't sure if I had some horrible infection? I doubt it was to give me pumping privacy. But whatever - it made the experience barely tolerable.
But I'd rather talk about my experiences in the ER right now. Because I as I called to schedule my home nurse care (that's what they call it, but it's not really "care", she's coming to show us how to dress my wounds ourselves because that's all our insurance will pay for), I had to wait on hold. And while I was on hold, instead of hearing that light non-offensive muzak that no one actually likes (FYI, the IRS plays excerpts from The Nutcracker - so much nicer) I heard a message. The message was asking people to sign a petition against another hospital. This other hospital is planning to open a "for-profit" emergency room in a now-closed hospital here in the county.
And I say. . . I hope they open it soon. There are not a lot of ERs around here for a county with this kind of population. (I can say this with authority because I lived in Kansas City where there are a lot fewer people and a lot more ERs.) And while I applaud my hometown hospital for their excellent nursing staff (I will not comment on the comedy of errors that was my doctor care), their open mindedness (there's a pre-op transsexual nurse in the ER, she totally made my day) and the fact that I'm not dead, I have yet to see that ER not completely backed up. I mean people on stretchers in the hallway, five hour waits (and I was a "high priority" person since I had a doctor who called ahead and had already signed off on admitting me) and a waiting room so crowded that there are no chairs left. It doesn't matter what time or day of week you go, either.
And let's be honest - I live in a place where the vast majority of people are still not hurting for money. Where cutting back means letting go of the cleaning lady. Is a "for profit" place going to stop them from getting health care? No. With any luck, the for profit place will be where the people with the stomach viruses and the tooth falling out will choose to go. Yes, those were some of the complaints of my fellow ER patients. Of course, if you don't have health insurance, you have to go to the ER for everything. But a stomach virus? A tooth falling out? Are these emergencies? If you've got insurance, go to your doctor or dentist already.
Call me a bitch, but I think there should be a checklist outside of the ER that describes what an emergency is. A gaping wound. A potentially broken bone. An inability to breathe. A fever that doesn't respond to Tylenol. Not, "I threw up twice yesterday and once today." Not, "I'm 85 and my tooth fell out while I was eating an apple." (Yes, those are real quotes.)
What do you think?
3 comments:
This may be TMI and kinda gross but you can't always trust docs. After my hysorectomy, I got an infection (with no fever) that did drain (after my daughter accidentally busted it open) and the doc said to just clean the outside with peroxide everyday. Thank God my Mom is a Physical Therapist and we have both done wound care for about 10 years so we knew he was way wrong!! She would come and clean it for me 3 times a day with betadine and it actually tunneled about 4 inches inside of me. She kept the scaring to a min and got it all taken care of. I had to heal from the inside out. I never had a problem with wound care (and I have seen some NASTY stuff) but I couldn't do it to myself. That was just going to far. Also, if you know a Physical Therapist you might ask them for advise because (at least in Texas) they have a lot more training in wound care and they are allowed to use more stuff like scissors and scalpels. A lot of people are shocked to find out Physical Therapist are the ones that usually do the major wound care in hospitals. Glad your doing better. Sorry if this was too gross for you.
I am sorry to hear you're going through all this crap!! Feel better.
My laptop is up and running again, so I am thrilled that I can catch up on my favorite blogs.
I LOVE your posts so much. You are such a great writer and I love your sarcasm. Must be a Jersey thing.
Does that make you feel at all better? :)
Wow. I cannot imagine going to the hospital unless I was in dire straights. The last 4 times were all while pregnant & totally justifiable. A tooth falling out? You def need more hospitals. We have loads around here. I'm glad you finally got the problem fixed. What a pain in the keister.
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