I have heard of rolling stones or people being stoned or precious stones, but my stones are not rolling nor am I happily stoned nor are they precious stones.
9 July at 1030 hours I had stomach cramps so fierce I could not bear them. By 1330 hours I got into my car and drove to the emergency room in Springfield and checked in there at 1401 hours. The person at the desk took my information and a a nurse got me a wheelchair and then wheeled me into a huge waiting area, to do just that, wait. 1445 hours I was sitting in the most uncomfortable chair ever with the most horrid cramps, beyond anything I could ever imagine and I was still waiting. The worst pain was right below my rib cage on my right side, where I had felt an egg sized and shaped lump as I laid down earlier that morning.
At 1500 hours I was wheeled into a screening area to see a nurse practitioner. There I was asked a host of questions pertaining to why I was there and did I have this or that symptom, what medications I took, when did this all start, when was my birthday, did I drink, did I use drugs, what was my pain level on a scale of 1-10 and on and on. I understand that, on the pain question my answer was a 10 and only because there was no 15 or 20 on the scale. The people in screening area took 2 blood samples from one arm and set up a needle with a tube attached in my other arm so I was ready for IV fluids later on. The poor nurse trying to insert the needle for the IV had a rough time hitting the vein correctly, so she worked it around 4 or 5 times to get it set properly. In ordinary times, I would have been highly troubled by the pain of that, but the stomach pain was so severe, the needle poking around in my arm was insignificant by comparison. 4 days later I still had a twinge from that. Back to my timeline, I was rolled back to the waiting room ( after getting 2 nice warm blankets to quell my cold shivering.) I knew it was not a good day when I had unbearable cramping and cold chills at the same time. I sat in my wheelchair scanning the dozens of other people waiting, trying to figure out who was or who was not really in an emergency. That was not possible for me to figure out.
1545 hours I was rolled into an x-ray area to take 4 different angle shots, 2 chest and 2 belly. Then it was back to the waiting room. By 1700 hours I was finally in one of the emergency rooms. There I was handed a cup to pee into and then a sweet gray-haired lady technician took a sonogram of my belly region.
1800 hours doctor Jordan came in and told me I had an inflamed gall bladder with 6 stones in it and 2 stones in the bile duct to the liver. 1820 hours doctor Woods arrived and told me that I would have 2 surgeries in the morning, one to remove the gall bladder and one to remove the stones from the bile duct. 1833 hours I was given a pain shot through my IV, fentanyl (a synthetic opioid 80-100 times stronger than morphine) I was finally in my room #cdu-08 for the night and all the pain since 1030 hours in the morning was gone and I was feeling giddy from the relief.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
At 1500 hours I was wheeled into a screening area to see a nurse practitioner. There I was asked a host of questions pertaining to why I was there and did I have this or that symptom, what medications I took, when did this all start, when was my birthday, did I drink, did I use drugs, what was my pain level on a scale of 1-10 and on and on. I understand that, on the pain question my answer was a 10 and only because there was no 15 or 20 on the scale. The people in screening area took 2 blood samples from one arm and set up a needle with a tube attached in my other arm so I was ready for IV fluids later on. The poor nurse trying to insert the needle for the IV had a rough time hitting the vein correctly, so she worked it around 4 or 5 times to get it set properly. In ordinary times, I would have been highly troubled by the pain of that, but the stomach pain was so severe, the needle poking around in my arm was insignificant by comparison. 4 days later I still had a twinge from that. Back to my timeline, I was rolled back to the waiting room ( after getting 2 nice warm blankets to quell my cold shivering.) I knew it was not a good day when I had unbearable cramping and cold chills at the same time. I sat in my wheelchair scanning the dozens of other people waiting, trying to figure out who was or who was not really in an emergency. That was not possible for me to figure out.
1545 hours I was rolled into an x-ray area to take 4 different angle shots, 2 chest and 2 belly. Then it was back to the waiting room. By 1700 hours I was finally in one of the emergency rooms. There I was handed a cup to pee into and then a sweet gray-haired lady technician took a sonogram of my belly region.
1800 hours doctor Jordan came in and told me I had an inflamed gall bladder with 6 stones in it and 2 stones in the bile duct to the liver. 1820 hours doctor Woods arrived and told me that I would have 2 surgeries in the morning, one to remove the gall bladder and one to remove the stones from the bile duct. 1833 hours I was given a pain shot through my IV, fentanyl (a synthetic opioid 80-100 times stronger than morphine) I was finally in my room #cdu-08 for the night and all the pain since 1030 hours in the morning was gone and I was feeling giddy from the relief.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
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