A Monday Night in the ER...

Emergency rooms are interesting places. There's generally not a shortage of drama (hello.... emergency room....emergency would generally lend credence that something dramatic happened or it would not be an emergency...) and apparently this stays true even on the weekiest of weekdays, Monday.
So basically my gall bladder started acting up again. After a nice long 9 month break of any sort of gall bladder pains my body decided I've been living just a little too carefree and that it'd give me a little reminder of some neglected priorities. So starting Friday night I began having what would become just a completely horribly painful attack that just would not subside. I broke down and had Mike take me to prompt care Saturday evening and decided in order to get the most unbiased response possible I'm not going to be the first to bring up my history with gall stones and attacks and just see what the docs take on my pain was based on the information I gave him about how I was feeling. Why would I not bring it up you ask? Well as soon as I go anywhere and mention that I've got a history of gall stones, that turns into the culprit immediate no matter what. And sometimes it is the problem... But sometimes it's really not! But as soon as I say those magic words docs get blinders on and that's all they see. This is frustrating when I go in for say a uti... I'm a woman, I've had 2 kids, I've had dozens of uti's.... when I go in and say I'm pretty sure I've got a uti I just need my antibiotic and I'll be on my way... and they say do you have any previous medical problems and I say gall stones, forget it. Its all a circus now, I'm getting a full blood work up for pancreatitus and Sonos to see if my gall bladder is inflamed and when it's all said and done after a 20 minute appointment has become a 5 hour ordeal, they come in and tell me what I already knew... I've got a uti. So I've become reluctant to bring it up if I'm not at least 95% sure thats the problem. So anyway this doc at prompt care (which for the record I'm usually super positive on prompt care facilities and the staff) is just oozing out emotional I don't wanna be here vibes and he decides what is wrong with me is muscle spasm. ... okay this would be an ideal time to mention my gall bladder history. Nope. Already decided. Muscle spasm. He wrote me an RX for liquid Tylenol w/ Codiene. LIQUID TYLENOL PEOPLE. In case you were wondering... it still tastes just as bad as it used to when your parents shoved a spoonful of it down your 8 year old gullet. And the codiene really doesn't make up for the feeling of medicine death lingering on your tongue. You can't get that taste out of your mouth guys. I damn near scrubbed my tongue with a pineapple, that taste stays. It's like when you burp and it tastes like cheerios and then you're like "but I haven't eaten cheerios since yesterday..." yeah. But worse. Because instead of cheerios it tastes like medicinal acidy dead things. Also it doesn't do anything to actually take pain away. Fortunately I have the most amazing friends who would never let me suffer the way I was and they took care of me and that's all I'll say on that to avoid any trouble. So I decide I'll hold out till Monday and call up my own doc and make an appointment to g we t her opinion on what's happening. I make it through Sunday all right and think maybe  in the clear, then Monday happens. The day started out with me knowing something was off immediately. The entire day was pretty rough. I keep thinking I'll be okay, I'm going to see my doc tomorrow and I'll just suck it up till then. Negative. I was like a giant pathetic helpless 6 year old. Everything I did hurt even when I wasn't doing anything. Painkillers weren't helping even a little and around 11:30 that night I just couldn't take it anymore, it was all I could do to not break down and cry because I hurt so bad and there was just nothing I could do about it. We woke up my pops to watch the kiddos and away to the ER we went.
Initially it was a pretty standard visit, we're about 20 minutes into our waiting room portion of the evening when the receptionist/tech/whoever the hell she is lady came over and says "sorry I put the wrong bracelet on you," and proceeds to put a completely identical bracelet to the one I already had on... then after about an hour we go back to a room. 2 different nurses get my info and vitals 2 separate times and then the receptionist wonder girl is in again asking me to sign consents. While I'm signing she mentions she just got back from a somewhat involuntary 3 day "break" and that she's just not all here yet... I laugh out of terrified sympathy and then she says "yeah they yell at me a lot here because I make a lot of mistakes" .... I don't know what to say to this at this point. Aside from nobody give this woman any of my PHI please....
Then my first RN if the night comes back and hooks me up with an IV and some morphine. I've had plenty IV's throughout my adult life so far, but morphine was a first for me. I was actually a little let down? It made the room spin around a bit but other than that it wasn't quite the mind numbing thrill ride people had led me to believe it was going to be. It did help my tummy pain a lot, though not completely. Thus begins the longest wait ever for the on-call sono tech to answer her phone and get to the hospital. It's 2 when we got back to the room and I got the morphine. It's 5:30 when the ultrasound tech finally gets there and they wheel me on over. During this wait I experienced a shift change, an enraged patient next door threatening to break the fucking face off one of the male RN's, a drugged up goofy fellow taking a stroll up and down the halls with a handcuff hanging off his ankle, and the sudden realization that if I have to have emergency surgery I totally didn't shower. I did have on clean underwear though so that counts for something right? Anyway, sono shows stones were on the move I was having an attack, but my actual gall bladder wasn't infected or anything so no need for emergency surgery. After many lectures advising me to make an appointment with a surgeon to get it removed electively I get an RX for Ultram and am walking out the door. It's now about 6:45 in the morning. All in all not a horrible experience but certainly one I could have lived without. Guess I'll be talking to my doc Thursday and seeing about getting the damned thing out before I head down to Texas. I am feeling much better now and hopefully it'll stay that way. Happy thoughts ya'll hope everyone is having a great night.