Only 11 hours and an ER Visit Later...

OMG.

What a day.

What a long, terrible day.

Around 12:00 I spoke with those who put my port in.
I described what I was feeling, and asked if there
was anything about it that I should know.

A consultation with the surgeon told them to tell me
to go to the ER.  Not only should I go, I should go
ASAP.    There was an urgency around what they
said that was so strong it scared me into tears.

They said one of two things would likely happen:
everything would be fine, or there would be an
issue with the port, and it would need to come out.

I didn't expect a visit to the hospital emergency room
to be a breeze, but man, it sucked!  I am going to
detail my visit, and it might be a bit too much info
for some.  So consider this a warning, if you think
that you might be one of "those people."

The first nurse I met with had some freakin' attitude.
She took down a few basics, and then I had to wait.

I then got an xray, and then I had to wait.

I then got an EKG from the nurse with attitude
who was without any care or compassion or
humanity at all, and then I had to wait.

I then was called because they wanted to draw
blood and give me an IV.  I asked if they could
just use my port.   After all that is what I have it
for.

Yes.  I then had to wait.

I was then chased away from one waiting area,
back into the general waiting area, only to be
called back for a blood draw that still wasn't
going to happen.  And then...I had to wait.

Hours were going by.  People were going by.
And I...had to wait.

I finally got into one of the ER rooms, and a
nurse tried to access my port.  After telling me
that it wasn't in a good place (why would you
tell someone that?), she proceeded to hurt the
heck out of me.  I had heard of there being
a way to numb the area some, but she did
none of that.

It hurt so much, I was in tears, and had to
cover my mouth, as I felt I wanted to yell out.

She wasn't confident in how it was.  It was a
different port than what she was used to.
After finishing torturing me, but not getting
what she needed, she called in someone else
who was a chemo nurse (who also told me
that my port wasn't in the best place).

That didn't go much better, but at least she
numbed me up before doing what she did.

With both nurses having the same net, non-
result, I was trying to figure out a different
plan of action.  What I have yet to mention
was that I had seen the doctor who said that
given my symptoms, he wanted to do a
CT scan to make certain I didn't have a
blood clot (which would have meant a
2 day hospital stay).

It was this desire of his that was creating
the problem.  You can't just take any vein.
And in my case,  you are lucky to get any
vein.  I am not an "easy stick" to begin with,
and the chemo doesn't help things.

One tech had tried, but when he saw that
it wasn't going to work, he didn't want to
stick me over and over.

So I was left to be tortured by the attempts
to use the port.

Fortunately they called in "Tony," a guy
with jokes.  When he was doing what he
was doing he said it was his first day, his
first stick, and how I was going for a "dog"
scan (as opposed to a "cat" scan).

Tony got in so easily, it wasn't even funny.
Dang I wish he had been there to start with.

The doctor and I agreed if Tony didn't strike
red gold, he was going to let me go, but
advised me to get to my main facility ASAP
to get the cat scan...which would have been
tomorrow.

Once Tony got in, I was within 2 hours of
getting out of there.  I needed to get fluids
first, and then I would have to wait for the
results.

I suppose I should be happy this was all about
"nothing."  The thing is that because it is
all about nothing, I am not too happy.

But how does one know when there is an
issue to pay attention to, and when it might
be for naught?  With the diagnosis, I am less
inclined to shake things off.  At the same time
I don't want to be scared sh*tless every time
someone tells me to go to the ER, and I don't
want to be running there, either.  It kinda
reminds me of my post surgery visit to the
doctor.  It was also several hours of waiting
around and getting xrayed and poked - for
nothing.

Last, but not least, I have to mention the
hospital food.  I was so hungry and thirsty
having been there for so long, they brought
me a sorry excuse for food.

I am not even sure what it was.  Kinda looked
like it could have been bologna.  I don't know
how much you know about food ingredients,
but the only thing that was likely any good
(and maybe even questionable) was the lettuce
and a bit of tomato.

I am sure the meat had some sort of nitrates
in it.  The bread undoubtedly had high fructose
corn syrup.  There was fruit with high fructose
corn syrup and other not such great ingredients
that I can't recall at the moment.  I was hoping
I wouldn't have to stay.  It was really going
to suck to have to eat hospital food.

If they really want you to get better, shouldn't
they be feeding the patients a better quality of
food?

I saw a headline today that said that organic
vegetables were no better than those that were
non-organic.  But, oh, by the way, there are
those things called pesticides that might come
into play - but the fruit and vegetable itself
show no difference.

I am not sure I don't question that.  After
all, many foods are genetically modified these
days, and there is a question about what they
are really like in our system.  In addition,
pesticides I would suggest make there be a
difference between organic and non-organic.
Yes, it is separate, but it has an effect that I
think shouldn't be ignored in the manner that
the study seems to suggest.

Why is it that hospitals don't pay attention to
these things?  I am guessing it comes down
to money.  But that is a lousy guess, and I
would like to be wrong.

Any which way, *phew* on the hospital
stay and hospital food.

So one ER excursion with xrays, blood
work, EKG, CT scan, and torture is complete.

I am going to need to find a way to deal with
this possibility in the future, but better yet,
may there never be another one during the
course of my treatment.  At the moment it
almost doesn't seem so bad, which is kinda
odd, given how badly I was feeling in the
midst of it.

I am exhausted.