Monday, March 15, 2010

Pain in the Postpartum Ward (not for the squeamish)

Once the ER decided to admit me to the hospital it was determined I'd be going into "overflow." I was wheeled into the "Postpartum Ward" and down the hall, far, far away from the nurses station.  I later learned the four elderly patients in the Postpartum ward were there so we could have private rooms.  I didn't ask for a private room, nor did I care whether or not I had one.  There were two things I did care about;  I needed to stay on my bipolar drugs and I needed the nurses to stay ahead of the pain.  And here might be the clues to some of the very bad care I got there.

I'm allergic to narcotics.  In order for me to be able to take a narcotic, it's introduction into my system must be preceded by a good anti-nausea drug.  If not given an anti-nausea drug, I vomit until the narcotic is out of my system.  That's just the way I roll. This in itself should alert the nurses administering my pain medication that if I'm screaming in pain, I'm not faking it so I can get more narcotics. I am not fond of narcotics.

Once taken out of the ER and into the Postpartum Ward nurses would give me a pill for anti-nausea and within seconds of my swallowing the pill they would inject the Dilaudid directly into the IV port.  So the narcotic would hit my system immediately while the anti-nausea drug had to be digested.  In my opinion this is a very bad policy since it cause unnecessary vomiting.  In the ER they injected the anti-nausea drug into my IV port prior to injecting the Dilaudid.  So when I was wheeled onto the Postpartum Ward I wasn't in pain.  This gave me a moment's lucidity to notice my surroundings.  I had a private room.  I hadn't asked for a private room, so I asked about that.  Why a private room?  I was told that the hospital was making an effort to turn every room into a private room.  Nice, fine, but now I have questions about billing.  Will I be charged for a private room I didn't request?  Is that a cockroach crawling across the dirty squares of the acoustical tile ceiling above my bed?  I checked the drawers in the bedside chest.  In the old days, there would have been a little stainless steel kidney shaped pan to vomit in.  There would also be a cheap tooth brush, a small tube of toothpaste, and a low-rent comb.  All three drawers were empty.  I asked for something to vomit into and was given a big pink plastic tub (much like the tub I use at home to scrub floors with).  There was no washcloth, no towel in the bathroom.  Since I'd come into the ER dehydrated as well as having an abscess in my colon there was a little container in the toilet to capture urine so my "output" could be measured and charted.  Several times the nurses neglected to measure my "output" resulting in the shocking experience of sitting on the toilet and finding myself actually sitting in my own urine. I just dumped the "output" into the toilet water and then replaced the empty container so I could pee.  Best medical care in the world, my ass.

There were times during my two night / two day stay when I was in such excruciating pain I was delirious and screaming for help.  I pushed the call button, waited a few minutes, pushed the call button again and eventually had a nurse answer the call with something like mild annoyance, saying "What do you need?"  "I'm in terrible pain."  " You aren't due for another shot for an hour."  "Somethings very wrong.  If you gave me the right dose of  painkiller I would be able to make it through to the next shot."  "Sorry.  Just try and relax."  And then speaker would click off.

A word about the Postpartum Ward: Changes in the insurance industry have probably made the Postpartum Ward obsolete.  These days you might as well have your baby in a turnip patch, because once that baby is out of your womb the hospital will be under pressure to get you home as fast as possible.  If you have postpartum problems they are more than likely going to be considered "a pre-existing condition," and you'll be given a pill to get you through it.  Hopefully you won't kill hubby and the five children you already have.  But since there is no postpartum care these days that requires an entire ward, the hospital has a ward it isn't using.  So, lucky me; I was "overflow" and sent to the Postpartum Ward, where the rooms at the far end of the ward were private rooms, probably reserved for the lucky wives of wealthy men who could afford a private room to keep their batty wives in until the "baby blues" were over.

My second night I had a pain crisis at shift change.  I don't know if the day nurse had given me a dose of dilaudid before she left, but the poor night nurse had to face a screaming, sobbing me, hanging doubled over on the medical device from which my IV bags were hanging, to show up in front of the nurses station.  The aid was reading a book with his feet propped up on a chair.  I was upset that I was in so much pain, but I was also worried that they weren't giving me my bipolar medications in accurate doses or on time. To the night nurses credit, she did not snap back at me.  She remained calm as I screamed at her, tears of pain and frustration running down my face.  I had a major melt down that I believe was entirely unnecessary, avoidable, and detrimental to my health.  Had they controlled my pain, none of that would have happened.  But I think that went in my medical record in a way that allowed then to consider my cries of pain as the ravings of a drug seeking lunatic.

I survived the night; the next morning I was feeling better.  The antibiotics and flagyl were working and the night nurse had kept my pain under control.  But with the arrival of my clear liquid diet (more on that in another piece) came the new Day Nurse.  Let's call her Bambie.  First time I noticed her in my room was when she came in to take my vitals.  I had MSNBC on the tube.  Nancy Pelosi was being interviewed.  Bambie wrinkled her lovely nose and said, "Who is she?"  I said, "That's Nancy Pelosi."  She asked, "What does she do?"  I said, "She's the Speaker of the House."  She asked, "What's that?"
While I was pondering whether or not to attempt to educate Bambie on the workings of the United States Congress, a tall, thin, redheaded, freckled faced man walked into my room.  He said, "Hi, I'm Chris Rock from Risk Assessment.  How are we treating you?"  I burst out laughing and asked for his businness card.  While I was glancing at his card I saw Bambie take my medical history and covertly, but not very expertly, draw Chris Rock's attention to the malady listed top of the page.  She pointed to it with one hand as she held it with the other.  They both raised their eyebrows at the same times as if they were saying, "Well, that explains a lot."  I said, "Bambie, what is that paper in your hand and why are you showing it to him?"
"It's just your medical record."
"Is bipolar listed at the top of that page?"
Silence
Chris Rock says, "Why would that matter?"
"It might make you think, 'No need to take her seriously, she's just crazy.'  If you want to know why I'm in the hospital, ask me!  If you want permission to take a peek at my medical records ask me; you're in my room (My volume is rising). And you, Bambie, you have just broken the law. You have shown someone my medical records without my permission,  That, you stupid bitch, is against the law.  Get the fuck out of my room."  They both stand in stunned silence.

I stand up.  Once again I say, "Get the fuck out of my room!"  This time I add, "Both of you!"  Neither of them moves, but they do look at each other and then back at me.  "If you don't leave my room instantly I'm ripping this god damn IV port out of my arm and calling a cab."  I start peeling the tape off my arm.  Chris Rock says, "That will really hurt."  I say, "I don't give a shit."  Get out of my way.  By now Bambie is backing out of my room.  But Chris Rock is holding steady.  I advance on him, and the last thing he says before he backs out of my room is, "Insurance won't pay if you leave before you're discharged."  That was the only helpful thing he said.  I shouted "Where is my doctor?  Call him now."

I called the hospital operator and ask for the hospital Ombudsman.  She asks "what's that?"  But then puts me through to a number.  The phone rings about five times and then a mans voice answers.  I say "Is this the Ombudsman?"  He says, "What's that?"  I ask, "Is this Chris Rock?"  

I grab my the thingy my IV bags are hanging from and start stomping down the hall to go outside and have a smoke.  Up ahead of me I see Bambie coming out of a room and I call out, "Run Bambie. Run!"

16 comments:

LeAnn said...

Peggy I am so sorry you're in pain but5 oh God you made me laugh! Not sure if I should be penitent about that. You remind me of Harlan Ellison one of my favorite people in the world. I don't know if you know who that is, but I can hardly give a better compliment. Hope you're better very very soon

Princess Beth of Palm Springs said...

Oh Utah! The thought of you in the hospital with those two, Bambie and Chris Rock, has me laughing so hard! How can a person survive that type of hospital care? The best medicine you received was your friends homemade chicken soup when you arrived home. Now try to relax, feel better, and sue their asses! Your next story must be titled, "Run Bambie Run! Oh my, I'm still laughing! From Princess Beth of sunny Palm Springs...

Utah Savage said...

Well, girls, I'm glad you think it's funny, but Bambie and Chris Rock sure hate my ass.

Last time I saw Chris Rock we passed each other in the hallway. He handed me a card with a phone number on the back. I looked at it and laughed because there was a number but no person's name or title went along with the number. I laughed. He glared at me and said, "That wasn't very professional of you."

Utah Savage said...

LeAnn, thanks for the compliment. I only know A Boy and His Dog. Somehow Harlan Ellison flew under my book gobbling radar.

Unknown said...

Utah, I'm glad you let them both have it. This country is a mess. Thank you GW Bush you piece of shit.

Loran said...

I've been following your blog for awhile but have never commented until now. I think you are talking about the University of Utah hospital? If this is so, I am appalled at the lack of care you received. Having a mental illness (especially one you have managed for years compliantly) is no reason to be treated so inhumanely. It's positively frightening what happened to you there when so much pain could have been avoided had they listened to you. I hope you start feeling better soon.

I do have to admit that calling the idiot nurse who doesn't know who Nancy Pelosi is or what she does
Bambie is a nice touch.

Darklady said...

I spent nearly a month in the trauma unit of a hospital, followed by nearly a month in a nursing home. I was 28 and had (barely) survived after a rather horrible car accident.

(Flying VB Bug, meet pine tree 20 feet up.) These stories resonate with me in a big way.

anita said...

there is this dark corner of the medical world known as 'pain management.' for a number of reasons, hospital personnel are severely deficient in it. part of it has to do with the chance that the DEA will question the use of narcotics for any given patient. and secondly, and probably most importantely, is the number of health care professionals who totally lack empathy and see their patients like they are commodities, not people.

the fact that both "Bambie" and "Chris Rock" ignored your pain AND were so stupid as to think that by giving the anti-nausea medication concurrently with the dilaudid is completely outrageous.

Utah Savage said...

MM, Thanks for visiting.

It was not the University Hospital and more on that later. My grandfather the pedophile trainer and kiddie porn king of Salt Lake used to be this hospital's Chief of Staff. The hospital was much cleaner then, but he believed that if his patients didn't really feel the pain and end up with a lasting scar, they didn't get their money's worth.

Darklady, twenty feet off the ground in VW Bug doesn't sound like an "accident". I'm glad you recovered.

Anita, that is just exactly what I'm going to be taking up the the ombudsman and the doctor who treated me in the hospital. I think on of the nurses, and I'm sad to say it was the one I liked the best; smart, liberal, knowledgeable, but it was at the end of her shift and beginning of Night nurse shift that I'd need more pain meds. I'm thinking Nurse Jackie. Have you seen Nurse Jackie? Best TV series I've ever seen.

Fran said...

A good friend of mine had what she calls a "lights & sirens moment". Her family is notorious for kidney stones & she was passing one. Only the ambulance guy and the hospital staff were giving her the "it's all in your head" rap. Needless to say she wanted to grab their stethescope around their necks & insist it was in fact in her KIDNEY....
they put her in some overflow area, some abandoned wing with minimal staff.
She can;t handle Rx meds in general. But she was in a world of pain. She had asked several times over many hours for a freaking tylenol- which would not have touched the magnitude of pain, but at least help take the biting edge off..... to no avail.
She is such a kick in the pants, she put her clothes on & left the hospital to go to the corner store & by a bottle of tylenol. Worse, the skeleton staff did not even know she was gone!
She was recently back @ the urologists with both kidneys full of 13mm stones (too big to pass) & went through a hellish experience, dealing w meds post procedure.

As for me, if I am sick enough to be in the hospital, I want a private room. When I am sick, I tend to just need what I need ASAP & have little patience. I want bathroom access when I need it, quiet when I want it, and not have to deal with anything else.
I don;t want tv noise if I am going to hurl, and don;t want to put up with other people's visitors.
In fact after a total knee replacement surgery, a friend wanted to come visit & I advised, no right now, she did not want to visit. In fact I felt so crappy I did not even want to be with myself!

So anyway ride the wave. You are good at communicating what you need, and with any luck, Bambi will latch on to understanding you know the ropes of your own care. You know what your body can handle.

Just make sure when you check out, they don't try sending you home with a baby!

Utah Savage said...

Fran I'm home and going to see my internist today. I know I'm getting better since my back pain has come roaring back and they did not send me home with pain meds.

There is no hope for Bambie. She violated my hipaa rights

Alex@LateEnough said...

I get so frustrated with unprofessional and ignorant medical people. It's one of the reasons that giving up my medical career wasn't as hard as it shouldve been. I was shocked by the awful stuff the residents and attendings and nurse said about patients and each other. I could barely glare and someone would say something else.
I'm so glad that you called them out. As a student, I felt that I had to pick my battles and I still picked too many!
There are wonderful and caring nurses and doctors out there but they aren't as common as they should be. So when I find one, I keep them until I move away!

Madam Z said...

Peggy, you kick ass! If "laughter is the best medicine," you have made your readers feel better, and I hope you do too.

Life As I Know It Now said...

No one should have to put up with inferior health care but it's far too common indeed.

My SIL had an aneurysm that burst and brain surgery last fall. She survived but then got Mrsa and is going to have another surgery where a quarter sized chuck of her skull must be removed to get rid of the infection.

It's a nightmare for her right now.

I hope you get better soon.

Non Je Ne Regrette Rien said...

besides laughter and condolences, all I can add is my heartfelt gratitude that I now live in beautiful socialist utopia where the medical care is not only the best in the world ... but nearly free.

Wait. What? said...

Oh this was a so well written Peggy and the end: Run, Bambie, run! - hahahahaha!!!

P.S. I am sorry you were treated so badly, but thrilled you shared your story here.