Was BACK in E.R. last night..

[ace]

Poor girl. Take good care of yourself. I'm so sorry this happened.

As an aside, I NEVER go to the hospital without a friend to advocate, to avoid the situation you describe. I've had a bunch of surgeries and a couple of ER visits, and I just find that hospitals are so short staffed these days, you may not get proper attention unless you have someone with you to be a friendly "nag" (I've also played this role for my friends).

For instance, when I had a myomectomy (removal of fibroids), I realized immediately after surgery that I couldn't tolerate narcotics (and was on a demerol drip), so was incredibly nauseated. The nursing staff kept "forgetting" to give me my anti-nausea meds, and fortunately I had a friend with me at all times to go ask for it before I lost my mind. I was way too sick to advocate for myself- constantly feeling like you're going to vomit when you have many abdominal stitches is not a good feeling.

Anyway, I know not everyone is able to bring someone with them to the hospital, but if you can, my advice is to bring someone who combines friendliness and pushiness in just the right measure.

[run it, ride it]

As an aside, I NEVER go to the hospital without a friend to advocate, to avoid the situation you describe.

oh boy; good call there! I was so glad to have the guy I'd been out biking with come with me to the ER for the whole clavicle incident. I have an inensely high pain tolerance--he was there to clarify, 'for her to call me at 5am to come back here means something is very, very wrong.' and he flashed my overlapped bone at anyone who came into the room and pointed out, 'that did NOT look like that last night.' ultimately that was what prompted the second set of x-rays which indeed showed shifting and led to my consult with the orthopaedic surgeon.

I tried to keep a sense of humour through the whole thing and found I got better treatment and more out of my treatment just by being very cooperative and appreciative. One doctor who was trying to determine if he could get the bone back into place was poitively smirking and chuckling as it popped in and out as he attempted new arm positions. He got out of me the only bona-fide scream through the whole ordeal--though I was in agony, I still took a step back and got a kind of sick enjoyment out of realizing how silly it was for a doctor and two nurses just bend me every which way trying to get the goshdarned bone back where it belonged, figuring out how the figure-8 bandage straps worked, etc. pain meds probably would have been a good idea before that round of torture, come to think of it!

my advocate also described my accident better to the doctors than I would have. I didn't just 'fly over the handlebars,' I was 'CATAPAULTED hard into the ground at serious downhill speed!'

those percocets are right gold, though, aren't they? enjoy 'em while ya got 'em. I am loving the ability to float on the surface of the pain. all I have to do is forget to take them with me somewhere--after a few hours I can feel the pain all the way into my bones again--to appreciate how they sustain me.

what has helped the most for me is keeping an eye on the big picture and appreciating the little pleasures. I'm sure the first shower was less pleasurable for you, jenn, than for me--but what about nice cool ointment in the wounds, or ice on your face? The buzz of the percocets once they kick in? after being in such intense pain, even the tiniest pleasure is magnified tenfold. I love taking my arm out of its sling for a stretch, finding someone to put my hair in a ponytail now that I can't make my own, having a good man to sleep next to now and then so I can lay flat and not worry that I'll get stuck lying down--he can pull me back into a sitting position... even having a bed to borrow now that I'm mid-move and squatting on the couch in my own apartment, hahaha..

oh, or thinking how amazing it will be to spend my first Victoria Day weekend since I was ten years old NOT WORKING and enjoying the festivities of my tourist town! Moving everything I own without having to lift a thing--got firends to help out!

Make a list of all the good things! supportive friends and family should be right at the top!

[Jenn]

Run it, I've been thinking about you ALOT these past few days, bless your heart, I hope YOU are feeling better. Yes percocet and nice soak in the tub and a nap has worked wonders!!

And as for the comment about my healing I like my skin and myself just the way I am thank you I don't need anything to toughen up

I ALSO agree with the having a advocate with you when you go to the hospital. DH would have gone had we had someone to watch the little one.
He had a disc that ruptured in his back a few years ago and had major back surgery. The care he received was HORRIBLE, had I not been there to constantly stay on the nurses there's not telling how he would have ended up. Several nurses lost their jobs after my letter and family letters of his care. Our health system today is AWFUL, it's sad but true.

[mimitabby]

my friend the EX-ER doc was expected to take care of 12 patients at a time!!
(that's why he quit!) he said it wasn't fair to anyone! how could you be confident about your care working a LONG shift into the night with 12 people at a time needing you????

it's all about cutting costs... the wrong way.

[Kano]

Jenn, I've had a lucky nearly fifty years, I guess, not having dealt with the kind of pain you're going through, but I've watched family members, and understand some what you're talking about when it comes to the meds -- the spacey feeling is icky, but it helps you get through the most painful part and sleep -- which is pretty essential to the healing process!

So, use the meds, even though you don't like them, for a couple of days, rest as much as possible, and then kind of wean yourself off them, still keeping the pain managed -- advil or something in their place, with the pain pills at bed time. I'm told it's easier to deal with the pain by taking the meds before you have to play "catch up" with it -- don't wait til you're at 8 to deal with it! (especially if you have to keep up with your munchkin!)

Karen in Boise

[KnottedYet]

my friend the EX-ER doc was expected to take care of 12 patients at a time!!
(that's why he quit!) he said it wasn't fair to anyone! how could you be confident about your care working a LONG shift into the night with 12 people at a time needing you????

it's all about cutting costs... the wrong way.

Jeez, and I feel like I'm losing it when I only have 5 or 6 patients at a time!! (and it's not even life-or-death!)

[Duck on Wheels]

... The care he received was HORRIBLE, had I not been there to constantly stay on the nurses there's not telling how he would have ended up. Several nurses lost their jobs after my letter and family letters of his care. Our health system today is AWFUL, it's sad but true.

And here the annual national meeting of the ultra-right-wing "Progress Party" has been on the news lately, with their new chairwoman bleeting on and on about how much better service we'll get if they have their way and privatize national and municipal health services. Right. Not. Things can be slow here, and bureaucratically rigid at tims, but I have yet to experience rude or careless. Of course, that may be because we're simply a smaller country. You don't just hear of complaints via your nurse manager -- you'd hear them via your neighbor, and your cousin's brother-in-law, and your old school teacher, and your former scouts den-mate, and so on and so on. And too, you're likely to be treating your neighbor, and your cousin's brother-in-law, and and and.

But enough ranting away from the topic. How're you feeling? Is the swelling and redness getting any better? And have you written that story for the local paper yet? Or called a journalist there to write one? Two things would make good news now: Jenn's all better; and, the driver got his come uppance.