I went in by ambulance through the ER, hesitant because I only other experience there was 20 years ago after a serious car crash and they tried to diagnose me enlarged prostate and I had to argue in the waiting room in front of everyone (who had become my friends after sitting there for five hours) that I was a natural-born female and had not had a six change operation. But the ER has changed greatly since then, and I was hopeful of a positive experience this time. I had to have an IV because I was severely dehydrated, and that's where things started to go south and I regretted being agreeable to the ambulance crew and not insisting to go elsewhere.
I guess it didn't dawn on any of the three nurses that tried that when you are severely dehydrated, your veins may not cooperate, and I had already told them that my veins are less than cooperative under the best of circumstances. I felt like a pincushion by the time they finally used an ultrasound to get a needle in my elbow joint, totally ignoring that I told them multiple times that normally others have to go in through my hands because too many IVs in the past have scarred my veins in my elbows. Again, my fault for trying to be nice and cooperate.
Fast forward to getting up to the room, finally, and I have never seen such a rundown and dirty room for being in a hospital. Sure, someone came through swishing a mop around after my first roommate left before the second one moved in, but the tile that acted as a baseboard had dust and grime all along the top edge and in the corners. After a few times walking 15 feet from my bed to the toilet, my feet got black. When I did wash up one morning, I stood on a couple of washcloths, and just shuffling around a little to dry off and put on the gown, the washcloths were black.
The toilet had a crack at the bottom where the water goes down that caught toilet paper and never flushed thoroughly without two or three additional flushes. And whoever came up with the genius design for the handrails attached to the toilet seat should have their head examined, because you can't spread your knees wide enough to wipe your butt, forcing me to stand up and bend over in an awkward position to wipe, which really isn't a good idea for someone having issues in the first place. The first time I used the toilet, I was having difficulty getting my legs to stop shaking so I could stand up so I pulled the call string. Somebody did come in, and when I asked, how am I supposed to wipe when I can't spread my legs, I was just told that I'd have to stand up and bend over. And the person then left with my legs still trembling, and I had to figure it out for myself. So much for their sign, saying safety over privacy and if you had a problem to call them for help.
IV that took them so much trouble and an ultrasound to get in to my elbow ended up getting kinked and not working, so they put a second one in at my hand where I freaking told them in the first place, but they wouldn't take out the one in my elbow in case they needed it to put in Any kind of other medication. Like, it's obviously not working, and it's pinching the heck out of me and hurting. I was on the verge of pulling it out myself on the second day when they finally can agreed to taking it out.
The first morning, I had to keep asking the nurses for one of my meds that they kept not getting for me, and finally ended up taking one out of my purse because my neuropathy was making my hands feel like they were on fire after she kept saying they didn't have any and when I told her I had some she just said "well I can't tell you to take it." At that point I just figured that she didn't tell me NOT to take it so I freaking took it. And of course got scolded later for taking my own meds.
I was in severe pain the first morning, and it took someone sitting in an administrative office across the hall from me looking up at me a couple of times while I was sitting on the edge of my bed, crying and shaking from the pain before someone finally got around to actually giving me my pain meds.
The second morning, the nurse wondered why my blood pressure was high, and I had to remind her twice that it was because I had already been awake for over three hours and they hadn't gotten around to giving me my blood pressure meds yet. I guess it was more important for her to report to the desk like all staff were paged to do and then do the multiple things that she said she had to do when first coming on shift for her to actually remember about my meds? You would think that would be one of those first things on your shift?
When they came into the room in the middle of the night to see one of the two patients, they just flip the overhead light on without thinking that the other patient may be trying to sleep.
...I am now adding note to my emergency info card in my wallet that says do not ever take me to Mercy Hospital under any circumstances. read more