Posting from a hospital bed at the other/better hospital. I was admitted today at 6:30 pm after being in the ER since about 10 am. Several tests run and now placed in a room with orders to not try to get up. I will see a neurologist tomorrow morning, as well as a surgeon and probably many other tests to go through.
Thank you again for the prayers...I appreciate them more than you know!
trussell,
Here are some tips about hospitals. I had to protect my mother from doctors when she was in the hospital this summer. It was a miserable week of struggling against bureaucratic stupidity.
* Be nice to the nurses. Learn their names. Greet them cheerfully. Make friends with them. It will help if you have to be firm with them later.
* When they bring in medications, don’t let them give you ANYTHING without asking 1) what it is, 2) what it does, and 3) what doctor prescribed it.
The nurses may hate you for it. Many of them don’t like answering questions. But you have to double check everything. They brought Mom drugs that she should not have and that conflict with each other. It was a constant battle to stop the doctors from making stupid mistakes. And sure enough, when she was sent home with a dozen prescriptions I looked them up on the internet and — tah dah — several had warnings “Do not take with X” which were the other drugs they had prescribed. Several warnings said “Wait an hour before eating” and they were giving them to her just before eating. It was madness.
In short: Question everything. Be bold and insist on getting careful care.
* Ask a doctor to order that you are allowed to sleep at night with minimal disturbances.
The sleep deprivation practiced at the hospital we were in was unreal. Mom was woken up six times in six hours! Blood tests, IV checks, vitals, etc etc etc. Insanity! Demand that you need sleep in order to get better, and insist that they schedule all their nightly checks to happen all at once over one or two periods. Do not let them wake you up every hour.
I’m sure other Freepers will have more or better advice. I have never been in the hospital myself, I stayed with Mom when she was there. It was unreal. I never knew being in the hospital was so horrific.
trussell, don’t hesitate to ask on here if they start to do something unwise. There are many Freepers who know a bunch of this stuff and know what to do.
Glad that you are in the hospital now and under competent medical care. If you were harmed in any way by being sent home from the first ER, I would most definitely seek some recourse against that hospital.