Monday, March 3, 2014

Not all of us are pill poppers.

Remember my whole post about being sick and having dental issues and maybe starting as a hooker? Of course you do. Well things have taken a turn for the worse and it's really just annoying at this point. I'm on the cusp of 32 and my body is all, "LOL- NOPE" and has basically decided it's over it. It's over everything.

This weekend I felt great. Like, really great. Sure, I was still coughing like a maniac and phlegm was still coming up but it was the first time in weeks (Friday marked five weeks of plague) that I didn't feel weak, tired, feverish, etc. It was kind of grand. So on Saturday I went out with my friend Tammy and had a great day out celebrating my birthday a week early. (Huzzah!) By the time I came home, Matt was in a good mood, I was feeling frisky, and we went on an impromptu date of shopping and a late dinner. When we got home, I won't lie- I was preparing for sexy times. Because when you have the plague for five (!!!) weeks, you got none during that because it's hard to get into something when you are coughing and reaching for Kleenex.

Anyways.

So I'm in the shower. I had a tickle in my throat so I cough. Then I felt something in my side snap. Literally like a twig snapping. Seconds later, pain like nothing I have ever experienced radiates from snapped twig area and I can no longer stand up straight and basically anything I do at this point is excruciating. I managed to get out of the shower but that was about it. Matt had to come help me dry off, get dressed, get into bed and pop Advil. I thought I had broken a rib. Of course, never having done that before I wasn't sure, but what I was sure of was that it was awful pain. But I attempted to get some sleep thinking that if I lay still with a heating pad, it'd just get better.

But then it did not.

Fast forward until 2:00 a.m. and I woke up in extreme pain. Like, child birth felt less painful than this. Matt ends up getting up to help me down the stairs because it's clear laying on my back is not going to happen. I had hopes that if I could just prop myself up on the couch that maybe then I could get a few hours of sleep.

Except that it didn't help either.

By 3:30 a.m. I was googling whether or not this was an emergency room worthy visit. I decided it was not when I looked at my insurance card and saw that I would be liable for most all of the costs incurred. I figured I had made it this many hours, surely I could make it until Urgent Care opened up. And by George, I did.

Only to get an incredibly asshole doctor. I can count how many times I've been to a doctor in the last six years on one hand. I wait until I literally cannot handle it any longer because I hate thinking I am wasting some one's time or that I could just treat myself and save the cost and again, someone else's time. I had to have Matt drive me because I could barely get into the car, I couldn't buckle my own seat belt and I couldn't even turn my body so I clearly was not fit to drive.

When we finally see the doctor, he starts pushing on my side and that prompts me to scream and cry, both of which I do not do at doctor's offices. Not even during the delivery of my children did I scream out like that or cry. But it was brutal. The doctor sighs and says to me, "Don't you think maybe you're being a bit of a baby?" No lie, that's what he said.

He sends me for an x-ray which confirms I didn't break a rib (YAY!!!) but I did tear the cartilage that essentially connects your ribs to your sternum. He's going on about 6-8 weeks recovery, no exercise, no heavy lifting, obviously nothing vigorous to make that cartilage angry, etc. For pain? I get Advil. I tell him flat out Advil isn't going to do it and that I don't feel comfortable taking ibuprofen every 6 hours every day for pain management until this lets up. He then gives me Prilosec so that I don't develop an ulcer with the ibuprofen.

Then he starts saying things like, "I do my own unofficial studies, no woman likes to take Aleve", or "You've got a bit of a low pain threshold, don't you?", "I bet you had an epidural with your children. I can just tell.", etc. Complete asshole. So then I ask what does he recommend for sleep? Because I got none the night before and at this point, I can't even lay down without pain in my side. He gives me a muscle relaxer which I knew wouldn't work. And it didn't, I didn't even feel drowsy.

By the time we left there, I basically didn't feel like I got my money's worth for treatment. Even Matt said, "Is it just me, or did he basically treat you like a pill popper??". And it's true. I felt like I was basically told to stop being a baby and just take the Advil, never mind the fact that when you do take it your stomach screams and you cramp for days afterwards.

For good measure, I called my doctor's office today to let them know I was in Urgent Care so that they could update my file. And again, their response was, "What difference does it make??". Um, I don't know- so you have a record of an ailment? So then I ask if I could get transferred to the appointment desk because I would like to talk to my doctor about my high blood pressure (consistently hanging around 146/91) and their response? "Well, that's not a priority visit so you're looking at a few months out. But if you have chest pains or have alarming symptoms, go to the emergency room."

Now, is it just me or is it just the medical field giving up on life? Does nobody even give a fuck anymore? Good grief.

I need to find a new doctor, clearly, but now people tell me not to because then I really will look like those sketchy doctor hopping stay at home mom's that are pill poppers and stuff. *sigh*

In other news, I have my appointment with an ENT specialist on the 12th to have them look at the sinus cyst situation. Olivia's orthodontic consultation is scheduled for this month so we can get a first opinion on what to do with her mouth. And the first of all of the bills have come in and we're almost at $600 with three more yet to come in.

Oh goodie.

3 comments:

ComfyMom~Stacey said...

Have you called the Urgent Care place to complain about the dick doc? Because that shitty behavior needs to be reported. I'd also demand some decent pain killers. That is just fucked up denying help to someone on a maybe. If you had a history of showing up with random pain that would be something, but once???

If you want to look for a new doc now is actually both a good & a bad time. Good because with Obamacare policies taking effect lots of people are changing docs because their current one doesn't take the new insurance. So you are less likely to look like a pill popper. But it's bad because lots of people are changing docs so getting an appointment can be a PITA. At least that's the story around here where nearly half the local docs won't take the ADA marketplace policies.

Hope you are feeling better

Kattrina said...

I cracked a rib my first month in Honduras - not fun. Although it took a while to heal, the horrific pain went away after a few days. I didn't take pain killers for very long, maybe a few days. Hopefully your pain will pass relatively quickly!

And I would TOTALLY switch doctors. I switched doctors every year until I found one that I like. I don't love her, but she's not rude so I keep going. I don't think it's a big deal to switch. I would have to wait a year though because my insurance only paid for one physical a year and that was the best way to get in with a new doctor - was to have a physical. Good luck! I just took Ivan to the eye doctor and he needs cataract surgery. Boo.

Ruth said...

Ouch! I would complain to someone. Urgent care or even go up higher and file a complaint with some board. I have a friend that got treated like a druggie by a doctor when he had a problem with his intestines. He has marks from when he was an infant and the dear old doc took them to be track marks.
Switch doctors. Not easy to find good ones to take time but they are still out there.
I've been through the orthodontics with Kiddo. She is now in retainers. Thank God. I could have sent her through 2 years at a community college for what I paid. But, her teeth aren't all fucked up anymore. What I don't get is the kids I have seen go in there and their teeth aren't bad and they want braces.