Medical Outrage

So I've been pretty sick for awhile. I was diagnosed with asthma back in October of 2011. I had been having breathing problems for awhile and finally got it looked at by the Dr. The week before Christmas I started having breathing difficulties and went to the Dr. to get relief. Every visit I would get steroid injections and breathing treatments to get relief. On top of the asthma the Dr. noticed my body was fighting an infection and diagnosed me with bronchitis on top of the asthma. I spent Christmas sick - difficulty breathing - which caused physical pain and lack of energy. I went to the Dr. the next week and again steroid shots and breathing treatments. The Dr. kept asking if I wanted to be admitted to the hospital and I kept saying no. It was our son's first Christmas - I was not about to spend it in the Hospital! Then I was sick still over New Year's weekend - again not a fun time. But both Christmas and New Year's I played hostess to my parents and cooked and decorated and tried very hard to make it a special time - even though I couldn't catch my breath! Finally on Friday January 6th I had enough and let the Dr. admit me to the local hospital. I was admitted around 6 p.m. and they started an IV and the Dr. on call came in to see me (less than 5 minutes) and then the night began. On Saturday and Sunday I was told I was seeing the Physician on call - which was in fact not a Dr. but a Physician Assistant. No tests - no nothing. On Monday I see a Rheumatologist (because my joints have been hurting due to inactivity) within 5 minutes he diagnoses me with Fibromyalgia and says I need to start taking an anti-depressant. How is that possible?? The Dr. on call comes in and agrees with the Rheumatologist. I came into the hospital because I couldn't breathe - but they didn't look at that. Then Gastroenterology comes in to make sure it's not gas -- that Dr. was actually pretty smart - he said it wasn't gas! Overnight, Monday into Tuesday my nurse was very rude and nasty to me. Then they had to change my IV and start a new one and ended up blowing two veins before finally getting a good one. During the pain of this I had an asthma attack and the nurse was yelling at me like I was causing this to happen to myself. I finally told her to stop yelling at me and that she was being very rude. At that point they prescribed Xanax and over the course of 4 days I had anywhere from 10 to 20 Xanax pills to "keep my anxiety down". I was so upset with the nurse that I wanted nothing more than an ambulance to come and get me and take me to another hospital. Finally on Tuesday I see a PA from Pulmonary and they say they are going to run more tests. On Wednesday I had a CT Scan of my lungs - a Bone Radiation Scan - blood lab tests and other tests. I had been on breathing treatments, IV antibiotics, and IV steroids this entire time. Also they were shooting me with insulin because the steroids are having effects on my blood sugar levels. On Wednesday I also was finally given a breathing exercise machine - and a peak flow reader to start taking numbers. On Thursday I finally have a lung function tests performed. The problem with this test is they kept making me redo the test to get the numbers they needed - how effective is this test if I'm redoing it to get specific numbers? Thursday night I'm told I'll finally get to go home - even though I haven't seen a Pulmonary Dr. again, or been given a diagnosis for what is causing the problem. So on Friday morning I woke up and couldn't get a deep breath and requested a breathing treatment. An hour later (during nurse change) I still had not had a breathing treatment and needed one bad. So I asked for another one. The nurse I got that day said that the request was already put in and she was becoming rather rude - I was not in the mood for a rude nurse. So I called the head nurse and finally got some relief. I also called for a Social Worker to come in so I could discuss my treatment at the hospital. She acted as though it was not her job to help me. So I said if she couldn't help me then she needed to send in patient advocacy or someone who could help me get better treatment. At that point I told her everything that had been happening during the week. How I was going to be discharged without seeing pulmonary or anyone really. It took that much to get some attention from a Dr. there. Finally pulmonary came in and told me that yes I had asthma and that I needed to follow up with them - which I told them that would not be happening - period. I will follow up with another pulmonary specialist. The entire week a Dr. or PA would come in alone and tell me crap - but on Friday every time a Dr. or a PA came in the room they brought a nurse with them - to cover their butts! The social worker did get me a nebulizer machine delivered to our house within a couple of hours of getting discharged. I was so relieved to get out of that hospital. Now not every nurse was bad - I have a list of the best nurses - the food was actually pretty good and the food people were always very nice. The room could have been cleaner - but that wasn't a main concern. The main concern was that the Dr. on my i.d. bracelet - well I NEVER met that Dr. The Dr. they sent in didn't know anything about medicine - if he did he couldn't relay that information to me, the patient. I believe that the Dr.'s working on my case should have sat down and discussed the situation with each other before they all came in one at a time and gave me a different diagnosis! I thought it was pretty bad that my PCM had to call and find out my status - because they weren't telling me anything at all!

I'm home now. Still having breathing problems - still having pain and the steroids have caused major weight gain and pain throughout my body. I'm physically exhausted. However, I'm glad to be home and not at the hospital. I'm doing the breathing exercises, the breathing treatments, and trying my hardest to get a little physical activity throughout the day. I believe that if I had been given better treatment at the hospital I would have been on the road to recovery much faster. As a patient I feel that I was cheated out of good healthcare. I will follow up in a couple of days with my PCM and a pulmonary Dr. I'm hoping they can get me on the road to getting this under control. I do not want to be a prisoner in my home.

The moral of this story is that you need to be very on top of your care when it comes to your health. Demand better treatment - that's what they are there for. Dr.'s work for you - you don't work for them. I have learned my lesson from that hospital - and I will NEVER go to that hospital again!

Here's to hoping I am on the road to recovery - and getting better everyday.