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Never been so humiliated in my life - long post ahead

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Posted 11/21/2009 5:07 PM (GMT 0)

 

Yesterday I was instructed to go to the ER by my doc since I had not been able to eat or even drink for almost two days after being given cipro for a bladder infection. I decided to go to one near my house that I had gone to in the past. It was the worst afternoon of my life.

After “checking in” I was taken to triage where blood pressure, fever, ect... was taken.  They took my meds list and I was honest and told them I am a chronic pain patient due to my neck and its budging disks and bone spurs. My BP and pulse were astronomical. My BP was 143/84 and my pulse was 107 BPM. I am normally 110/60 and 75-85 so I knew something was wrong. Well I am given a room and asked to do the sample thing. I wait for about 40 minutes and the doctor walks in. He was the biggest @#$@# I have ever met in my life.

He walks in, asks me why I am here, I tell him then his very next comment was “I will not be treating you for your chronic pain but I can give you something for the nausea” Ok, that was totally uncalled for. Last time I check my bladder was not in my neck and I never had said anything about pain, wanting pain relief or anything of the sort. He “examines” me about as hard as he can, says nothing else and walks out the room.  5 Minutes later a nurse comes in with pills and a glass of water. I ask what it is and they say it is something for my upset tummy. I ask them about the fact I cannot even keep water down so how is a pill going to stay down? The nurse turns and leaves and I wait another 45 minutes and the doc comes back in and says “your sample was clean so it is time for you to go. “ I am utterly taken back, no one has address my dehydration, my super high BP or the fact the only “help” they offered was not something I could take. I don’t even get a chance to ask any questions before MR. @!@%^ walks out of the room.  I then page a nurse and ask her what the heck is going on and she gives me that look, you know the one you get when people think you are faking it or are a little of? Well she brings the doctor back in and I lose my cool. I ask him how the heck he could just send me out of here without even seeing what was going on. I asked him about my BP and my pulse and the obvious dehydration I was dealing with. He then tells me I cannot be dehydrated cause my BP Is high and that I am not sick, I am just faking it…ok, last time I checked if your dehydrated your blood thickens thus your heart must work harder and your blood pressure goes up.  This is where I loss all semblance of civility and  ask him if my bladder was in my neck and he looks at me like I am stupid. Then I ask him what the he(ck) my chronic pain has to do with this visit and where the he(CK) does he get off thinking that he can treat a person this way. If I had to take insulin or a thyroid med for a chronic condition it would not affect his view of me. He starts backpeddling and I tell him to “fluff off” and walk out sobbing.

 

I have never felt so criminal, so wrong just for being a human being in my life. I still have no clue what  to do but I do know I will be contacting the hospital admin on Monday to start the formal complaint process

I did go to another ER, end up needing two bags of fluids plus got IV zofram to calm my stomach. I still cannot eat solids but at least liquids and broths stay down.

 

Thanks for listening to me rant.

 

Sarrah

Posted 11/21/2009 5:30 PM (GMT 0)
Sarrah,
What a horrible experience, to say the least! I am glad you spoke your mind and most of all glad you found an ER that gave you some proper and much needed treatment.

You have no need to be embarrassed; you did nothing wrong! I sure hope you do file a complaint with the hospital and even against this doctor. The fact you went to another ER and got treatment for what was needed should give you a really strong case.

I am so sorry for all you went through, but I hope you're feeling a bit better today.

Hugs,

PaLady
Posted 11/21/2009 5:38 PM (GMT 0)

 

 

Saraah,

Oh Boy!! Honey, most Cper's go through this at one time or another..but don't for a second think I'm saying it's ok...it is NOT ok!!!  I had a similar situation happen when I cut my thumb pretty badly. I went to the ER and the nurses were great...then walks in this woman Dr.  She sees my chart, and all the pain meds, and gives me a lecture by starting off with HER story...She was in Med School, in a horrific car accident that broke both legs and pelvis...She said she went through recovery and rehab without taking pain meds...It's all willpower she says....she doesn't understand why I need to take all this Methadone and (at the time) Lortab 10's for a back ache....A Back Ache!@!!  She then goes on to say that it's people like me that make the Healthcare profession harder and harder to get into...due to Malpractice insurance and the DEA watching every med they give out.....She says that unless a patient has Cancer, she WILL NOT prescribe narcotics...no ifs ands or butts about it!!  I said, "It's a good thing you aren't MY Doctor".  she stitches me up, then proceeds to write me a script for Lortab 10's....WHAT??? I didn't have Cancer, so why the pills?

 

Needless to say I didn't get them filled due to my pain contract...besides, I already had my meds at home.  I think she may have been trying to get me in trouble with my Dr.  When I went back to my PM Dr. the nurse asked about my thumb...What? I hadn't mentioned it yet.  The Dr. at the ER had called my PM Dr. and told him about it, hopeful that I would get in trouble for the pills she wrote.  I then handed the unfilled script to the Dr. and he just laughed...He said that ER Dr.'s are notorious for doing things like that....and it was a test as far as she thought...the ER Doc was such a bit%#!!!! but it happens all the time.

 

We CPer's have to prove ourselves every day...and ER's are the worst for us...even if we were dying thsy would have something to say about our pain meds...

 

So, don't worry about what happened even though it hurt you, it's the Dr. that has the problem and it will come back to haunt him someday....

 

Me.

Posted 11/21/2009 5:39 PM (GMT 0)
Oh yes, I almost forgot...the hospital ER that I went to was the same Hospital that my Dr. has his office in...He had a run in with that same ER Doc with another patient before so he wasn't a bit suprised.....
Posted 11/21/2009 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
Sarrah,

I am so sorry that you had to endure that trip to ER. The drs behavior was totally unprofessional. I do hope you will over the weekend feel well enough to sit down with paper & pencil or at the computer and write down all of what was said & done so that you can be ready when making the call to the hospital administrator. I urge you to also send a certified letter to the admin. with your complaint in writing too.  Also call the billing dept at the hospital and ask for an itemized bill. I would look at this bill to see what they are billing the insurance company.

I am very glad that you got the appropriate care at the other place but the bottom line is you should not have had to go there. If you are going to be billed for any of the hospital charges that you are responsible for I would tell the administrator that it needs to be written off since, this ER dr caused you to incur more medical expenses needlessly.

So, what was wrong that caused you to become dehydrated and nauseated? I do hope you are feeling better. Hugs,

Posted 11/21/2009 8:59 PM (GMT 0)
I would also send a copy of the letter to your insurance company. Let them know why you had two ER visits in such a short time and that the first ER doc failed to treat your problem.

I'd even sent a letter to your state's medical board.
Posted 11/21/2009 9:15 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Sarah,
Oh boy, what a fiasco you had to endure. The good thing is that you were able to tell that doctor exactly what you thought of his "care" of you, and to get the care you needed. The bad thing is that you had to endure an idiot of that magnatude.
He will try to use the fact that you were able to leave to validate his claim that you were faking it, so it is doubly good that you went and got treated at a different ER and that you have documentation to prove it.
I'm truly sorry you had to endure such crass treatment.
Sandi
Posted 11/21/2009 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
I was in because I had a horrible bladder infection and had started Cipro. My doc thought that I was either having a reaction to the cipro or the infection had travelled to my kidneys. It turned out that I have the bladder infection, am intolorant of Cipro and have a tummy bug making it all that much worse.

The ER nurse from the bad hospital called me today to ask me how I was. I told her That I went to see a doc that treated me with respect and after 2 bags of IV fluids, some IV tummy meds and I was feeling better but still pretty nasty. She asked me if I wanted to pic of some RX's that the evil doc had wrote. I told her no, thanks for your concern and good bye.
Posted 11/21/2009 10:18 PM (GMT 0)
This is why I stay away from ERs as far as possible, I will not go unless i'm literally half dead. I had one ER doctor come straight into the room (when I was vomiting for 8 hours straight about 3 years ago) and tell me that she does NOT give refills on Methadone, and I didnt even ask for a refill, I didnt even ask for any pain meds, I had my own meds at home, all I did was tell the triage nurse that I took it for chronic pain, but never did I mention being out or needing a refill (if I needed a refill I'd go to my PM).

Alot of ER doctors and nurses are jaded by people drug seeking, and they've heard all the stories so they just treat everyone like a drug seeker. Actually after I had my daughter almost 8 years ago, I had a situation where I went to the ER with severe back pain but this was in a diffrent spot then my normal back pain, actually more like my sides, and they did no tests and just wanted to give me tylenol and benadryl, and I got upset cause I knew somethign was wrong as I had a high fever. Well a few days later I got into my GP and he said I had a kindney infection.

Sometimes I feel like no matter how honest we are to some doctors, mostly ER doctors, and we tell them about our chronic pain, and we have other issues that are not related to pain, they still think we're playing some trick to score more pain meds, which just annoys me so much. Actually I have a folder with all my medical papers and their's several pages for ER prescriptions for pain meds that I've never got filled (most of them are from 8 years ago after I had my daughter and started having pancreas problems/pains as actually I havent been to the ER in over 2 years).

I would also write a letter to the hospital, but they sometimes dont do anything but send an apology letter. I complained about a ER doctor 4 years ago and all they did was send a letter saying sorry, which was pointless to me. But eventhough the problems I've had with them, I still use that ER/hospital cause it is a huge hospital with up to date technology, but they really need to update some of those doctors.

-Carmen
Posted 11/21/2009 10:31 PM (GMT 0)
It may not do any real good but you might want to think about writing a couple of letters. One to the head of the ER and another to the hospital board and let them know exactly what kind of treatment you received.

Like I said it may not do any good, but at least 2 things will happen. One it may make you feel a little better letting those "in charge" know about what happened, and secondly it will let those higher up on the food chain know they have a jerk pretending to be a doctor in the ER. You never know how many complaints this fool may have had already and yours could be the last straw.
Posted 11/21/2009 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
Sarrah - WHAT A ^*)_ DR.
pretty sure we have all been through this or something similar - i know i have.
definitly lay a complaint. a nurse treated me awfuly about two years ago and i made sure i complained. turns out i wasnt the first person to do so - she got investigated my the medical board and no longer works at ED.
i hope your feeling better.
Erin
XOXO
Posted 11/22/2009 12:24 AM (GMT 0)
Sarrah,
I would have to agree with the letter writing. I don't know how big this hospital is or how there governmental body is set up but a letter to the Chief of Staff, E.R. Supervisor and in our case it would be to the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Trustees. If I didn't receive an apology for their short sightedness I would definitely go to the newpaper and local radio and let them know that also. Nothing like a little bad publicity to make a point and hospitals don't like negative publicity cause it is bad for business. I retired from a small rural hospital in 2007 and our CEO took every patient survey that was negative and ran it down the rabbit hole until he found who was at fault. I would send the original to your CEO and copy the others.

Good luck and take care, I care.
Posted 11/22/2009 4:42 AM (GMT 0)
Ekkorose,

First, I hope your much improved and doing better, and wanted to send ya soft gentle hugz,

So sorry you had to go thru all that...Please make sure to send that letter certified..

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Ekkorose))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
keep us posted as to how your doing...
hugz
Posted 11/22/2009 6:02 AM (GMT 0)
My HMO has something called a Patients Relations Department where they take complaints very seriously, see if your insurance has something similar. Attempt to stick to the lack of professionalism, poor care and highlight your second ER visit. When I go to the ER, I try to go to the one affiliated with my general care and request the ER Nurse and MD look at my medical records. Forturnately, I have never had the experience of being treated as a drug seeker, but if that ever happens I already have my statement ready, "What part of my medical records, multiple diagnosis, hospitalizations, multiple medication therapies indicate that I am a drug seeker. If you are uncomfortable with treating my present condition, I request that you assign me another doctor, or I will be happy to speak with the attending in charge and explain to them my current situation."


P.S. Love the T. Szasz quote, I saw him speak in person a couple of years ago--brilliant mind, interesting person, controversial, yes.
Posted 11/22/2009 7:09 AM (GMT 0)
Big Lucy,
I didn't realize he was still alive! His "On Being Sane in Insane Places" was always one of my favorite pieces of research.

PaLady
Posted 11/22/2009 7:40 AM (GMT 0)
Was today the retard/jerk Dr day? I ended up going to two different ER's tonight as well.

As most of you know I just recently moved to the other side of the country. I started out in Portland Oregon with a population of 4million people to a small town in South Carolina with a population of less than 1000. With not really knowing anyone or anything about the docs/hospitals out here I figured that going into the city might be a better option as far as trying to get decent treatment. I've had some really ugly experiences with ER docs thinking that I'm there med seeking when all I need is diagnostics. My thought was that if I went into Columbia, that at least it was a real city and I'd probably not have as much trouble with judgmental jerks. I was so so wrong....

Last night my father in law's dog and I did a tango and the short version is that I ended up landing on the front of my knee. I knew that I had at least strained/sprained it, but it didn't feel right. Even after ice packing it and elevating overnight it has still been bad all day today. To the point where I almost couldn't bear weight on it at all. During triage I had been honest with them about all of my meds, what they were for, etc. I finally gave in and decided to go into the ER this afternoon. This was at 2:30 PM. I get all checked in and finally taken to a back room.

With having played softball for a lot of years when I was young, I know what my knees feel like and shouldn't feel like. This resident Dr comes in and introduces herself and then proceeds to examine the knee. She checks how far it flexes, how much deflection left to right, yadda yadda yadda. She then walks out and tells me that the nurse will be back in with me in a couple of minutes.

When the nurse comes in she has discharge papers and a script. She explains that the doc wants me to ice pack it and if it swells to then come back. She then hands me the paperwork along with a script for 6 Vicodin. I about came unglued. I kept my cool and asked her to please tell the doctor that I would like to speak to her again. Within a couple of minutes the nurse returned again and said that I could either take the script for the six Vicodin and call it a day or else I could wait, but it was going to be a bit before the doc was back again since they had a more severe emergency patient that the doc was attending to at the moment. Even though I was angry enough to spit nails, I said that I'd wait.

25 minutes later the doc finally came in and before I could even open my mouth she said, "I don't know why you insisted on waiting, I'm not going to give you more than the 6 Vicodin that I prescribed." I lost it and explained to her that I didn't need, nor even wanted, pain meds. That the only thing that I really wanted was an x-ray so that I could make sure that there was no breaks or fractures since I was getting the discoloration that usually accompanies fractures. The doc started to tell me that she felt that there was no need for an x-ray since I didn't cry or scream when she moved the joint around. I ended up snatching the paperwork from her hand, pulled the script from the pile, wadded it up and dropped it on the exam table while telling her "Thanks for nothing. Be sure to check in with your administrator tomorrow morning, they may want to talk to you," and then promptly hobbled my way out.

I ended up asking the DBF to then drive me back home and on the way I decided that regardless of how much of a )(*&^ that woman was, I still needed to know what was going on in my knee. So 30 miles later when we got back here to town I ended up going to the tiny tiny ER they have here at the county hospital. The end result was that I got my x-rays, crutches, and an immobilizer. Imaging showed there was a "closed, non-displaced fracture of the left tibial plateau" and they want me to go see the orthopedic surgeon here in town. So...Monday I'm going to be busy on the phone and at the computer cause REALLY there was no reason for me to be treated that way and not treated for the condition.

To boot, I've lost my entire day. By the time that I got back here to the house, it was almost 1 am. 10.5 hours just to get an appropriate x-ray. Freakin ridiculous. Ekkorose, please keep in mind that there are people out there that are just jerks and that really, you didn't do anything wrong and that sometimes people are just a***oles. Just be glad that you are a strong woman too and that you knew that you needed treatment. I'm glad that you got help and that you're at least able to keep liquids.

ps...to all....sorry this is so long. I just finally got settled after getting home and I'm still steamed.
Posted 11/22/2009 8:15 AM (GMT 0)
 

 

  aw piercings!
   sounds like crap - its sad how drug seekers have ruined it for us in pain.
  i hope your knee is feeling better, rest up.
  i hate going to ED , i always let myself get in the worst pain before going up there. im just fearful of how i will be treated - as if i need that ontop of this stupid pain : (
  make sure you complain. jerk doctors should atleast give everyone a fair chance and abit of understanding.
 erin
XOXO
Posted 11/22/2009 8:35 AM (GMT 0)
No kidding....She should have at least waited to see if I was even going to ask for something for the pain. Pfft! But yes, I'm going to be following up on it as that was uncalled for.
Posted 11/25/2009 4:09 AM (GMT 0)
The official complaint has been filed and they said they would contact me with the resolution. Hopefully he gets at least a slap on the wrist...
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