911 ... What is your emergency ?
Is she kidding? Everything is my emergency.
Three times in the first two weeks after my accident I had to call 911.
In the United States I have found each time I call 911 for medical emergency the help has been excellent.
These medical people of 911 have been forthright, direct, honest, and have led me in the correct medical decisions.
In the midst of the excruciating pain of the early days I became constipated.
I was terrified.
The pain in my lower abdomen was awful.
I called 911 and the medical people in the ambulance service came immediately.
The man said they would be happy to take me to hospital, but the hospital doctors would not treat constipation and all they would end up doing is sending me back home without any pain relief.
One of the ER men said this is what I had to do ... Begin drinking one bottle of water after another ... force water down my throat.
He said that was the only thing that would push the problem through my system and give me freedom from the pain.
I lined up 4 bottles of water immediately and forced myself to take every one of them. These were 8-ounce bottles.
Within an hour I had a bowel movement and the relief I needed.
***
We managed to get in touch with my nurse practitioner.
She prescribed a granule that looks a little like salt. All you do is put some of it in a bottle of water, shake it, and drink it.
It is absolutely magnificent.
It is sold over-the-counter under the name MiraLax.
Figure 44
*****
THE MEDICAL MAZE
When this happened I called her. She came over to my house and began the process. She does not give up easily. (Actually, she does not give up.) She went from one to another until she hammered away and finally located the help for me.
I find it is extremely difficult to get help from the medical people.
Most of the doctors and medical staff that have come across my path are very interested in the puzzle of the problem but not in the comfort or welfare of the patient.
The consideration for the patient is very lacking in most cases.
They think nothing of making a very sick person come and wait for more than an hour in the waiting room to get into an appointment.
I was far too sick and there was far too much pain for me to attempt in any way to get out of this bedroom.
Yet we found one person after another insisting that I come in to the doctor's office to get the help I needed.
This was totally impossible for me in this situation.
There is one person who genuinely helped me.
She is a nurse practitioner.
Another nurse practitioner, however, prescribed a nausea medicine that made me nauseous.
When nurse Donna heard what had been prescribed for me, she said it was 4-times too strong for me. She prescribed another medicine which did not make me ill and actually solved the problem.
Nurse Donna filled 4 prescriptions for me by phone without seeing me to help me in this terrible time of crisis of the first few days, which were excruciatingly painful.
I have a great respect for nurse Donna.
*****
I
have a friend who is very skillful at fighting through the medical maze
in the form of reaching doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners.
When this happened I called her. She came over to my house and began the process. She does not give up easily. (Actually, she does not give up.) She went from one to another until she hammered away and finally located the help for me.
I find it is extremely difficult to get help from the medical people.
Most of the doctors and medical staff that have come across my path are very interested in the puzzle of the problem but not in the comfort or welfare of the patient.
The consideration for the patient is very lacking in most cases.
They think nothing of making a very sick person come and wait for more than an hour in the waiting room to get into an appointment.
I was far too sick and there was far too much pain for me to attempt in any way to get out of this bedroom.
Yet we found one person after another insisting that I come in to the doctor's office to get the help I needed.
This was totally impossible for me in this situation.
There is one person who genuinely helped me.
She is a nurse practitioner.
Another nurse practitioner, however, prescribed a nausea medicine that made me nauseous.
When nurse Donna heard what had been prescribed for me, she said it was 4-times too strong for me. She prescribed another medicine which did not make me ill and actually solved the problem.
Nurse Donna filled 4 prescriptions for me by phone without seeing me to help me in this terrible time of crisis of the first few days, which were excruciatingly painful.
I have a great respect for nurse Donna.
*****
At the emergency room
... I found no consideration at all for the patient. Finally I managed
to find someone who would give me pain medicine, but it was not strong
enough. They had to increase the dosage three times into the IV to
cause any relief at all.
The people doing x-rays were a little rough and it was terribly painful.
The emergency room doctor gave me nothing of value at all in the situation.
When
the orthopedic surgeon came in, he explained to me that the breaks were in
my arm, and there were multiple breaks, and they did not require surgery.
There was no cast that could be applied.
He wrapped my broken arm in an ace bandage around my upper arm and dismissed me.
There was no cast that could be applied.
He wrapped my broken arm in an ace bandage around my upper arm and dismissed me.
There was no prescription given to me for pain medicine.
There was no thought whatsoever of how I was going to manage to get from the garage to the bedroom.
In my opinion, I should have been sent home by ambulance, even though it would have cost me more money doing it.
The pain was incredibly excruciating each time I took a step. With my right foot pain shot all the way up to my upper arm.
There was no thought whatsoever of how I was going to manage to get from the garage to the bedroom.
In my opinion, I should have been sent home by ambulance, even though it would have cost me more money doing it.
The pain was incredibly excruciating each time I took a step. With my right foot pain shot all the way up to my upper arm.
And
absolutely no one thought of how I was going to manage to go to the
bathroom once I sat down in a chair in my bedroom.
How was I ever going to get up?
How was I ever going to get up?
There was no thought for the well-being of myself, the patient, by any medical staff at the hospital.
The only medical help that I could receive came by telephone by speaking with nurse practitioner Donna.
Though we spoke to many people in medical offices there was no help at all. They just insisted that I come in to the office. I had no way of getting into the office except by ambulance.
They were completely out of touch with the patient and reality.
Though we spoke to many people in medical offices there was no help at all. They just insisted that I come in to the office. I had no way of getting into the office except by ambulance.
They were completely out of touch with the patient and reality.
*****