She had noticed some indigestion at times and also a dull ache on low right side. Since her appendix had been taken out 20 years before she knew that it was not appendix. So she just thought this will go away. She is not one to run to the doctor. Almost to a fault.
Monday night she woke up at 9:30 with a terrible pain and tightness across her upper abdomen and soon the lower also and then pain in chest, arm and neck. She panicked and thought "am I having a heart attack". She did not want to bother children so for the first time she called 911.
They arrived and 3 or 4 men rolled in whatever that thing is. They kept telling her to calm down. She asked "what is wrong with me"? There answer "you have either had a heart attack or having one and your blood pressure is 210 over 110. So on to the emergency room they traveled. They ran some test and lowered her blood pressure. Kept her 6 hours and told her that her heart was fine. After 6 hours they said they were releasing her and for her to call her primary physician on arriving home. She kept asking them to call her doctor and they did not.
They asked if she had someone to call to take me home. There again she did not want to disturb her daughters who would soon be getting up to get ready for work. So she told them to call a cab. She informed them that she had on my pajamas and no shoes or coat.
So......they gave her a pair of socks and wrapped a thin blanket around her shoulders and helped her into the cab. Five minutes later she was going through her front gate and fishing for her keys to go in the front door. It was probably 30 something degrees outside.
When inside home she placed a call for her doctor and her youngest daughter. Her daughter arrived in a little over an hour and took her to her to doctors office. A number of test performed and she was admitted into the hospital and was told they would have to stabilize her blood pressure and fever and surgery would be done the next day. She was put on pain medication and morphine which really seem to mess up her mind. The surgeon shared that in all his years of gall bladder surgery he had never seen one so infected and she was very lucky that it had not ruptured. If it had ruptured he said she probably would not have made it.
So, today - one week later and feeling better but warned to heal from inside out so she did not develop a hernia - she is moving slower then ever. She cannot lift anything heavy for a number of weeks . She really has never obeyed doctors completely. Energetic and much to do she would always recover fast from any illness quickly. This unexpected problem and procedure has totally puzzled her. How could she have something so infected in her body and not be aware of it. So with a thankful heart she shares this afternoon.
She asks for healing, health and wisdom for her continued days. The doctor smiled and said they will be many. He described her as a healthy, energetic past 70 lady who was very feisty. That put a smile on her face. She never wants to be in the hospital again.
Some sharing this cold and sunny afternoon from One Woman on her Journey Through This Life.
17 comments:
What is wrong with those people letting/sending you home! It just amazes and upsets me tremendously. I'll bet your kids told you to call them if anything similar ever happens again, right! Thank God, it all turned out alright.
Hospital staff tend to write off us elderly. My mother-in-law had a stroke and they kept telling us is was just dehydration! Sent her home and we had her back in the hospital the very next day. I am so glad that you are well, but watch out for that stubborn streak that you have in not contacting your kids. I can so identify with that...but it is probably not a healthy approach. You will be back to your old self in no time as long as you take it easy.
Close call, my friend. That is just terrible that you were sent home. I had the exact circumstances....same type of pain, 9:30 at night, but my sister-in-law was visiting from MS so she drove me to the hospital right away. They kept me in the ER until the did surgery the next am at 6:30. Very painful!
I remember being very tired and not being able to lift. The recovery was pretty quick, though.
Rest and take this time to prepare for the joys of your new home building in the Spring!
Nan, Tabor and Marcia - thank you dear friends. The hospital staff, doctors, nurses all were so kind.
I remember my surgeon patting me on the arm and said "remember no whining". So no more whining. I have a lot of writing to do. A lot of pictures to take and a lot of life to live.
You need to rest and do NOT lift anything. Take care my friend..
Oh, MY blood pressure rose just reading this! How scary for you.
I am so glad you are healing now. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you!
I cannot believe that hospital sent you home!!
Take care and follow the doc orders this time!
Ernestine, I'm so glad you shared your story. So much of your verve and energy shows up in the telling of it, and I can tell you have no patience with being sick. Despite that, please take good care of you!
Thank you for coming by my blog and commenting. I was so glad to hear from you.
hugs,
Aisling
I'm very sorry this happened to you -- honestly I think that you should write a letter to the administrator of the hospital. It may lessen the chances that this will happen to someone else.
Unfortunately ER docs tend to blow off a lot of problems.
Ernestine, thank goodness everything turned out well. Please take care during your recovery and I know you will appreciate all the good that is awaiting you.
Nancy
And I say, whine if you want to!
Meredith, Kenju, Aisling, Sweet Bay, Nancy and Nan Thank you for your encouragment. You are dear friends. Wish we could have a reunion and all of us be together.
You are such a dear (and feisty!) woman. I am so grateful that you are home and healing. Sending hugs your way.
xoxo
I had a similar experience, Ernestine. I woke with severe pain at 3 am. I was afraid I was having a heart attack. When my doctor sleepily responded to my call he said I was having some sort of anxiety attack and to breathe into a paper bag. The second night repeated the procedure and the doctor said I must have terrible nightmares. The third night I didn't want to wake him again (stupid mistake) and by office hours I was in such pain I was bent double. The nurse could tell I was in agony and told me to come right in. When I got to the office they came toward me with a paper bag. :-(. After the doctor examined me he tried to get me admitted to the hospital and there was no bed available. He told me to go home and if I was still in pain at 5 pm to call 911 as they had beds reserved for ER patients. I finally got admitted and the doctor had a tube inserted into my stomach to (as he put it) rest my stomach. Eventually they gave me the barium gall bladder test which showed the real reason for the pain. The doctor wanted me to go home to get my strength back before surgery. Luckily, I insisted on having the surgery done while I was there. When the surgeon finally operated he said my gall bladder was like tissue paper and was already seeping into my abdominal cavity. If I had gone home I would have died.
I thought it might help to know that you are not alone in incompetent diagnosis and medical people. We have to be vigilant and watch out for ourselves. I would never again accept a delay like I endured.
The good news is that I felt 100% better after surgery and I made a rapid recovery from my experience. I had suffered from unexpected vomiting spells all my life so probably had a faulty gall bladder from when I was a child. I have never had one since surgery.
Darlene thank you for sharing your experience. I listen to doctors but I know what is going on in my body "most of the time"
You are dear to me.
Grammie, thanks for checking in with your smiling face
So glad you are on the mend but that is horrific you had to leave the hospital without calling your doctor first.
Please stay warm and don't lift too much.
My incision herniated after my second c section 26 years ago and it was a horrible surgery and long recovery.
So let people do things for you!
Whew! So sorry to hear about your experience but glad it has turned out well, so far. Hope you are following doctor's orders and taking things slow!
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