Pincushion Pua
Yesterday morning as I was preparing to go to work, I got the nicest call from Jess. He was calling to tell me that he was wearing the blue scarf I made for him. It made my day. We made some smalltalk and I asked about Marc's progress. I shared that I'd had a particularly icky weekend with what seemed to be my gall bladder, but I still didn't have a diagnosis from my doctor, even after the CT I had a few weeks ago. However, after being sick since Friday night, it seemed that now, I was being granted a reprieve from pain. Jess and I ended our conversation wishing each other well and I thanked him for giving me a much needed smile.
When I got to work, the pain started again. Only this time, a bit worse. I began to have difficulty breathing. I called my doctor's office. They said in light of the situation of the past few days, that I should go to the ER at the hospital and tell them that I suspect that I had Lap Band slippage. So, I put a sign on the front door, closed the shop, called Charlie and told him I was on my way to the hospital (which was luckily, just down the street) emergency room.
Fortunately, it wasn't too busy. I was actually second in line, but I got bumped to third in line after an apparant suicide attempt was ushered in. I can wait. It was 11:00 am. By 1:00, I was in a room, hooked up to an IV, and Charlie had arrived. By 3:00, I was having another CT scan. We watched other people in our room come and go all through the day. At 6:00, I had an ultrasound. By 8:00 came the diagnosis; infected gall bladder and three stones. Surgery was imminent. The ER staff called the on-call surgeon.....who would not touch me because of my band. They would have to call my doctor and I would have to be transferred to the hospital where my doctor is. By 11:00, I'm in an ambulance being transferred from our local hospital here in Newport Beach, to a hospital in Long Beach, 23 miles away. By midnight, I'm admitted, processed, poked, prodded SOME MORE. I'm full of fluids, IV antibiotics, IV anti-nausea, pain meds. I'm exhausted from not having slept for days.
Charlie and I had assumed that my doctor would be in first thing in the morning to perform my surgery. As the night progressed, the pain subsided. The longer we waited, the more I got pushed to a "non-emergency" status. Finally, at 7:20 this morning, after yet another sleepless night, my doctor comes in and tells me that since I'm pain free and he's got 10 scheduled surgeries, he'd like to send me home where I'll be more comfortable and his office will schedule my surgery on an out-patient basis on Monday. They released me and my damn gall bladder at 2:00 pm, with a bunch of paperwork and two prescriptions.
So, I've gone to the ER in one hospital, to be transferred to another hospital to spend the night for NO reason, to be discharged, only to be readmitted for surgery in 6 days at yet, a THIRD hospital. Needless to say, my husband is livid for the ridiculous waste of time and money, though grateful that FINALLY...THANK GOODNESS...we have a diagnosis and I know for a fact what's causing all this pain. All I want is this gall bladder out of me.
When I got to work, the pain started again. Only this time, a bit worse. I began to have difficulty breathing. I called my doctor's office. They said in light of the situation of the past few days, that I should go to the ER at the hospital and tell them that I suspect that I had Lap Band slippage. So, I put a sign on the front door, closed the shop, called Charlie and told him I was on my way to the hospital (which was luckily, just down the street) emergency room.
Fortunately, it wasn't too busy. I was actually second in line, but I got bumped to third in line after an apparant suicide attempt was ushered in. I can wait. It was 11:00 am. By 1:00, I was in a room, hooked up to an IV, and Charlie had arrived. By 3:00, I was having another CT scan. We watched other people in our room come and go all through the day. At 6:00, I had an ultrasound. By 8:00 came the diagnosis; infected gall bladder and three stones. Surgery was imminent. The ER staff called the on-call surgeon.....who would not touch me because of my band. They would have to call my doctor and I would have to be transferred to the hospital where my doctor is. By 11:00, I'm in an ambulance being transferred from our local hospital here in Newport Beach, to a hospital in Long Beach, 23 miles away. By midnight, I'm admitted, processed, poked, prodded SOME MORE. I'm full of fluids, IV antibiotics, IV anti-nausea, pain meds. I'm exhausted from not having slept for days.
Charlie and I had assumed that my doctor would be in first thing in the morning to perform my surgery. As the night progressed, the pain subsided. The longer we waited, the more I got pushed to a "non-emergency" status. Finally, at 7:20 this morning, after yet another sleepless night, my doctor comes in and tells me that since I'm pain free and he's got 10 scheduled surgeries, he'd like to send me home where I'll be more comfortable and his office will schedule my surgery on an out-patient basis on Monday. They released me and my damn gall bladder at 2:00 pm, with a bunch of paperwork and two prescriptions.
So, I've gone to the ER in one hospital, to be transferred to another hospital to spend the night for NO reason, to be discharged, only to be readmitted for surgery in 6 days at yet, a THIRD hospital. Needless to say, my husband is livid for the ridiculous waste of time and money, though grateful that FINALLY...THANK GOODNESS...we have a diagnosis and I know for a fact what's causing all this pain. All I want is this gall bladder out of me.
posted by Pua; Bakin' and Tendin' Bar | 8:47 PM
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