Monday, December 22, 2008

an apple a day

It's been a while, my friends.

I have just gotten through a pretty tough week from being horribly ill. I started to feel ill last Saturday about an hour into visiting with my crafting group. I felt horribly cold and knew something was wrong when I was the only person wrapped up tight in a blanket and couldn't keep myself from trembling.

By the time I got home K got the thermometer to check out my temperature since I felt like my face and breath was on fire. When he put the thermometer into my mouth it was there for like ten seconds and he grabbed it from my mouth. I told him he needed to wait for the beep before taking it out. What I didn't know was he was watching the numbers roll upwards at a quick pace which made him think there was something wrong with the thermometer. He double checked the thermometer, shook it a bit, and reset it. I could see the worry on his face as he watched the thermometer's digital screen as it was resting in my mouth. 103.7 was my temperature. I asked K to check Google to see if I needed to go to the emergency room. K found that 104 was the magic number for the ER. I took some cold/flu meds and stayed prone on the couch for a while before deciding to go to bed. By 2 or 3 a.m. my temp. was finally around 102 which made us both feel better. I dreaded having to go to the ER so I was pretty happy.

A high fever, Montezuma's Revenge, and vomiting was my sentence for the week. I got ill Saturday night and by Tuesday I had already lost ten pounds. I also set a doc's appt. for Tuesday. My doc told me my liver was abnormally large and there was blood in my urine. She mentioned the possibility of Hepatitis A. She immediately then told me Hep A wasn't contagious and that it wouldn't stick with me. I was relieved by that but still horrified that it could be Hep A, which she came up with that because of my recent trip to Mexico. She also thought my kidneys were challenged because they hurt and I had blood in my urine. I was pretty dehydrated so that was a fair assessment. She sent me off to Memorial to get outpatient lab results done. By 3 p.m. I was done with doc appt. and lab samples.

My doc told me if I had any questions to give her a call any time and that she in turn would call me first thing either that evening before close of business or by morning the next day. By the next day I waited until around 9 a.m. and finally gave her office a call and was told the doc would call me back regarding my lab results since they were all in.

I called back at 2 and was told doc would call me back. Finally, I called in at 4 and was put thru to this assistant/nurse. I told her that I was told my lab results were in and I had been waiting for my doc to go over them with me. She then plainly states: "All your results are normal." I'm like: "That's great. Um...so everything is normal and I guess no meds? I'm like to recover as is and that's that? I'm like good?" The assistant then says in not such a pleasant tone: "Well, what else do you want me to say?" I was a bit shocked and my heartbeat started to speed up as the anger started to wash over me and I asked, "pardon?" I hear nothing but silence. I ask again, "pardon? could you repeat yourself?" Silence.

I hang up the phone shaking a bit. I start to tear up from the anger and frustration of it all. Here I am feeling weak, hungry, in pain, and can't stay away from the restroom for even 15 minutes and I'm starting to cry. I try to suck back the tears and start to laugh at myself because I'm so dehydrated that I cannot waste even a single tear. I cannot remember ever seeing a doctor before who I couldn't get a hold of, who wouldn't call me back, and who's staff was clearly not friendly to the clientelle.

I call the doc's office about three more times to constantly be put on hold, which I'm sure by now these people are like sick of me. However, I think I am more sick of them at this point. Finally, my doctor is on the phone. She tells me that SOME of my lab results are in and they were still waiting on the rest of them, but the ones that were in showed everything was normal. She was mostly concerned about my liver and it was functioning as it should so that was a relief to all. After we speak for a while about the results I tell her about the treatment I got from one of her employees. She kind of blows it off in a laughing manner telling me, "Oh, we all have frogs in our throats and everyone sounds a lot gruffer than they intend." I just say, "oh. well, i hope it was just a miscommunication and she didn't intend to be rude to me." What else could I say.

So, Tuesday was my doc's appt. No diagnosis, no meds, no relief. By late Friday I finally get a call from the doc's office giving me the rest of my results which finally concludes that I had food poisoning. They ask if I wanted anti-biotics and I'm like...uh, I'm finally recovering so I guess not.

What a miserable week that was and I don't recommend it to anyone. I don't recommend the food poisoning or my doctor. Thank goodness I didn't die somewhere between being looked at and then ignored and finally remembered.

I'll be shopping around for a new doctor.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, that was a long bought of food poisoning! I'd change drs immediately. Hep A isn't that big a deal, I caught it in preschool and recovered quickly and the liver is an organ with amazing ability to recover. Atleast you didn't get the lab results back that you were pregnant. I thought I had the flu and went thru a rectal exam (with scope!), and no one thought to do a preg test. Days went by, dr shrugged and no diagnosis. Denial works like a charm, I guess.

Anonymous said...

my poor sweetcheeks! i'm so glad you survived!!

KB said...

Ugh. That's so frustrating. Write them a letter! I love writing letters to companies that have done me wrong. I do also write letters of praise to balance out things.

I've only had food poisoning once and that was enough for me.

Ruby said...

after reading this, i am even happier than before that you came to see Fingers and Lips! Dang, girl! they did you wrong!

i am so glad you are feeling better.
;)

Mary T-Allen said...

Sonnie, I'm so happy you're okay and so sorry you've been sick. I am so mad about the way that doctor done you wrong! First of all, it was HER being rude for not calling you as she said she would and not being available when you took matters into your own hands. And frog in the throat my foot! I'm glad you complained. Do shop around. Unfortunately, due to insurance, most practices are stretched so thin that that doctor will likely not miss any business, but it is still shameful the way you were treated. I'm glad you're back on the sunny side of life. XOXO

Zay said...

Thanks everyone for making me feel justified and not just a horrible whiny baby. xoxo.

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin