Bipolar Disorder Support Group
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Yesterday I wound up in the ER. Actually.... I went to one.
And they immediately decided it was a "non-emergency". It was actually for something completely different. It was for burning in my throat (possibly an infection) caused by my inhaler.
So they gave me a sheet saying I could either go to my doctor or pay $200 to be treated there. Bastards. I'm going to file a citation because it seems really illegitimate and violates several hospital codes, but anyways. The place is fucking sketchy, anyhow.
So I went home and took a dose of DayQuil, because the nurse said "Take some OTC stuff like everyone else with the flu or a cold does". So I did.
About 45 minutes later.... My pain level had reached about 9. I was just lying there, trying to force myself to pass out. I couldn't even speak. When my pain is at its worst, I cannot speak or move, so I try to lose consciousness or "fade" out mentally. I see my mum do the same thing a lot.
But my mother very reluctantly drove me to a better ER that treats me pretty often. I've had nurses there say I don't need to be there, but.... there are some good doctors and nurses too.
The waiting room time was grueling. About 3 hours, maybe 4. There was another girl there, we'll call her Gretch. She fell on the floor screaming that nobody gave a shit because they sent her home the night before.
I moved where I was sitting so I could watch over her and wheel her to the bathroom so she could throw up if she needed to. She thanked me and we talked and, it seems like I'd known her forever.
Sometimes I swear I'm a better nurse, than most nurses. I WOULD BE ONE if not for my inability to complete school, but...
But I was still in the waiting room a while. There was another girl who came in with an ectopic pregnancy. They called her to go to triage and she (obviously) couldn't stand up. Patients aren't really supposed to touch the wheelchairs, but I got her one because I was like, why isn't anybody getting her a fucking wheelchair??????
But uh, I got called back onto a stretcher in a makeshift hallway room (with about 3 other stretchers, "beds"). I saw my favourite nurse. He's like, "Where have you been???!" and I said, "Better... until now." He's a funny guy. He's the only one there basically who doesn't react to my presence like, "Oh god, not you again."
I notice that a lot of nurses cope with their job by treating their colleagues one way and patients a different way. It's hard for them to break out of doctor character with sick people.
I waited around for a while. I tried to cheer up the others. I blew a raspberry at Allen, like, "ptttbhhhth!", he laughed and said I'm silly. I said, "Hey Gretch," because she was hunched over and crying, she looked at me, so I puffed my cheeks out and 'popped' them and made a face, which made her laugh. I was happy to cheer her up.
Eventually my doctor came around, luckily, not one of the "Oh shit it's you again?" doctors. She said that based on my symptoms she'd say I ALMOST DEFINITELY have an ulcer.
In her almost exact words, confirming a diagnosis for an ulcer is impossible without an endoscopy, which has to be performed by a GI doctor, but since I have a history of them and all of the symptoms, she'd go ahead and treat it as one, and do the same treatment I'd gotten for [my ulcer] before, with only the PPI changed.
The reason for this is apparently because I'm mostly immune to Omeprazole, because I take it every day, which... you're not supposed to do, even for GERD, because your body builds a tolerance to PPIs (proton pump inhibitors). WHICH NOBODY BOTHERED TO TELL ME BEFORE.
She recommended I follow up with my old GI doctor (basically "come up with the money somehow" lol) and wrote me for a mild pain medicine, Nexium (was supposed to be Protonix?), and Kerafate, which is a LIFE SAVER. It's like orajel for belly ulcers.
I feel better today, but my medicine's only meant to last until I can make a follow-up appointment. I'm going to see if I can borrow the money from my grandparents, even though I feel like shit for asking. l:
I'm going to bring in the ER papers to school and do a medical withdrawal probably next week.
And they immediately decided it was a "non-emergency". It was actually for something completely different. It was for burning in my throat (possibly an infection) caused by my inhaler.
So they gave me a sheet saying I could either go to my doctor or pay $200 to be treated there. Bastards. I'm going to file a citation because it seems really illegitimate and violates several hospital codes, but anyways. The place is fucking sketchy, anyhow.
So I went home and took a dose of DayQuil, because the nurse said "Take some OTC stuff like everyone else with the flu or a cold does". So I did.
About 45 minutes later.... My pain level had reached about 9. I was just lying there, trying to force myself to pass out. I couldn't even speak. When my pain is at its worst, I cannot speak or move, so I try to lose consciousness or "fade" out mentally. I see my mum do the same thing a lot.
But my mother very reluctantly drove me to a better ER that treats me pretty often. I've had nurses there say I don't need to be there, but.... there are some good doctors and nurses too.
The waiting room time was grueling. About 3 hours, maybe 4. There was another girl there, we'll call her Gretch. She fell on the floor screaming that nobody gave a shit because they sent her home the night before.
I moved where I was sitting so I could watch over her and wheel her to the bathroom so she could throw up if she needed to. She thanked me and we talked and, it seems like I'd known her forever.
Sometimes I swear I'm a better nurse, than most nurses. I WOULD BE ONE if not for my inability to complete school, but...
But I was still in the waiting room a while. There was another girl who came in with an ectopic pregnancy. They called her to go to triage and she (obviously) couldn't stand up. Patients aren't really supposed to touch the wheelchairs, but I got her one because I was like, why isn't anybody getting her a fucking wheelchair??????
But uh, I got called back onto a stretcher in a makeshift hallway room (with about 3 other stretchers, "beds"). I saw my favourite nurse. He's like, "Where have you been???!" and I said, "Better... until now." He's a funny guy. He's the only one there basically who doesn't react to my presence like, "Oh god, not you again."
I notice that a lot of nurses cope with their job by treating their colleagues one way and patients a different way. It's hard for them to break out of doctor character with sick people.
I waited around for a while. I tried to cheer up the others. I blew a raspberry at Allen, like, "ptttbhhhth!", he laughed and said I'm silly. I said, "Hey Gretch," because she was hunched over and crying, she looked at me, so I puffed my cheeks out and 'popped' them and made a face, which made her laugh. I was happy to cheer her up.
Eventually my doctor came around, luckily, not one of the "Oh shit it's you again?" doctors. She said that based on my symptoms she'd say I ALMOST DEFINITELY have an ulcer.
In her almost exact words, confirming a diagnosis for an ulcer is impossible without an endoscopy, which has to be performed by a GI doctor, but since I have a history of them and all of the symptoms, she'd go ahead and treat it as one, and do the same treatment I'd gotten for [my ulcer] before, with only the PPI changed.
The reason for this is apparently because I'm mostly immune to Omeprazole, because I take it every day, which... you're not supposed to do, even for GERD, because your body builds a tolerance to PPIs (proton pump inhibitors). WHICH NOBODY BOTHERED TO TELL ME BEFORE.
She recommended I follow up with my old GI doctor (basically "come up with the money somehow" lol) and wrote me for a mild pain medicine, Nexium (was supposed to be Protonix?), and Kerafate, which is a LIFE SAVER. It's like orajel for belly ulcers.
I feel better today, but my medicine's only meant to last until I can make a follow-up appointment. I'm going to see if I can borrow the money from my grandparents, even though I feel like shit for asking. l:
I'm going to bring in the ER papers to school and do a medical withdrawal probably next week.
Suninbloom
I'm glad you're feeling better today. My father use to have ulcers and he'd take the weirdest concoctions to deal with them. He ate a lot of baking soda.. and he'd eat Vick's .. you know that oily greasey stuff that people usually put on their chest when they have a cold. Pretty gross. He died young because he had all sorts of medical problems... Strokes , Heart Attacks, etc. I'm glad you are getting the medicine that you need.
Redsgal21
Don't feel like shit for asking your Grandparents for money. That's what Grandparents are there for to help. I hope you get to feeling better. HUGS.
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