Sending a smile and wishes for a less painful day(I'm being realistic here) Gloria
At Sat, 30 Jun 2001, Tami Dana wrote:
>
>At Tue, 19 Jun 2001, anonymous wrote:
>>
>>I found this site by accident and have read so many stories of
>>"mistreatment" by nurses and doctors in ERs when you come to us in pain.
>>I want you to think of it in our terms.
>>
>>You wander in day and night, most of you walking on your own, in no
>>apparent acute distress.
>>You register and wait, telling everyone in the busy waiting area that
>>you MUST be seen immediately, "because you hurt so badly."
>>You take up valuable space in busy trauma and emergency medicine
>>departments complaining of terrible pain in your abdomen, and you tell
>>us you must get pain meds for the pain.
>>
>>One a pain assessment scale of 1-10, virtually all of you cite between
>>an 8 and a ten. But you aren't perspiring, crying, vomiting, bloated,
>>or acting like you are acutely ill.
>>
>>Many of you refuse to have x-rays, scans and other diagnostic studies
>>because you say "all those tests have been done a million times and they
>>are always negative" but you demand pain medication!!
>>You tell us you have adhesions but adhesions are nothing more than
>>layers of scarring that have no nerve endings. How can this cause pain?
>>
>>I am told "I need 100 mg of Demerol, IM " by someone who refuses to
>>allow us to examine them, and when we refuse to give you narcotics you
>>become upset.
>>
>>What do you want from us? If every drug addict walked into my ER and did
>>what many of you do, they'd be booted out by Security but for some
>>reason, you feel we are treating you unfairly??
>>
>>Maybe instead of asking for pain medication, you might benefit from
>>talking to a therapist who can help you deal with your "pain"?
>>
>>If we do an MRI or flat plate and see something suspicious., of course
>>you'll be treated aggressively, and receive sympathy and medication.
>>Otherwise, please understand, we are not a narcotic dispensing
>>department for everyone with indigestion or cramps.
>
>I KNOW that so many of you have replied and I am also replying a bit
>late, and it is probably pointless to reply..but I am going to do it
>anyway!
>I have SO much to say about this and I am SO angry right now, I don't
>know where to start =*(
>I wish I had a quarter for everytime I was told by someone in the
>medical "Profession" (I use the term profession loosely) that adhesions
>DO NOT hurt, if I did, I would have enough money to buy a car!! What I
>am about to say might sound terrible, I am sorry if it does..but it is
>the truth and I think that I need to say it... Before I found my PCP
>and before I had insurance, when I would have a severe pain flair-up, I
>would have to go to the ER, after going there a few times and being
>treated like a junkie looking to get high (they treated me this way when
>I told them of my ARD and ovarian, hernia, and MANY surgery that I had),
>they would KILL me with the pelvic exams, vaginal ultrasounds, poking
>and prodding me..then give me a shot of Toradol and send me home, so
>basically I would go home feeling even WORSE than when I got to the ER.
>Anyway, after going through this a few times... I went to the ER one
>night at about 2am in excruciating pain from ARD and my other problems
>and I was close to just ending it all and commiting suicide.. my
>husband was a wreck and didn't know what to do, he wanted to call the
>squad and I said NO! But finally, I couldn't take the pain so agreed to
>go to the ER... this is the part that I am sure I will hear about from
>a few people, but, here goes. When I got to the ER, I told them that I
>had fallen down the stairs on the way to the restroom.. I told them
>that I hurt my hip and my butt... and guess what?
>They treated me SUPER, they gave me a pain shot before sending me for
>x-rays, then sent me home with strong pain meds and muscle relaxers...
>When I got home, although I did feel better and the pain was tolerable,
>I began to cry, and cry, and cry... It was awful! =*( I was SO guilt
>ridden for what I had just done, I almost contemplated going back to the
>ER and telling them and then screaming at them that it was horrible that
>I had to lie to them just to have them treat me like a human being and
>not a junkie! At the time that this happened, I had no insurance, no
>doctor because I couldn't afford to pay out of pocket, and I was
>desperate for SOME kind of relief and some sleep, sleep is a luxury to
>me, it was then and still is now... but anyway... I think that we live
>in a SORRY ass (pardon my mouth) country when someone has to lie to get
>proper care, treated like a human being, and to get a little compassion
>from the ER. I have never done that except that one time, there was NO
>way I could, even though I felt that I HAD to do it in order to get
>care, the guilt was horrible and I KNOW I wouldn't be able to live with
>myself if I did it again. Luckily I got insurance shortly after that
>happened and found my current PCP, he is wonderful and has bent over
>backwards to help me... BUT there are still times when I have to go to
>the ER because my pain meds aren't working and then I get scared that
>maybe something ruptured inside me or I have another blockage or
>impacted again.. so reluctently I go..and you know what?? Nothing has
>changed. They STILL treat me like snot and like I am searching for a
>"high", they still give me a HARSH pelvic exam when they don't have to..
>and they still tell me adhesions do NOT hurt and I need to go talk to my
>doctor about it. Nothing changes and nothing will change until more
>doctors and nurses educate themselves on ARD, we will keep being accused
>of "drug seeking" or it just being in our heads... it makes me sick =*(
>We do not live in a primative country, but when it comes to health care
>for ARD sufferers, we might as well live in a third world country.
>I guess what I am trying to say is this.. because of that time I had to
>lie to get help from the ER, and now that I found this site and see that
>I am not the only one going through this pain and bullcrap..I am also
>kinda sure that I am not the only that has ever went to the ER and lied
>just to get relief from this agonizing pain. So, maybe when the ER
>nurses and doctors see someone coming to the ER alot or maybe not even
>alot but they have been there a couple times with complaints of pain due
>to ARD, and the docs and nurses can't SEE anything wrong, they
>automatically lable them as a "drug seeker" and if you go back to the ER
>with the same complaints of pain...they won't help you. BUT if you go
>in for something else..they will, that is NOT right and there is NO
>reason why anyone should have to lie to get some help! ARD is as REAL as
>any other disease that causes pain, it is as real as cancer... if you
>go to the ER for pain caused by cancer, the nurses and doctors bend over
>backwards to take care of you and kill the pain, but go there for ARD
>and they treat you like you are a junkie coming in for a "fix", it is
>NOT fair! It isn't fair that I had to lie to get help, and it isn't fair
>that right now as you read this, someone is at the ER dying in pain from
>ARD and they HAVE to make up a story just to get relief, or they just
>don't get any help at all, they get examined, poked, more pain put upon
>them and then get told nothing is wrong and sent home. I don't know
>about anyone else's experiences at the ER, but that is how it always
>goes for me..and like I said, since I know now that I am not alone with
>ARD, I know other people are out there going through the same thing as I
>did (and still do). When is this ever going to stop?
>I made the decision that I am never going back to the ER again... if my
>pain meds aren't working, then I will call my doctor..I told my husband
>my decision and he is NOT happy but he is also not happy about the
>treatment I always recieve from the ER whenever I have been there, so
>although he worries about me, he respects my decision... and I mean it
>100%, I would rather die than to go to the ER 1 more time and get put in
>more pain then accused and treated like a junkie.
>Thanks everyone for listening to me.. I wrote a whole lot more than I
>had planned on...sorry =*( I also apologize to anyone that I may have
>offended by telling my story... I only wanted to let little miss
>anonymous know that because of the treatment her and ALOT of medical
>people give to us, this is ONE of the things we have to resort to just
>to get a little relief and help...
>*Hugs*
>
>--
>With love and understanding,
>Tami Dana
>