Emergency Room Experience

Wednesday night I spent a good bit of the night in the emergency room with kidney stones. If you've ever had an attack, you know the kind of pain involved. This was my first attack and I had no idea what was going on.

I called Husband about 1:30 at night. He came home from work immediately and called an ambulance. They took me to a hospital of his choice and when we finally got there (it took forever with the pain and dry heaves), they told us emergency was full and I'd have to wait in triage. The ambulance attendants weren't happy about that and argued with the receptionists, but the emergency room would have none of it. They put me in a wheelchair and left me at the admitting desk. I liked the First Responders. They were folks from my hometown and were very empathic and caring. I can't thank them enough for what they did for me.

When Husband found me, he asked why I was there instead of in ER with a nurse? He was disappointed because he'd been at this hospital before and was always impressed with it. I told him that I wanted to go to the Regency because even though they didn't have all the nicest ER rooms, they were less busy and you got better attention. The General Hospital was well known for pushing patients aside, sending them elsewhere, or closing their doors to patients. I was feeling very pushed aside even though I also have very good insurance. (Husband told me later that the receptionists overheard the conversation about the Regency and was on the phone as soon as she heard it).

Almost as soon as I said that, a nurse was by my side asking where the pain was and how I was feeling. I was sitting in a wheelchair with a vomit bag in my lap for the dry heaves. I wasn't feeling good at all. She took me to an ER room and stayed with me, asking questions which Husband answered for me. When she left, I had all the monitors on as well as drugs for vomiting and morphine for pain. Shortly another attendant came in and took me for a CAT scan. By this time the morphine was kicking in and the pain was easing.

All tests were pointing to kidney stones and the CAT scan revealed the little thing. No, I don't drink Turkey-Hill Iced Tea, any tea, coffee or soda. But my mother has had problems with kidney stones for many years. With the morphine working, I was able to get some rest while waiting for the test results. The nurse even told me how much better I looked after the morphine started working.

The doctor came in later with the test results and told me what was going on and that he was putting me on a pain therapy until the stone passed. Then I should go to my family doctor (of course) for a follow up.

I was please with the service and attention once they started giving it. The ER room was nice, complete with a TV for entertainment, though I wasn't interested in it. I told Husband to watch some so he could be entertained. I was mostly just tired after the pain left. I didn't like the IV all that much and am now sporting a nice bruise from it. I thought it was somewhat painful and I kept knocking it whenever I tried to move my arm. I liked my nurse and doctor.

Today, I mostly slept. I was totally worn out from all the pain and everything that it was nice just to sleep. Also, it seems that taking the painkillers the doctor prescribed will knock me for a loop and I will sleep for about 4 hours. They do work, but I think a bit strong. I found that Advil helps just as much without the grogginess.

We got home about 6:30AM, I called my boss to tell him I wouldn't be in and went right to bed, sleeping most of the day. Husband fed me soup for dinner around 3PM and that was it for food. I am definitely feeling better now, but still have some pressure in my flank, telling me the stone is still there. I hope this doesn't become a common occurrence. This was quite enough pain for one year.