I went to the Emergency room today 5/29/2019 and just got home at a little after 2:00 AM 5/30/2019. This hospital touts itself as one Atlanta can't live without. After tonight, my response is "Are you sure and why?" Let me tell you what happened to me.
I am a very brittle diabetic. Daily, I take more than 5 shots of insulin. This a result of two surgeries on my pancreas and numerous procedures. An MRI shows there is an additional problems due to atrophy of some of the remaining parts of the organ. Each time that I go to the ER, I have to put up with DR.'s accusing me of not taking my insulin. It must be beyond their abilities to call the pharmacy and check to see if I am filling my prescriptions. I know that some of the medications that I take for other problems have the side effect of hyperglycemia. The Dr.'s didn't care when I brought it up. It appears that it is more fun to accuse me of not taking my insulin.
I am not able to get an insulin pump. It is difficult to get approval for the pump from insurance companies including Medicare. If I got approval, I would have to come up with the co-pay up front. I don't have 6 -10 thousand dollars lying around. This is for a used, reworked pump only. New ones are too expensive to even think about. Then there is the matter of Insulin. Medicare won't pay for insulin to be used in a pump. If Medicare won't pay, guess what insurance companies say.
Yesterday was a bad day for me. I started out passing a kidney stone that felt like a boulder. (5-6mm) Thanks to the dumb asses who think that everyone one abuses pain medication, I don't go to the ER. I have watched people being treated badly for asking for something to take the edge off the pain when nuclear test show they have a stone. Doctor's talk so loudly that every one can hear what they tell their patient. Simply put, I fight through the pain and faint from it like I did today when the pain became mind numbing bad. When passed out, I can't feel the pain.
Since I have congestive heart failure, I have to be mindful of the extra fluids I drink. I need the fluids to help me pass the stone. I chase the wheezes from the extra fluid with an extra fluid pill.
I noted when I got up off the floor that my jaw hurt in one particular spot. Very carefully, I felt around in my mouth. As soon as I touched one spot, an abscess ruptured. Pus is disgusting in the mouth. After good oral hygiene, I called an ambulance to go to the hospital because my glucometer showed a glucose level too high to read. The 911 response team got 502. I was transferred to the hospital that touts "Atlanta can't live without it."
On arrival, the Triage nurse asked the EMT what my glucometer reading was. When she was told, she asked him why was I there. "She could have handled it at home." She said that I should have stayed home till I became unconscious. I repeated what she said and she smiled and said "you already know." The EMT tested my glucose again and it was 451. I was sent to the waiting room. That was the last time I saw medical staff. No Dr. or nurse examined me or ask about other problems. I was in the hospital last month for four days because of CHF (HCC). No one would listen when I tried to tell them of the other problems that I had today.
I sat in the waiting room for 3 and 1/2 hours. My vision was so blurry that I started being unable to make out peoples facial features. I was extremely nauseated. I threw up twice with no relief from the nausea afterwards. My walking ability decreased from the weakness to where walking was difficult.
I have insulin. I can treat myself and do something even if it's wrong. So I went to the triage desk and told them that I was sicker and was going home while I could still stand. She look at my name and said that you have only been here 3 and 1/2 hours. There are not that many ahead of you. I explained how I felt and I desperately needed insulin. "There are sick people here!" I asked her why I didn't count as sick. The loud, rude, male nurse sitting by her said "Bye." I just smiled and left. You can't fix rude when the rude person enjoys being that way.
When I got home, my glucometer again was reading high. That means my blood sugar is to high for the machine to read. I sat my alarm for hourly rings and glucometer checks. I will drink a four ounce glass of water each hour if I can keep from throwing up. I came home to hopefully keep from going into a coma. It's going to be a long night.
Checked Yelp and this hospital has only 2 1/2 stars.
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