17 April 2008

Bedside Manner

Yesterday, I had really bad stomach pains and fever. I talked the doctor on-call and he said that I had to go to the ER as it was after hours. Can you say nightmare?? First, there was this old lady that felt the need to talk to everyone and give them profound advice about life. I was seen by the triage nurse then had to wait for about two hours for an actual exam room. I was in a pretty severe amount of pain, and having to listen to the old advice giver was not helping. Finally, I was put in an exam room. It was wonderful to get away from the advice giver and be able to chill with Mr. H.

Then the doctor came in the room. She was, shall we say, lacking in bedside manner and perhaps made a wrong turn somewhere on the career path. She pretty much argued with me on every point, keep in mind that I am not an argumentative person. I tell her that I am not supposed to take Tylenol on the advice of my internist; she tells me that it is okay to take Tylenol. Gee, I guess the other doctor just said that to be contrary. She decided that I was "dried out" and chastises me for not drinking enough water. I tell her that I drink three 32 ounce Camelbaks per day, she tells me that is not enough. She decides to give me an IV, I hate needles, but I can make it work. The nice nurses come in to put in my IV and give me some water. We exchanged pleasantries, but did not have a real conversation. After about 45 minutes devil doc returns to chat with me. I ask her if I can have some pain medication; she tries to tell me that Chris the nurse tried to give me some and I refused. Ummm......I am pretty sure that I would not have refused if it had been offered. I hear her go into the hall and yell at the nurse for not giving me the pain medication. He replies that she never ordered it. Even though laughing was quite painful I did get a good laugh off of that one.

Finally, Dr. Troll Under the Bridge returns and tells me that I can go home. It is safe to say that the H family will not be returning to that ER again any time soon.

3 comments:

Suz said...

Yuk, there are a ton of people in healthcare that really shouldn't be. The nurse at my doctor's office is such a miserable woman, she needs to be working somewhere where she never needs to deal with people. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Lama Mama said...

Ew - nightmare!! Did Dr. Troll ever tell you what was wrong?

p.s. Well done on drinking all that water...as I sit drinking a Diet Coke!

Nat D said...

Really like Dr. Troll under the bridge! Idiot! (to be said in Napoleon Dynamite's voice)