ER Visit

[shirleymahoney]

Where do i start, i got up at about 4:30 am freezing , i had a fever took some tylenol and went back to bed, woke up at 10 am and tried to talk and couldn't had a bad cough, my daughter called and i could manage a whisper and she called my PCP doctor and being i just had this heart surgery 4 months ago and i was sick that i really needed to go to the ER which was a mistake, i sat for 5 hours and an hour in the back not once did they do an EKG , never listened to my heart, i told them i had HCM and CHF and that i had just had a septal myectomy, the doctor never brought up the disease nothingthey took an x-ray of my chest and said they were going to treat it as broncitis and gave me antibiotics and sent me home i was soo mad, i was trying to yell at them and and the more i talked the squeakier my voice got so i just sat and cried, my husband went and found the big wig of the hospital and told them what was going on and he sounded like he could care less about what was going on , and then once i said well he isn't the head of Sentara systems he came to attention and they gave my check back to me for my copay for the ER which was a 100 dollars but they still didn't do an EKG and noone checked my heart so i don't think i will not be going back there, sorry i just had to vent or explode, everyone take care

Shirley

[Burton Borrok]

Re: ER Visit

Hi Shirley,
Unfortunately in this day and age you have to shop around for a good hospital and a good ER the same way you have to shop around for a good set of doctors – and even then you may wind up with a clown on a different shift from the one you were pleased with. Once you find a good hospital and ER, find out who actually runs them, and keep their names and phone numbers handy. (I try to go nowhere without my cell phone so I can always call for help – in whatever form it takes.)

When I started having trouble here in Vas Vegas I went to the hospital my cardiologist worked and taught in. They had a penchant for releasing me too soon and were slipshod in prescribing aftercare medications. I went to the second hospital because of the exceptional interventional radiologist, but the hospital also didn’t stack up well. I now go to a third hospital that does measure up, and so far when I went into their ER I got good service from people who listened to what I had to say. If I have to go into somebody’s clutches, that’s the place I now choose.

I hope you’re feeling better, and are none the worse for wear. By the way, when I had problems with the previous two hospitals I complained to my insurance company, and they subsequently said the matter was brought to the hospital’s attention and was being discussed. I figured they had more clout then I did. If they dropped them as an approved hospital there’s real money involved.

Be well,
Burt

[shirleymahoney]

Re: ER Visit

Burt

Thank you very much i totally forgot all about the insurance company they do need to know, my voice is coming and going maybe tomorrow the swelling will be down and i can talk again, hope you are doing ok these days

Shirley

[jujemendoza2002]

Re: ER Visit

Shirley,
I've been there a thousand times, I can't count how many times hospitals have showed any attention to my concerns or they just didn't do anything more than what they felt they had too.
After my son was born I started swelling very badly with-in the first 24 hrs of his birth and still in the hospital and I did every thing my cardio & ob said to do and they were so worried about us and his birth, but after he was born and I complained sooooooo many times about why I am swelling they only said it normal for all woman to swell, just drink more fluids they said, so I doubled my fluids and they sent me home, well about 7 days later and 40lbs heaver, my skin about to crack open all the around my feet and me believing that my shortness of breath was from asthma, I almost died when I called 911 from pain behind my lungs and when the emts arrived I started feeling like I was in a vortex and wanted to pass out. When I got to the hospital and found out that I was in CHF and was given lasix I emptied 2 2liters off my lungs alone in just 2 trips to bath room and later was told I had little room left in my lungs before they would have been completely full and I was real close to death, because the other hospital did not listen to me and did not care so it seems.& not long ago my mother was in the hospital with - OSLER-WEBER-REDU-SYNDROME ( a disease of the vessels, a person can easly bleed to death) and has multiable clots in her lungs and had to be put on coumiden, well when she started bleeding from the nose and her blood count dropping fast the nurses did nothing besides hand her some toliet paper to bleed on and go back to the nurses desk, just watched her bleed, that is when I and my mom asked to have her transfered to a better hospital that could and would treat her and not just sit there and watch.

[Heartmans Wife]

Re: ER Visit

Hope you're doing better , Shirley. Will be thinking about you and praying for you.

Ange

[cynthiaG]

Re: ER Visit

Shirley,

I feel bad that you had that awful experience at the E.R. An e.r. should take ANY cardiac patient RIGHT IN!! To wait 5 hours is absolutely insane! The last two times my husband took me to the e.r., they took me right in, checked my pulse, blood pressure and hooked me up to a monitor. If there is a different hospital nearby, go there. Hope you are feeling better son. take care

Cynthia

[Sarah]

Re: ER Visit

i like to open with "i've a history of stroke" when i go to the er. it always gets me to the front of the line.

i'm so sorry you've all had such bad experiences. i've had similar, sadly.

i really don't know where i would go right now. my doctor is excellent but his hosptial stinks.

s

[Burton Borrok]

Re: ER Visit

When I went to the emergency room I’d tell them I am a heart patient and I am in distress. (This was before I was diagnosed with HCM – but did have heart trouble.) Only once was I not taken in immediately. I sat in the waiting room about fifteen minutes when another waitee complained that she had been there for hours with no attention.

Well, when her dander is up, my wife can be a real fighter. She went up to the reception clerk (she clears you to be seen by the triage nurse) and let fly – loudly; “What’s going on here. My husband is a heart patient and he comes in here complaining of a heart problem, and you make him sit and do nothing for him? Who’s in charge of this ER? I want to see him or her NOW!” The doctor must have heard her right through the walls because a nurse came flying out with a wheelchair and I was wheeled immediately into a cubby hole where the doctor was waiting for me. Seems they had no more beds so the clerk took it on herself to stack up everybody in the waiting room until beds became free, regardless of their complaint. That didn’t fly long.

I usually need a blowtorch up my butt before I’ll get raging mad, but my Shirley has a shorter fuse, and there are times when you just have to wade in slashing and burning. She’s much better at it then I am, but I have to admit, once in a great while when I get pushed over the line into rage - I scare even her. I harken back to when I was a kid in elementary school. I fought a lot. If somebody goaded me I would fight them no matter who they were, how big or strong. I would just start hitting them, and keep it up until they quit. Only after would I become aware of the hurt that I had received. Luckily around the sixth grade I realized there were better ways to deal with others, and quit fighting if I could avoid it. Sometimes I miss the release of all the pent up emotions in a good knock down drag out fight – but I guess I’m older and am civilized now.
Burt

[Ronnie]

Re: ER Visit

Shirley-

Your story is very troubling & should definitely be brought to the attention of your Insurance Co. I would also write a letter to the Hospital Administrator & be very forthright early in the letter re: Heart Patient!

Now- how are you feeling today? are you taking antibiotics? Have you seen you PCP & or Cardio?
BE WELL

[shirleymahoney]

Re: ER Visit

Ronnie

I haven't seen any doctor as of yet i have an appt Monday with my PCP and believe me we are going to have a talk. and yes i did call the insurance company and they are going to get back to me after calling the hospital and said i should have at least had an EKG with having this disease and getting sick and running a fever, Ronnie thank You for being so concerned

Shirley

[ginnilea]

Re: ER Visit

I agree completely as a nurse. I always say, I have had heart surgery and I don't feel well.. You know, suck them in with words like endocarditis, chf... The thing is in the ER you will usually only see an medical doctor not a cardiologist. Remember most importantly, ERs are a big place for residents.

One time I had a cyst and it needed to be opened so the little resident got so excited, he set up his little table just like he was taught and I knew he couldn't wait to slice into me. Just before his knife went in I said, "Not that I am the doctor, but if you plan on cutting into me, shouldn't I be on antibiotics so nothing gets in my blood stream?" He looks up at me like a deer in headlights and runs out of the room. I guess as a nurse I am usually able to identify residents (who are usually the lost ones) and make the big men come in.

Good luck and take care a good suggestion is smaller hospitals are usually not teaching hospitals and lack the residents.. at the same time they are just that, a small hospital. Choose your care wisely