So, sometimes people just bug me! They really get under my skin! They just do these things that really hit a nerve! Really stupid things for example. Here is a story that recently REALLY hit a nerve.
I know a woman who was having abdominal pain, and went to the ER 3 times here in Utah county, and then again in St. George where she lives. All 4 times the Dr.'s wouldn't do anything because they said she was just a drug seeker. Finally the 4th time the husband put his foot down. The Dr. flat out said to the husband that he wasn't going to do anything because she was a pill popper. The Dr. said "We can do thousand dollar test after thousand dollar test, but we're not going to find anything." The husband insisted that they do the tests anyway.
It turns out she had a massive infection- and here's the reader's digest version of what happened- she was waiting in her ER room to be admitted to the hospital when things turned really bad- she was life flighted to Intermountain Medical Center in SLC while her hubby was basically told to say goodbye, 'cause things were that bad. They told him there was a risky surgery they could try but she might not make it through the surgery. The did the surgery, and found 2 huge infections in her body. They emptied 4 liters of infected fluid. 4 LITERS!meanwhile her body started to die so now she has to have all her fingertips amputated, and one of her legs amputated (just below the knee). She may even loose the other leg too. And all this because the Dr. had a preconceived notion that she was a seeker. I'm thinking there's a lawsuit in the making here.
I'm not saying that the Dr's should give seekers drugs- definitely not. And I know they have to be careful because there are so many seekers out there. I'm saying that when a patient presents to the ER, don't just assume nothing is wrong and send them home. Do some actual TESTS.
I had this happen (on a MUCH smaller and less agonizing scale) to me recently. I was at the ER, and the Dr just assumed I was there for pain meds (which I hadn't even asked for, and wasn't going to ask for btw) so he didn't do any tests, consequently he totally missed the infection that was 'ravaging' my body as my PCP put it. And I spent even MORE time throwing up, in pain, and loosing more weight than was healthy. Did I feel good about that??? not so much.
My PCP said that he couldn't believe they didn't catch this, or put me on some kind of antibiotics. He now has me on 2 heavy-duty antibiotics for the next few weeks.
Yeah. Sometimes, people bug me. Thats all.
