FINALLY! A hospital AND a DR Who Listens!

On Wednesday 3/11/09  10 minutes after trying to eat a few chicken nuggets I started vomiting.  30 minutes later I was doubled over in pain.  I hadn't REALLY eaten in 2 days because of this.  And, the fact that the last time I went to the ER I was left shrieking in a room for 8 hours and treated like a junkie.  My friend and I were descriminated against based on how we looked.  In fact I had just finished writing a post about that  night when I tried to eat, and this all went down.

This night I was refusing to go to ANY ER because I would rather be shrieking at home then at the hospital.  My husband went outside for a smoke, and called my father.    He came back in and started putting my shoes on my feet and told me my father was coming to take me to the hospital.  I kept saying no, they weren't going to help me, they were just going to treat me like a junkie again, etc.  My dad comes in and I tell him the same thing, then my husband announces that my father is taking me to a different hospital.  I didn't have the strength to fight anymore, and I didn't want my father or husband to get hurt trying to force me into the car, which they would have done.

We got to the ER and I was immediately put in a room.  I was asked for a urine and blood sample and told as soon as it came back negative for pregnancy I'd be given pain meds. 

What?  I've only been her 10 minutes, you BELIEVE I'm really in pain? 

They gave me Tramadol, I knew that wasn't going to work and that the pain meds I take at home were going to wear off soon.  I knew they'd figure out pretty quick that I needed Dilaudid and they'd either give it to me or not.  I wasn't going to ask for it, and be flagged by another hospital as a junkie. 

I talked to a trauma DR about what was going on, including why we had come  there as opposed to the other hospital and why my father was there.  He did some abdominal tests and found out that I had "rebound pain" in my gut.  I told him I had neither a gallbladder nor an appendix.  That I KNOW something is wrong, and I have all of these weird symptoms. 

They took me for x-rays and by the time I got back to my "room" I was crying, then I was shrieking.  The nurse came in within about 5 minutes of my coming back to my "room" and gave me the Dilaudid.  Not 10 seconds later the DR poked his head in and said, "Do you want some Dilaudid?"  I was stunned.  I said, "The nurse just gave me some, thank you."  She's in the background saying, "You just TOLD me to give it to her! " Smiling all the while at the bit of Comedy O Errors going on, they obviously worked well together. 

The X-Ray came back negative, I knew it would.  Then I saw the SUPERVISING DR and he  said you need a GI specialist, we can't help you.  I told him I had an appointment that afternoon at 3:30 but had tried to eat something that night and been forced by my father and husband to come to the hospital.  My father confirmed that I had not come willingly, and that my pain terrifies my hubby. 

The DR said, "OK, you have an appointment this afternoon, I'm going to give you another name in case you want a second opinion.  (Now, the real shocker comes) I'm going to give you another shot of Dilaudid to help you get through the night, and I'm going to give you a prescription for MS Contin (morphine pills) for about 10 days so that you can function."

I was so stunned, I had no words.  None.  Which most people who really know me would not believe.

I could not, still can not, believe the difference in treatment between the two hospitals.  That at this "new" hospital the doctor listened to me, they ALL believed me, and they ALL treated me with respect.  At the first hospital, I did everything they said, I followed up with every doctor they told me to, including my GP, my GYN (actually saw her in the ER) because I couldn't wait for the appointment I'd made, my pain doctor, etc.

I kept telling them, it's not my stomach, it's not my back, it's not lupus, it's my GUT, my BOWEL, my INTESTINES.  There is something wrong DOWN BELOW!  None of the ER doctors at the first hospital would listen to me.  The DRs at the second hospital did, and realized that I needed to see a GI doc, which I figured out on my own. 

Low and behold, I go to the GI doctor and after he does a physical exam on my abdomen and listens to my symptoms, he says I think there's something wrong with your gut.  OMFG!  No shit! 

He was appalled at the way I was treated at the first hospital, the one he practices at, and agreed I should file a complaint.  He totaly understood that I wouldn't go to that ER again unless I was told to go there by a DR that agreed to either meet me there OR contact the hospital on my behalf. 

Now, on Monday I will have a colonoscopy and depending on what is found maybe another test wher I swallow a "pill" that's really a camera.  Finally, I'm getting somewhere with a DR and getting some answers (soon) and have a PLAN of treatment.

I am open to any and all suggestions of what department to complain too.  I will be refusing to pay the bill for my "treatment" at the last hospital and I'm betting that my local newspapers and news channels will be very interested in how this very prestigious hospital treats its patients. 

About how they decide that when they have no more answers they refuse treatment of any kind.  About their doctors views being SO colored by something that just happened with their last patient that they make ridiculous conclusions and tag patients files for no reason other then that coloring.

If you KNOW something is wrong with your body, if you just don't feel well, trust yourself.  It took me a long time, and nearly dieing to make me realize this is true.  No one knows you better then you, don't let them make you think you're crazy.   I had to fight this through all this myself.  I started to wonder if I was psychosamaticly making myself sick to get the drugs, that maybe there really was nothing wrong, because so many people were treating me that way.  However, I beat those thoughts down and bored through and finally got to the place I needed to get to, so that I can find the answers I need.