My first post

Dum-da-da-dum!!!

What a lousy weekend....I got really sick last Thursday, with a really high fever, headache, chills, and aches and top of aches...

Friday, I went into work..Well, because I had to...had a meeting (which got called off, because the main person I was to meet, got sick the night before, then called in prior to the meeting, saying he wasn't going to be coming in and things will be getting rescheduled...Thanks for the heads up... appreciate that)

As Friday's usually get with me, things got busy here, I love how so many leave things until Friday, to get sent out, When it could have been done earlier in the week, then rush in on Friday... and as they come in they give me the classic line "This HAD to be out YESTERDAY" (I LOVE that line!!!!) I had a few of those on Friday, I was aching all over, by late in the day, my high fever was going away, but I still had a brutal, pounding headache, every little noise around me seemed amplified... my body was aching all over, and I still had chills and aches, especially my back (it was supposedly a very "lovely" sunny warm day out...damn, with the long cold winter we've been having, here I was freezing when we finally have a warm day)

Saturday, my finally goes away, No more heavy metal concert in my head.... but my back (or what I was still hoping at the time was just my back) was still killing me... I couldn't sit up or stand for very long without the pain... 3 days now of this pain, what worried me was the pain in my back was right where my left kidney is located...uh oh.... By afternoon I couldn't take it anymore, I checked into the ER at my local hospital (which I usually go to out of sheer convenience really, I can get there in 10 minutes if I go by car, I say that for a reason, might add to that later on in this post, or maybe in another...so remember that...10 mins away from the hospital by car)

I get there, just before 2pm... sort of full, not entirely unexpected, it being Saturday (didn't think it'd be this full this early, but again....Weekend....) There are seats open, which is good, I really wish I had a laptop, would really come in handy, especially for days like that, Ipods, and other mp3 players can only go so far.

I get myself checked in, which is always quick, then find a seat, not a great spot, next to a guy thats stretched out, sleeping, and its not even facing the TV on the wall of the waiting room, whats worse... its in the corner, i'm between a stretched out sleeping guy, and a wall....

What I don't understand, never have..and unless someone explains it to me, I probably never will: Why do people bring children and babies to an an ER at a hospital for adults, when we have Sick Kids Hospital? a hospital FOR sick kids? (as its name would suggest?)
The doctors there, are trained in caring for young patients... They're called Pediatrians! The Hospital for Sick Children is staffed entirely with them and they'd be able to help you out a lot better then an adult hospital can....
All bringing a child into an adult hospital really does, is extend the wait times for everyone else, as the doctors WILL see everyone that comes in, no matter who they are.

So here I was sitting, in excruciating pain in my chair, for 4 and a half hours...can you believe that? 4 and a half hours in an emergency waiting room...just the waiting room!!!

A nurse finally calls out my name, I figured, great i'm finally being "taken into the back"
all that happens though, is she asks for a urine sample and then when I was done with that, asks me to take a seat for a blood sample to be taken.... I don't know how long this nurse was working there, or how long she'd been a nurse...but she TOTALLY missed the vein and jabbed the needle right into the muscle, all she could say was "that probably hurt" .... she doesn't even think much of it, until my arm start to swell up.... I tell her my back/kidney is really killing me, I can't stay sitting for so long, she lets me lie down on a stretcher in the room, "but only for a while as the stretcher is used by doctors" she also tells me she'll be putting an IV in to get me some medication to help alleviate the pain in my kidney/back so he goes for my left hand, and again TOTALLY misses the vein.... she was a masochist, saying "That probably hurts right?" as she's moving the needle around inside my hand trying to locate the vein (um lady, its in the muscle already!!!!) She starts to pump saline through, and notice my hand start to swell up big... and panics somewhat... removes the needle (which wasn't fun either..damn) and tries again on my right hand...and AGAIN misses the vein.... is this even a registered nurse???? I'm not a professional, a doctor, a nurse or anything like that, but I've watched all 8 seasons of Scrubs and I know that inserting the IV is one of the very first things doctors and nurses learn to do!
I'm wondering why someone else wasn't doing it after the second miss... why would the same nurse be going for 3?? COME ON!!!!

After that, I stay on the bed as she goes away momentarily, trying to just fall asleep so I won't be moved away from the bed back to a waiting room chair (hehehehehe) but no luck...dammit I need to learn to fall asleep on command.

A while later, I FINALLY get called to the back (actually 4 hours, 48 mins after I came in) I hate this hospitals ER wait...its ALWAYS so long, I HAVE to be a glutton for punishment to continue coming to this one...

So here am I, waiting for a doctor to see me now, I get in a room, close the curtain, I get told to remove my shirt, and get into a gown (are you kidding me, I told you I'm already freezing... people are mean)

I try to find a light switch in the room to turn the lights off so I can fall asleep, I'm dead tired after all that waiting, my back is killing me, I want to go to bed, but none of the switches turn off the light in the room, so weird, after I try a switch, I quickly turned it back on, because I wasn't sure WHAT I just turned off lol

After a while, of lying back, eyes closed trying to fall asleep, the doctor finally comes in, checks me out a bit, uses a cold stethescope, asks me to breath in and out a few times, doesn't really check my back, leaves again.... A nurse comes in, tells me they need a urine sample before I can go... doesn't really help asking me right then, since I had just gone about 10 mins earlier.

I wait a bit, then I go give it a shot...some lady knocks the door, I yell out "I'M IN HERE" she knocks again...I yell "OCCUPIED!!!!"... This woman starts to open the door anyways... WHATS WRONG WITH THIS HOSPITAL!!!! why don't they put locks on the doors?? I reach back just before the door opens and pull hard, slamming it shut (didn't hear that door knock again lol)

I get out of the bathroom with the sample, return to my room, and after a minute or so, a nurse comes and collects it, I start to get dressed, open the curtain for the room, and the doctor passes me a prescription for some infection medication, and tells me I'll be getting a call sometime this week from the hospital again to return for further tests, including a CT / CAT scan to check for stones or any kidney damage.....I was finally free to go home..
Wait a minute though, I could have stones, maybe possible kidney damage, I waited for nearly 5 hours, and I'm free to go home? Why not get all the tests done, give me a clean bill of health and THEN send me home? COME ON!!!!

I get home, not really hungry.... which should be surprising, but lately, (by that I mean the past 2 weeks or so) I haven't really felt hungry at all... and even I do eat, i'll barely eat any of it... not sure why.

I sit back, relax, watch some tv, have some coffee... try to ease my back pain with some tylenol....
No pharmacies by me are open on the weekend, that sucks.

Sunday, its pretty much the same thing, back and kidney area still hurts, damnit, only 30 and i'm falling apart already!

I start to drink some more juice along with the buckets of water i've been taking down lately...

I tried to lie down and nap as much as I could through the day...couldn't sleep much though.

Here's Monday, back to work... back / kidney, is starting to feel a bit better, I haven't heard from the hospital yet (wouldn't expect to be called first thing Monday, so no big deal) had a bit of a busy day (a busy day for business is always good during a poor economic climate) got quite a bit done.... I can't wait to get home so I can just get to my bed and drop!

WHAT A WEEKEND!!