No, not instant messaging. Intra-muscular. Last night's nurse (with whom I've totally bonded) decided to stop digging around in my arm (now that I've started watching intently, yeah--that's what they're doing. If she has to pull the needle all the way out, she has to pop open a new one for the next stick. So she tries wiggling it about as much as possible which is why my forearm looks like one big bruise) and ask if I could have the meds IM instead of IV.
Turns out toradol cannot be mixed with the other drugs because it crystallises. She gave me a toradol shot to the shoulder.
DAMN.
That was painful.
The rest of the drugs went into the glute. Biggest shot the nurse said she'd ever given someone all at once. I love to be a nurse's first time...not.
Communicating with my GP it seems that IM is not desirable. It certainly comes on slower, and that doesn't bode well. So I guess it's back to the old snipe hunt for my veins. I feel like such the delicate flower.
Shots worked, though. I'm feeling much improved over this time yesterday. So even if it wasn't optimal, it was still effective.
Now my specialist just has to get back to me with the referral he mentioned.
Showing posts with label dilaudid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dilaudid. Show all posts
27 November, 2007
29 August, 2007
Third's the charm
I waited at UCLA Westwood for hours, and it never felt like I was getting closer to the front of the line. Understandably they had higher priority patients. Much of the ER staff vanished up to the helipads to bring in trauma patients.
So we went to Century City Doctor's Hospital. I checked at it was Dr. Asshole on duty, so we picked up and headed for UCLA Santa Monica. New ER, twice the number of beds of the old ER.
Got through triage in a snap, and got attention fairly quickly. But they started me off with morphine, which didn't hit the headache that well. By the time all was said and done I had 8+mg of dilaudid, two doses of Benadryl, one of Toradol, and an anti-emetic whose name I didn't catch.
Broke the migraine too, nice and solidly. It's over 24 hours since I decided I had to go in, and I'm only having a slight headache right now.
I have to give their ER the thumbs up. Clean, and all the staff was very nice and attentive--a screaming baby was put next to me and they moved me as soon as they noticed.
The completist in me feels I should have tried St John's Hospital, but the rest of me is quite okay with not knowing everything about every hospital within a few miles of my home.
So we went to Century City Doctor's Hospital. I checked at it was Dr. Asshole on duty, so we picked up and headed for UCLA Santa Monica. New ER, twice the number of beds of the old ER.
Got through triage in a snap, and got attention fairly quickly. But they started me off with morphine, which didn't hit the headache that well. By the time all was said and done I had 8+mg of dilaudid, two doses of Benadryl, one of Toradol, and an anti-emetic whose name I didn't catch.
Broke the migraine too, nice and solidly. It's over 24 hours since I decided I had to go in, and I'm only having a slight headache right now.
I have to give their ER the thumbs up. Clean, and all the staff was very nice and attentive--a screaming baby was put next to me and they moved me as soon as they noticed.
The completist in me feels I should have tried St John's Hospital, but the rest of me is quite okay with not knowing everything about every hospital within a few miles of my home.
14 August, 2007
About last week
Monday's migraine stayed all day, and worsened towards the evening. I couldn't see any way of making it disappear with what I had to hand, so ER it was.
In many ways the visit was crazy and confusing, but I'd say the most basic problem was that when I woke up there around 3 in the morning, still in pain, I wasn't able to get more pain medication for two or three hours. Report is that I metabolise this stuff very quickly, so the more space inbetween doses, the less efficaceous it is.
I'm not going to harsh on the ER in question for that delay--there had been a fight involving staff and a patient, and my nurse needed medical attention himself. It was just unfortunate all round.
At about 7 they asked the fish-or-cut-bait question, and I decided to fish, to get admitted so they could administer more pain medication and monitor my vitals.
Oy.
Each ER visit costs me $75. Not inconsiderable. Any given admission means the ER cost is waived, but then it'll cost $250.
For a long time Tuesday morning I regarded my breakfast as the most expensive ever, because no one came to see me.
They sent in nurses, to take readings. I complained to them that if I wasn't going to get medication, they should just let me go home.
They sent in a psychiatrist, because they saw anti-depressants on my chart. We chatted, and I finished by telling him that I didn't currently have a drug or alcohol problem, but was considering developing one since I couldn't get painkillers.
That brought Patient Relations in, and my answer to "What can we do for you?" was still the same "Get me a doctor, or get me discharged."
Eventually a doctor came in, examined me, and decided they'd do PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia). Except he wouldn't write the orders, the pain specialist was.
Great. Another wait. Pretty sure they didn't get going until the afternoon. If not for the free internet access, I would probably have just started walking home. Not only could I take better-than-nothing painkillers there, the food was palatable. This hospital said they served Wolfgang Puck food, but it was pretty disgusting.
For PCA they give a breakthrough dose of 4mg of Dilaudid (I'd had 6 the previous night in the ER), and then the patient is allowed to administer 1mg at a time, no more often than once every fifteen minutes.
Should there be a big gap in there, they start again with the breakthough.
Needless to say, I had a big gap--the IV slipped out of place and blood and saline were being squirted everywhere. Took me forever to get a nurse in (don't have anything happen around shift change), and he made it sound like I'd purposefully removed the needle.
Yeah, sure. That makes sense.
Also during my stay I had a neurologist come in and suggest changing my anti-depressant medication and dosage. He was also very negative about the idea of me actually using the PCA. Unfortunately I'm hella suggestible that way, and did back off it until the pain guy came in again and made me feel silly.
I ended up leaving Wednesday afternoon, still in pain, but a little less. In fact, I felt pretty good until getting out of the car, at which point everything crashed in on me. Taken upstairs, put to bed, waking up a few more times in a lot of pain, but it ended up ebbing to about a 5 by the time I went to sleep.
Hmmpf. Having been admitted to both UCLA Westwood and Century City Doctor's Hospital I really REALLY really don't want to be admitted again.
But mostly I don't want to feel like hospital is the only reasonable option, ER or no.
In many ways the visit was crazy and confusing, but I'd say the most basic problem was that when I woke up there around 3 in the morning, still in pain, I wasn't able to get more pain medication for two or three hours. Report is that I metabolise this stuff very quickly, so the more space inbetween doses, the less efficaceous it is.
I'm not going to harsh on the ER in question for that delay--there had been a fight involving staff and a patient, and my nurse needed medical attention himself. It was just unfortunate all round.
At about 7 they asked the fish-or-cut-bait question, and I decided to fish, to get admitted so they could administer more pain medication and monitor my vitals.
Oy.
Each ER visit costs me $75. Not inconsiderable. Any given admission means the ER cost is waived, but then it'll cost $250.
For a long time Tuesday morning I regarded my breakfast as the most expensive ever, because no one came to see me.
They sent in nurses, to take readings. I complained to them that if I wasn't going to get medication, they should just let me go home.
They sent in a psychiatrist, because they saw anti-depressants on my chart. We chatted, and I finished by telling him that I didn't currently have a drug or alcohol problem, but was considering developing one since I couldn't get painkillers.
That brought Patient Relations in, and my answer to "What can we do for you?" was still the same "Get me a doctor, or get me discharged."
Eventually a doctor came in, examined me, and decided they'd do PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia). Except he wouldn't write the orders, the pain specialist was.
Great. Another wait. Pretty sure they didn't get going until the afternoon. If not for the free internet access, I would probably have just started walking home. Not only could I take better-than-nothing painkillers there, the food was palatable. This hospital said they served Wolfgang Puck food, but it was pretty disgusting.
For PCA they give a breakthrough dose of 4mg of Dilaudid (I'd had 6 the previous night in the ER), and then the patient is allowed to administer 1mg at a time, no more often than once every fifteen minutes.
Should there be a big gap in there, they start again with the breakthough.
Needless to say, I had a big gap--the IV slipped out of place and blood and saline were being squirted everywhere. Took me forever to get a nurse in (don't have anything happen around shift change), and he made it sound like I'd purposefully removed the needle.
Yeah, sure. That makes sense.
Also during my stay I had a neurologist come in and suggest changing my anti-depressant medication and dosage. He was also very negative about the idea of me actually using the PCA. Unfortunately I'm hella suggestible that way, and did back off it until the pain guy came in again and made me feel silly.
I ended up leaving Wednesday afternoon, still in pain, but a little less. In fact, I felt pretty good until getting out of the car, at which point everything crashed in on me. Taken upstairs, put to bed, waking up a few more times in a lot of pain, but it ended up ebbing to about a 5 by the time I went to sleep.
Hmmpf. Having been admitted to both UCLA Westwood and Century City Doctor's Hospital I really REALLY really don't want to be admitted again.
But mostly I don't want to feel like hospital is the only reasonable option, ER or no.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
