On top of everything I have been unable to log into the site. Here I am , minus a UTERUS!!!! Believe me when I tell you that in my situation it is better to be an ordinary citizen than to be "found out" as I was, as a nurse.
Deep breath, and sooo happy to tell this story:
2002, still suffering from heavy periods, cramping, bloating etc. Found a female OBG I could relate to who reassurred me that she would persue every avenue to help me thru this, did a D & C, tried the vivelle patch. I am 48 years old, always been underweight and anemic, no ther health problems. Finally had a bout of break thru bleeding that left me with a low crit, did an US, found numerous fibroids which had imbedded and were close to the cervical os, had hubby in exam room for options, she said a TVH scheduled for the 13th. No ther explaination given. Had a preop appt. on the 12th, she said "you need to come in early for an IV ATB for your CARDIAC INSUFFICIENCY" I said "WHAT?" she said "yes, it was diagnosed back in 2005 during an echo" I was nervous and upset but all systems were a go. Sorry guys, you have no idea what I have been thru....
So day of surgery, I shower, shave and had done the bowel prep the afternoon before (nasty stuff, don't advise) and packed up to go down the street. Whisked me off right under my husbands nose into the ROOM. The preop nurse says to me as I am following her, "OH! I see that you are a nurse, that makes my job easy! You already know what to expect!" She leads me into a room and says, there is your gown, your teds and sequentials, go ahead and get yourself ready and we will be back to take you to surgery!!!!
I am SCREAMING inside, I have no idea what to expect but do as I am told, no help even though I am shaking an nervous. Soon the nurse comes back, sits at the bedside and initiates a chat about WHERE I WORK, THE MONEY I MAKE and how I can refer her to a registry!!!! You guys would not believe the bruising on my forearms from when they tried to start the IV, at 1 point the nurse handed me the IV start kit and said, "Well, your a nurse, you can most likely find a vein". I wanted to VOMIT. I kept telling them that I was a patient just like anyone else but I felt like Alice falling thru the rabbit hole.
By now the anesthetist comes in, repeahs the same thing, shoots me up and the next thing I remember is being in a bed on the unit with 02, IV and FC. Hubby there looking totally flustared and hearing the staffer sya "Good thing your wife is a nurse, you don't need us anymore, see you in the morning!" . I was on an MS drip and so uncomfortable, with a gut like I was 9months pregnant, I could play taps on my abd. That and the floppy FC it was MISERABLE. The nursing staff IGNORED me, my MD has not spoken with me except to poke her head in the door the following day for all of 60 seconds, sent me home with no meds, no F/U UGH.
Sorry, long rant, hubby grabs a WC , get's me to the car, home, tucked up in bed, my H& H was low per AM RN, I am shivering, running a temp 99.8 per tempadot, not much spotting, aching now I'm off MS, took some advil, taking fluids, scanty urine OP but no pain, hell I've been on MS right?
Finally the pain begins. I call at 4:30 to my MD, some guy answers, I tell him I need to speak to my doc, HE TELLS ME TO TAKE SOME ADVIL AND CALL BACK TOMORROW!!!! I explain to him exactely what I had done!
You guys are great! Thanks for hanging in! About 15 minutes later a person from the med group calls to confirm a scrip for vicodin, which my darling picked up within a few hours. So as far as pain issues, I'm OK, however, I did not know that my ovaries would GO INTO SHOCK and I had hot flashes and crying jags at the drop of a hat. I called and spoke with a nurse at this med center who said it was OK to allpy the vivelle patch which has helped.
Today, I am finally coherent yet not resting, I check my bank account to find that this group took money out of my account in duplicate as a co payment for the procedure!!!! I called the business office and ONLY then did the business manager spend a few minutes on the phone explaining the post op instructions, namely that I am OFF WORK FOR 6 WEEKS!!!! I was breathless with exasperation and totally annoyed at this point when she said " YOUR A NURSE, I THOUGHT YOU WOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT"
So, here I am in testosterone heaven, my darling husband has no idea how to take care of me, my sister just took off my a much needed vacation in Kauii, Mother and Dad are in Palm Springs, I need some feed back from my beloved peers as to any experiences you have had as an inpatient. I am really concerned about the lack of follow up from this MD, I have gotten a follow up phone call from my dentist when I had a root canal, am I being over sensitive here? I am a bedside RN who does mostly med surg, my original posting is Haunted but I can't log in, your feed back would be appreciated. I may not be able to log back in to reply but I can read if you respond and I value your opinions, as always, Haunted aka Laurie Again, thanks so much for being there.
