Was BACK in E.R. last night..

[mimitabby]

Don't worry I won't be posting anymore.

good grief, don't take yourself out Jenn!

[Kano]

Don't worry I won't be posting anymore.

Oh no Jenn! I know that's not what Lisa meant! We DO want to know how things are going, and that we CAN heal from this mess called road rash! I thought of you, pictures flashing in my mind's eye, as I was screaming through the new phase in our subdivision last night, faster than ever, wondering if I should slow down just in case! I didn't -- there are only four houses in progress, the blacktop was SOOOOOOOOOOOO smooth, there's still no traffic of any kind there, and it was so easy to just loop around and around -- and make DH worry!

(DH has a cold, said we were going to have a SHORT ride, like three miles, so I decided to play hammer head to get some kind of work out in the deal. It was a fun change from my usual ride!)

Karen in Boise

[Wahine]

(((((Jenn))))) - I'm really sorry about your ER experience. I had a similar situation once, had to have serious wound debridement. Not only did they give me pain meds, they froze me locally and did not start the procedure until they knew I couldn't feel any pain when they poked around the tissue.

I hope you get better soon and if it was me I'd contact the nurse manager as someone else recommended.

As for the new threads, I appreciate the new threads when something like this comes up. If you had posted this on a previous thread, I likely would not have read it, thinking that you were commenting on peoples well wishes etc. I would not have realized that you had a new question and wanted input. I actually find it easier to keep track of things the way you have chosen to post.

I also think that Lisa SH did not intend to discourage you from posting. As someone else said, things are often misinterpreted in this type of format.

Keep us informed, we want to hear about you getting better!!

[Jenn]

My feelings are just as tender as my face and body right now so I'm sorry if I'm a little over sensitive. I didn't mean forever, I just meant while I take a few percocet and finally lay down and rest and FLUSH my body with antibiotics. Lack of sleep doesn't help either.
Ya'll are the best....thank you so much for all the kind words and hel
{{{{HUGS}}}}
Jenn

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My feelings are just as tender as my face and body right now so I'm sorry if I'm a little over sensitive. I didn't mean forever, I just meant while I take a few percocet and finally lay down and rest and FLUSH my body with antibiotics. Lack of sleep doesn't help either.
Ya'll are the best....thank you so much for all the kind words and hel
{{{{HUGS}}}}
Jenn

Great!
When your wounds heal you will have new tougher skin! (bad joke maybe)
Get some rest, girl. The body heals itself fastest when we are sleeping, did you know that?

[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.

[Artisan]

So, do I bother writing a letter of complaint and to whom would I write it? Would they even care?

Jenn, so sorry to hear about your accident. Road rash is horrible, I've had my share of it so I feel your pain.

You asked if you should bother to write a letter of complaint, my opinion is YES! It's not about if they would even care, though being validated is always nice, it's about how it will make you feel. Also, your letter may help change things so that someone else doesn't have the same bad experience as you had.

[DarcyInOregon]

Jenn, I am sorry this happened to you. I hope you get better quickly.

This is my advice to everyone.

My husband has been ill since the mid-1980s, and so there have many times I have been in the ER in the middle of the night. I have learned that unless I think my husband is dying, like a heart attack or stroke or intestinal bleeding (which he has had), or maybe a broken limb, that it is best for any other medical conditions to wait out the night and get into the doctor during regular office hours. It isn't effective to go to the ER unless he is in danger of dying, even if there is a lot of pain, because it is just sit and sit and sit and sit - for hours and hours and hours and hours - and by the time it is all over, I could have gotten him into the doctor during regular hours, or one of the other doctors if our primary physician wasn't available, or even a Physician's Assistant. Not only that, I swear, that being the relative and having to wait in the ER with my husband, has given me quite a few air-borne illnesses because of people coughing and hacking all over the place, and normally I am quite healthy.

Darcy

[mtbdarby]

Feeling any better Jenn? ((Hugs)) to you. Tell the munchkins momma needs butterfly kisses for her booboo. Baby kisses are very healing in my opinion

[SouthernBelle]

Agreed on go somewhere other than an ER when you can. I've never had an accurate diagnosis in an ER for myself. I've had some unpleasant experiences when taking my parents. We're talking some large hospitals here. Always try to go to your own, or at least a reputable, physician who will be providing continuing care for you.

[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

[KSH]

I'm sure ya'll are sick of hearing about my drama, but I have to ask ya'll what I should do. I wen't to the E.R. at 5:30pm last night because even with all the care I've given my wounds I could see they were getting very swollen, hot and VERY red....and EXTREMELY painful....(INFECTION!!)
Anyway, I get in there, they insist on doing a whole nother round of X-Rays and another CT of my head. 7 HOURS later, they come in tell me eveything looks fine, but now I have cellulitis starting in my knee and arm and my site's have to be debrided. OMG NO pain medication was EVER offered to me which I don't like to take it anyway, but when they cleaned out my wounds....I would have taken ANYTHING. So it was 2AM by they time I got home. The E.R. was dead, the Techs were RUDE. So, do I bother writing a letter of complaint and to whom would I write it? Would they even care? Not once was I asked if I needed anything, I sat in the room and stared at the wall in pain for 7 hours. Don't you go to the hospital for relief?? Oh, and finally, EVERYONE that heard I was in a biking accident told me to stay off of MOTORCYCLES!!!

PLEASE tell me you got ANITBIOTICS for this. PLEASE!

This is a very serious matter and if not taken care of immediately with medicine can lead to the loss of a limb to the infection.

I got this after a surgery I had. My knee/leg was so swollen (knee- was around 14-16 inches in diameter) and it was painful. I then had to buy antibiotics that cost around $100 (not covered by insurance) to fix the infection.

I hope you are going to be OK. That infection is NOTHING to mess with or take lightly.