The Worst Place for Christmas

Written on January 1, 2012 by in Behaviour / Behavior, Fibromyalgia, Holidays, Medications & Treatments, Original Post, Pain, Support
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The Worst Place for Christmas… is the Emergency Room..

Second major flare for December got so bad, yes I actually went to the ER in the wee hours of Christmas Morning.. The only people who are there on Christmas morning are the ones who don’t have a choice, that it is a complete Emergency.. There were 2-3 dehydrated kids, Two other adults with masks on and one person, besides me, moaning in the corner..

While that does not seem like alot of people, there were 3 ambulances in the bay when we got there and two more pulled up while we were in the primary waiting room.. So several emergent cases.. And it’s Christmas.. with a skeleton staff.. I think less then the minimum number of staff in for the shift.. One Good thing, the Doc was in & out, clear concise, efficient.. 5 minutes after being in a cubical, all I needed what a shot ( well, 2) and the script that he wrote as he left my cubicle.. But, as I said, short staffed.. 45 minutes.. yes, you read that right, forty-five minutes to get 2 quick shots in my tush and a piece of paper from the chart..

The worst thing about Christmas staff is I think some of the nursing staff can be massively lazy.. I asked the nurse to ensure that the meds were ODB compliant & instead of turning around, grabbing a book to check, she said, oh, you have to ask the doctor that.. Lazy F*@#in’ b!*(#! I was told I’d have to wait a few more hours to see him.. so screw that, I went home.. and it turns out, they weren’t covered, at all..

Then got home to bed.. about 4am.. just glad my SO have called my in-laws advising them there was absolutely no way in h@ll that were we gonna make Christmas morning.. so with a minimum of sleep, we got there for 2-3 in the afternoon.. did gifts, dinner, nap & home.. And nap and gifts and leftovers and bed. but since I made it, everyone thought I was much better, instead of tolerably better.. EGads! the Huggs.. Surprisingly, no one noticed my whimpers..

So as I said..
The Worst Place for Christmas… is the Emergency Room..

  • http://twitter.com/LdyLarke Shannon

    I’m so sorry you had to go into the ER for relief. That must have been awful! What on earth do you even say? I’ve considered it so many times recently. I don’t end up going because I don’t think I’d be taken serious :(  *gentle gentle hug* #fibrosisters understand hon, we so *get* what that ordeal must have been. I, probably much like you, am so glad the holidays are OVER. And we didn’t even have any social commitments to endure. Just not my fave time of year at all.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1194354255 Kelli A Ellis

      I just say I’m in a fibro flare & am at the point where I just can’t tolerate it..  Typically, they ask me what I take, and order a shot..  some docs are twits & morons, but it seems the ones in the ER near me are getting better..

  • Barbara Unknown

    Unfortunately (or fortunately) the more you go to the ER, the better treatment (medical and social) you should get.  I do not go as often as I used to as I have a great pain management doctor who prescribes what I ask for and so far (let’s all knock on some wood), my flares have been controlled.  I had a horrible year in 2011.  I had major surgery in Jan, when I recovered and got my dogs back about a month later one of them was dx’ed with 2 kinds of skin cancer.  I nursed her and kept her comfortable until just after mother’s day when it was time to say goodbye.  She was a Rottweiler soon to be 14-a blessing in itself.  I was exhausted from nursing me, then her (I am alone as my husband was quick to divorce me when I got Fibro).  If that was not enough, just about 2 weeks later, my father decided to no longer fight his congestive heart failure and I knew I was going to lose my “man”, my hero, my everything when I heard the word “hospice”.  He died at 4am on my birthday this past August.  I was born at 3:52am.  I know this was his gift to me, his way of saying we were connected.  He was soon to be 92 so there was a blessing in his loss.  Still, no flare up.  

    My point is that with the proper medical protocol, the ER trips, for me, have all but ended.  However, if ER trips are still a necessity, hopefully, as in my case, the doctors and staff will know you, welcome you and give you the time you deserve.  The first time my father got sick and was in the ER, I drove down to be there with him.  The head of the ER, who had gotten to know me well by then “ordered” me to check myself in as a patient as I would be needing treatment due to stress I was going to endure.  Kelli, I hope this happens for you and at the same time, I hope you never have to go to the ER or be in pain again.