Our Adventure to the Emergency Room

Unfortunately, Chris did not improve from Tuesday night's sleep-a-thon.  He'd had a headache that waxed and waned for 4 days and was feeling terrible.  His temp was 100.3.  I called Meg to come put the kids to bed and Chris and I headed out to Patient First.  She graciously agreed and we left about 7:30pm.  We saw a physician and she examined Chris.  She thought he may have a sinus infection, his fever was 101.3 but he really didn't have the congestion usually associated.  She was perplexed by his headache.  She checked him to see if there was stiffness in his neck in an attempt to rule out menengitis.  She wondered if the headache and the fever were two separate issues.  She asked Chris if this is the "worst headache of his life".  Chris said, "Yes, this is the worst headache of my life.  Pain is at a 9 or 10."  The doctor felt like he needed a CT Scan which they cannot do at Patient First.  So, she suggested we go to an emergency room.  I said that we'd go to MCV and she said, "you know there are ERs that have shorter wait times."  We agreed but told her that it made more sense financially, especially for an expensive CT Scan, to go to MCV.  The nurse from Patient First was going to call MCV to alert them that Chris was on his way.  So, off we went, it was 9:15pm.  

We arrived at MCV ER and Chris was quickly triaged and registered with demographics and financial information.  And then we waited, and waited, and waited....  The waiting room was busy and I enjoyed some good people-watching. I didn't bring my magazines since I was thinking of all the magazines at Patient First. Who knew we'd end up in an ER without any magazines! Chris felt pretty bad but was a trooper, trying to close his eyes and put his head on my shoulder some.  At about 11:30pm, Chris was called back.  I got to join him at 12:00am after they had examined him (annoying MCV ER policy).   

The examination part of the ER was a busy place too.  There were 2 or 3 prisoners in our section of the ER so we saw mutliple Dept. of Corrections guards (one or two were asleep on the job, a little concerning although the patient was clearly asleep too).  And Chris's "room" was a gurney in the hallway.  So, we faced an exam room w/ a hispanic man who just moaned and moaned and talked about his stomach pain in Spanish.  Let's call him "Juan".  Juan was interesting and helped give Chris and I some much needed entertainment.  Poor Juan, he was in lots of pain, clearly and he just wanted AGUA (water)!  He kept begging for it and the nurse, who was trying to be patient kept trying to explain to him in English, mainly, that since he needed tests, he couldn't have water.  I did finally tell the nurse that she could say, "photographia de estomago" to help him understand the test he was going to have.  She was appreciative.  She did bring in an interpreter later to explain more when the test and medicince came around (much better cultural competency). Back to Juan...Chris and I kept catching him drink from the faucet when the nurse wasn't watching.  He then started to wander the halls looking for a bathroom.  Apparently he'd been caught in the staff lounge looking for agua.  The nurse kept telling him to stay in his room and sit on his bed.  The most hilarious part was his underwear.  Yes, his underwear!  He had on the hospital gown but in the back he had his low-rider pants and boxers you could see.  The boxers were light pink and said BOMB.  I thought this was funny and kept catching the medical professionals giggling about it.  We were very close to the nurse's station so I got to eavesdrop on the multiple conversations.  Later, after Juan's CT Scan and he was given juego de manzana (apple juice), he still was thirsty.  I made a quick run to Chickfila at 1:30am (since it closed at 2am) because Chris was feeling hungry.  So, when I returned, Juan started asking me if he could drink Chris's drink.  This was annoying.  Chris was dozing some on the gurney.  I went to find his nurse.  She again told him to sit down and "no mas agua!"  The most hilarious part is the nurse left and Juan began to wander again, moaning through the area, and when the nurse came back to check on him, he was returning to his room.  She looked at me and said, "Do you think he got something to drink?"  I looked at Juan and he had water all down his gown.  In my delirious state, I couldn't stop giggling and had to walk away so Juan wouldn't see me laughing at him. 

In the meantime, Chris got the CT Scan which MCV did because they felt like they should take the concerns of Patient First's doctor seriously.  Dr. Reid was the MCV doctor and she was wonderful!  She was honest that if Chris had come there initially, they probably wouldn't have done the CT, but since Patient First examined him and were requesting it, they did it.  Thankfully, the CT Scan was normal.  They felt like that was a good rule out of menengitis, especially since Chris had no stiffining in his neck.  Chris's neurological exam was good so they were not too concerned about aneurysm, although the CT doesn't rule that out completely.  The next test would be a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) but Dr. Reid didn't think that was necessary, and would give him a whole different headache, most likely, and Chris and I felt like it wasn't necessary at this point.  They gave Chris a liter of IV fluids and anti-nausea medication (I can't think of the name).  Chris began to eat and drink and seemed to feel better.  He was definitely ready to leave!  I was too!  It was 2:00am or so.  Dr. Reid gave him Fioricet before he was discharged and gave him a prescription for it at home.  They told us some warning signs to look for regarding aneurysm and let us leave.  We left around 2:45.  I ran through the cold, dark city night to get to the car so I could pick Chris up.  It was cold and creepy, so I quickly got to the car.  There was a lady, I always seem to find "angels" in these crisis-like situations, she saw me running to my car and asked if I was okay.  I just said that I was "creeped out" and was trying to get to a car.  She said that she was with 3 people and she was nervous to be out at that time of night.  She said she saw me running and wanted to make sure I was okay.  She watched me get into my car safely.  I thanked her.  I thought that was very kind for her to think about me and my safety. 

Oh, back to Juan.  It got more interesting.  Juan started to hiccup.  He was walking around his "room" and in our space continuing to moan.  I said to Chris, "he's going to throw up".  The next thing you know, Chris sees him making himself throw up.  And then it continues, and he continues to walk around into our area.  Chris gets up from his gurney and Dr. Reid can see him from the nurse's station.  She said, "Oh, you're feeling better since you're up walking around."  Chris and I smiled and explained that Juan is throwing up and we're afraid we're going to get sprayed.  We said that if we wanted to get puked on, we could get that at home with our precious kiddos.  Dr. Reid said, "Where's his nurse?"  Here comes his nurse, she said "sit down, do not get up".  I had mixed feelings.  I felt so bad for him and could tell he was in pain but at the same time, he was really getting on my nerves.  At least I was entertained.  I hope Juan is doing better this morning.

Chris and I got home by 3:05am and we woke Meg up.  Meg was asleep on the couch.  She was concerned about Chris and was relieved that the CT Scan was normal.  She reported that the kids did fine.  Ian had his normal crying and waking from a dream.  Meg reassured Ian that he was okay and she said he went back to sleep although she isn't sure he was really awake.  I started Meg's car for her in hopes that it would be somewhat warm for her drive across the neighborhood.  I feel so blessed to have Meg and Erik in the neighborhood!  It was so wonderful for Meg to come over and be there for the kids.  I knew they were safe.  Thanks Meg!

So, Chris and I were in bed by 3:30am and Ian was up talking to Chris by 6:15am.  Chris told him to play in his room and although it was kind of loud, he did a pretty good job but it was a disaster.  I then started to hear Ruby.  So, by 6:30am I was in the shower getting ready for work.  Chris got up briefly "to help me" but I convinced him to back to bed.  He reported that his throbbing pain was gone.  So, I hope he will start to improve and the head pain will stay away.  The ER had given him a work release slip for today.  I called his boss on the way to work and took his prescription to Walgreens.  His boss, Emily, was very understanding and appreciated my call.  She hoped he'd feel better soon. 

I scheduled for Chris to follow-up w/ his primary care doctor on Monday morning. 

So, I returned to MCV 5 hours later to start my job.  Please say a prayer that Chris continues to feel better and thank God for a normal CT Scan.  Also, please keep Charlotte and her family in your prayers.

Until the next adventure...