aspiration

Four days ago I suddenly developed terrible pain in my right flank area. The pain got better when I stood up and walked around. I could not stand to lie down that night but was able to sleep a little in a sitting up position. The next day I made an appointment with my doctor who checked my urine but did not see any blood in my urine. I did have some elevated wbc in my urine so she thought I might just have a kidney infection. She told me come back if pain worse. I was feeling ok maybe even a little silly because my pain wasn't that bad at this point. I went back home and tried to lie back down and the horrible pain started again. I decided I needed to go to ER to get some relief and had my mom drive me. On the way there I started feeling silly about going to ER because pain was feeling better but thought I need to get this checked out. When I spoke to triage nurse, I felt OK and told her pain was 2. She told me she needed urine sample. Right after urinating the pain started again and it was getter worse than before. My urine still did not have blood in it and they really didn't think I had an infection either. The pain was getting worse I paced the floor and tried to breath. By the time I got a ER room, my pain was totally unbearable. The ER nurse gave me a shot of dilaudid in my hip because I had no IV. For the next 30 minutes or so, I stood at the top of my stretcher trying not to scream. I was sweating a little and the thought that I might pass out came into my mind. I thought if I have to live with this I will shoot myself. I couldn't do anything but pray for the pain to stop. I have never felt so much pain or even know it was possible to have that much pain. I felt like something moved in my back then caught again forcing me to jerk. It hurt to breath or talk. I had pain and spasms in my back. I couldn't stand to get the snot out of my nose from crying because it hurt to suck in or blow. Finally, the pain stopped and I sat on bed. It was probably 2 hours later I had scan for kidney stones. I had been to bathroom before scan.I was scanned for PE, stones, and even had cardiac markers done. (Not sure why cardiac markers except I felt like I couldn't breath from pain) The doctor comes in and tells me nothing is wrong with me. He says if I had already passed the stone it should have been seen in my bladder. He says he can see a couple of small stones in my left kidney but not my right. He says my right kidney should show some swelling if I had stone. He says I might have something going on with my spine but would need MRI to determine that. I was glad nothing serious was found but now I am like if this is a bad back I can't live with that. I will have to have surgery. Now it has been two days since the ordeal and I am only slightly soar. I have no problem bending, turning, or any position. I don't think I need an MRI. I really think this had to be a kidney stone so my question is this. Could I have passed the stone and not show any evidence of it if I passed it before my CT scan? I do NOT want to go through that again but there is nothing wrong with me now and I don't want an unnecessary MRI either. Please tell me your thoughts on this or if you have seen patients present like me before. I have not worked with many patients with kidney stones. Most of my experience is with cardiac patients. Thanks. Sorry so long!

At last, someone who can chart correctly.

Agreed, the conditions in Africa are horrible. I have read everything I can on Ebola since this outbreak. I do find it fascinating but scary at the same time. I looked up videos from Sierra Leone to see what living conditions of some of the people were like. It almost made me cry. Some of the poorest live near rivers filled with trash that washes down from the town above them into their huts during the rainy season which is this time of year. Sanitation is very very poor. I have to give my respect to the healthcare workers in that area trying to make it better.

So, I am no Psych. nurse but I always found it interesting. What interests me about some of the people who are most depressed is that they are the ones who always seem to be making others laugh like Robin Williams. Is this some kind of coping mechanism? Of course, I don't know much about the man except what I have seen on TV but I have seen this in people in my personal life too. People that seem to be big cut ups and always joking. I would never have thought depression.

Well, that is what I was afraid of. Hopefully it will get contained in Africa but sooner or later it will come here and I have read Ebola is an RNA virus so creating a vaccine may be difficult because it mutates.

I am asking this because I am out of the loop right now because I have cancer and on short term disability.

I am wondering, with all the news on Ebola and the CDC saying it is going to come to U.S on a plane without isolation, what are your hospitals doing to prepare? Has your hospital set up where the patients will go? Will the nurse caring for that patient have that patient only? Where will body fluids be disposed? If the patient recovers will they go to a new isolation area until they are no longer infectious? Will your hospital offer incentive to work with these patients? If there is an exposure what will be the protocol? Thanks for input.

I am considering an online msn in nurse education from Western Governor's University but have concerns. Will employers see this as a legitimate degree or are applicants with online degrees like this overlooked for applicants from more traditional schools? I just do not want to waste my time. Has anyone from one of these type schools had any luck finding a position?

Thank you!

I need articles that have some real research. I want to stay clear of opinions as much as possible. I need something about how it affects cost to the healthcare system as a whole. How does it affect nurse turn over. Just wondering if anyone knew of some good references off hand.

I am doing a paper on the topic of lateral violence in nursing. Does anyone have any suggestions of articles, book, etc? This is for a class I am taking. Thank you for any suggestions.

Do not let a nasty preceptor ruin your spirit. She should not be allowed to precept.Hang in there.