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Emergency Rooms
I am as mad as hell right now. I need to be hospitalized for chest pains. I have 4 stents, one heart attack and one stroke, yet I have to sit in a damned ER to get into the hospital. This is not right. Last March, I had a rotational arthectomy and 2 stents.
I/we that have a history of heart disease should not have to suffer the added anxiety of sitting in an ER to wait to get checked into the hospital.
When they put in the first stent, you should have the right to gain admittance to a hospital bed, bypassing the ER.
Same of course with CABG, or any history of heart disease. This is totally ridiculous. We should all contact somebody.
Of course I am sure that some of you have it very different in your area, or you totally disagree with me.
The Cleveland Clinic has no available appointments tomorrow. Can you believe that? I was going to fly there tomorrow night.
My PCP told me last Monday that my aortic valve is leaking significantly, as best he could tell by listening. I already knew that I had MVR AND TVR.
I have been taking prednisone, which causes me to have psychotic reactions and yesterday I swelled up like a fat pig, after trying to do some yard work. It happened immediately. I could actually feel the fluid rushing (not literally) into the area between my muscle/fat and skin. My hands could not make a fist in 2 -3 minutes due to swelling. I immediately took 120mg of Lasix.
Had severe chest pain all night. Sucked on nitro to stay alive. Not as bad this morning, but I need to see a doctor in a hospital.
My niece committed suicide this past Friday, and my first cousin died last Wednesday of MS. My best friend died last night after botched colon surgery. This was pure murder due to a mix up in insurance coverage.
This, plus stent blockages and a leaking aortic valve, plus a reaction to prednisone has me nuts and I needed to vent and did.
I sometimes despise all health care workers, including doctors and hospital administrators who are in charge.
We need more competition in health care.
I/we that have a history of heart disease should not have to suffer the added anxiety of sitting in an ER to wait to get checked into the hospital.
When they put in the first stent, you should have the right to gain admittance to a hospital bed, bypassing the ER.
Same of course with CABG, or any history of heart disease. This is totally ridiculous. We should all contact somebody.
Of course I am sure that some of you have it very different in your area, or you totally disagree with me.
The Cleveland Clinic has no available appointments tomorrow. Can you believe that? I was going to fly there tomorrow night.
My PCP told me last Monday that my aortic valve is leaking significantly, as best he could tell by listening. I already knew that I had MVR AND TVR.
I have been taking prednisone, which causes me to have psychotic reactions and yesterday I swelled up like a fat pig, after trying to do some yard work. It happened immediately. I could actually feel the fluid rushing (not literally) into the area between my muscle/fat and skin. My hands could not make a fist in 2 -3 minutes due to swelling. I immediately took 120mg of Lasix.
Had severe chest pain all night. Sucked on nitro to stay alive. Not as bad this morning, but I need to see a doctor in a hospital.
My niece committed suicide this past Friday, and my first cousin died last Wednesday of MS. My best friend died last night after botched colon surgery. This was pure murder due to a mix up in insurance coverage.
This, plus stent blockages and a leaking aortic valve, plus a reaction to prednisone has me nuts and I needed to vent and did.
I sometimes despise all health care workers, including doctors and hospital administrators who are in charge.
We need more competition in health care.
You're right about them doing the EKG and bloodwork to see if a heart attack is taking place or took place, and THEN they let you wait accordingly, but I don't think its in the waiting room. I don't know if you meant that. They bring you in the back where the the beds are with the monitors and all the doctors around, then the tests are done, the meds given etc. At least that what was done when we had to go to the ER.
When I was admitted with a BP of 255/130 I was immediately put on a bed, hooked to a monitor and all tests were run and meds were given. Doctor constantly stopping by. Doctor was on the phone with a Cardiologist I heard the conversation.
When my husband pulled a chest muscle, he even knew what it was because he had it before, but the pain was so bad he was bend over. When we got to the ER he told them that he had that before, they pushed some kind of button underneath the desk where you sign in and TWO doctors came running with a gurney, NOT nurses or medics, put him on the gurney and ran to the back, me running behind them. He was hooked on machines, everybody was running and hurrying while my husband kept on saying he was not having a heart attack.
Of course they never should take a patient's word I'm just pointing out the urgency, how they behaved, and the ER was packed with people.
There is a difference waiting on a bed where all the ER doctors are right there or having a patient wait in the waiting room with chest pains, that would be wrong.
When I was admitted with a BP of 255/130 I was immediately put on a bed, hooked to a monitor and all tests were run and meds were given. Doctor constantly stopping by. Doctor was on the phone with a Cardiologist I heard the conversation.
When my husband pulled a chest muscle, he even knew what it was because he had it before, but the pain was so bad he was bend over. When we got to the ER he told them that he had that before, they pushed some kind of button underneath the desk where you sign in and TWO doctors came running with a gurney, NOT nurses or medics, put him on the gurney and ran to the back, me running behind them. He was hooked on machines, everybody was running and hurrying while my husband kept on saying he was not having a heart attack.
Of course they never should take a patient's word I'm just pointing out the urgency, how they behaved, and the ER was packed with people.
There is a difference waiting on a bed where all the ER doctors are right there or having a patient wait in the waiting room with chest pains, that would be wrong.
call 911 they will come get you and you will get right in . God bless you and your in my prayers
Happy2girls is right. Call 911 and tell them that you have severe chest pains and that you do have heart problems. I guarentee you they will come flying and take you to the ER and a doctor will see you ASAP.
History of heart problems AND chest pains should not cause a person having to sit in a waiting room.
Even if you go there wihout an ambulance. If you tell them of your heart problems and your severe chest pains I do not think they'd let you sit for hours as if you came in with the sniffles and a sore throat.
If you have doubts, call 911, you've every right with your heart history and having chest pains on top of it.
History of heart problems AND chest pains should not cause a person having to sit in a waiting room.
Even if you go there wihout an ambulance. If you tell them of your heart problems and your severe chest pains I do not think they'd let you sit for hours as if you came in with the sniffles and a sore throat.
If you have doubts, call 911, you've every right with your heart history and having chest pains on top of it.
It seems like you've had more than your fair share and I am so sorry for your troubles. I've always heard that those arriving by ambulance get right into the ER. If you are still having chest pains maybe calling 911 would be your best bet. God bless you and take care.
I can understand your frustration, I would agree with everyone else, call 911 next time and you'll get right in. I don't know about everyone else's experiences, but I know the one time I went into the ER with some mild chest pain, all I had to do was say "chest pain" and they took one look at this 48 year old overweight male and set all kinds of land speed records getting me in even though there was a waiting room full of patients. Maybe it's just done a little different here in KC plus the hospital I go to is a regional Heart Center as well.
Good luck, hope all goes well for you next time.
Tony
Good luck, hope all goes well for you next time.
Tony
911 works.
I understand you're under a great deal of pressure right now and I'm sorry for all that has happened in your life recently. It must be a great deal to take all at once, and I sense that you're stressed out. I would be too.
Coronary artery disease simply cannot be a free ticket into a hospital bed; it isn't practical. Your wait in the ER typically follows an immediate EKG and bloodwork, which is processed while you wait. There is a chance it is not cardiac. My father, CABG in 1997 and three additional stents in 2004, still waits his turn in the ER. Last time he went, it was not cardiac, but an esophageal spasm. He clearly did not require admission to a cardiac unit. That triage saved a bed for a seriously ill person who did need it.
None of us appreciate the hours-long waits. Working in medicine is a hard job with long hours and high stress. It may not always be ideal for everyone involved - doctors, nurses, patients and all the other healthcare workers - however, the goal is to assess people based on urgency, and the system works. It means long waits, sometimes painful horrible waits, but think of it this way...the person(s) you're waiting because of are in worse shape than you.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, I know. I hope you get in to be seen soon. If not, you know that severe chest pains in someone with CAD should be addressed by calling 911 anyway. That's your one-way ticket out of standing in line.
Good luck to you. I hope everything works out, that you find good doctors to help you soon and that your health improves and your stress eases.
I understand you're under a great deal of pressure right now and I'm sorry for all that has happened in your life recently. It must be a great deal to take all at once, and I sense that you're stressed out. I would be too.
Coronary artery disease simply cannot be a free ticket into a hospital bed; it isn't practical. Your wait in the ER typically follows an immediate EKG and bloodwork, which is processed while you wait. There is a chance it is not cardiac. My father, CABG in 1997 and three additional stents in 2004, still waits his turn in the ER. Last time he went, it was not cardiac, but an esophageal spasm. He clearly did not require admission to a cardiac unit. That triage saved a bed for a seriously ill person who did need it.
None of us appreciate the hours-long waits. Working in medicine is a hard job with long hours and high stress. It may not always be ideal for everyone involved - doctors, nurses, patients and all the other healthcare workers - however, the goal is to assess people based on urgency, and the system works. It means long waits, sometimes painful horrible waits, but think of it this way...the person(s) you're waiting because of are in worse shape than you.
Probably not what you wanted to hear, I know. I hope you get in to be seen soon. If not, you know that severe chest pains in someone with CAD should be addressed by calling 911 anyway. That's your one-way ticket out of standing in line.
Good luck to you. I hope everything works out, that you find good doctors to help you soon and that your health improves and your stress eases.
Sorry you're so frustrated with the medical system. Many people are right now. It's not working very well for many, many people. It seems to be getting more attention from politicians, so I hope some progress is made in the coming years.
Meanwhile, I hope you manage to the get the care you need.
Meanwhile, I hope you manage to the get the care you need.
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