So! I took my first dose of Vicodin on Tuesday night, with great hopes of finally easing the pain and being able to do fun stuff like ...... oh, I don't know ...... how about SWALLOW? And drink water? I was so thirsty. And maybe even sleep without waking up choking?
Nope. The Vicodin did nothing. NOTHING. No easing of the pain, no helping with the sleep, no nothing.
So! I called the doctor's office Wednesday morning, which was an interesting conversation, because by then, my throat was so swollen that I sounded like a deaf drunk with a severe speech impediment.
They had me come in and they shot me up with steroids, in a last-ditch effort to get the swelling to stop increasing, and gave me a prescription for steroid pills. Then they yanked a whole bunch of blood out of me for testing, and told me to double the Vicodin dose.
So I got home last night, dosed myself with antibiotics and steroids and a double dose of Vicodin, and about half an hour later .......... relief. Finally, my throat stopped aching, enough so that I could actually get some water down. And some food! And about two liters of 7-Up, because while normally I don't like 7-Up, last night it tasted like heaven.
So we go from here. Wait for the test results, and wait to see if the steroids can bring the swelling down. And right here is one thing I hate about doctors: While I was in the exam room yesterday, waiting for the lab paperwork, I could hear the doctor and the nurse discussing my case in the hall. I couldn't hear everything, but I was picking up the key words, like "swelling increasing" and "steroids" and "no history of tonsillitis". And then I picked up a few more interesting words, words like "x-ray" and "tumor" and "cat scan".
Dear medical professionals: Your patients are not deaf. Well, most of them, anyway. If you want to discuss the scarier aspects of their cases, that's fine, but for the love of Pete, DO NOT DO IT WITHIN THEIR RANGE OF HEARING. Unless and until you are ready to discuss something with the patient, DO NOT discuss it in the hallway right outside of their room. That is all.
Sheesh.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Cripes. Is this the only joint your insurance will cover or can you seek other, more competent care elsewhere?
Blimey. That place sounds pretty horrendous and you sound so not well! Poor you! Take it easy and try not to worry about those 'other' words you overheard!
I know, easier said that done...
The medical practice I visit is pretty well regarded in the area. (Which, come to think of it, is really not saying much.) In order to get anything better, I'd have to go out of the area, which would be a pain in the butt, driving-wise, in the wintertime.
Hopefully the meds will clear this up and we can avoid the scary words.
I'd just like to be able to eat a meal without having to wait for the Vicodin to kick in so I can swallow, you know?
Post a Comment