Going to hospital (My crappy experience, #30)

[gini]

Kirsten, I am so sorry that they sent you home like this. Pomtzu has written good advice and from her own experience.

Please stay in contact with us on a regular basis so we can be a support for you. You can feel free to dump
on us - we can take it and want to help you.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear that you're still in a lot of pain. Both of my parents also have back problems. My mom recently had several injections into her back because she was in so much pain. She was told that she has osteoarthritis in her back. My dad has a degenerated disc and some other problems going on too. I hope that someone will be able to help you. Lots of prayers and positive thoughts are being sent your way.

I have some lower back problems too. I recently saw this infomercial on tv and I read more about it on the internet. I recently ordered this for both me and my dad to try. Here's the link: http://www.drhonow.com/product/decompression-belt.php#. If it helps us then maybe my mom can also try it but since she also has heart problems she should ask her doctor first. I also have neck problems so I also ordered this but it's backordered right now: http://www.drhonow.com/product/neck-comforter.php.

[Kirsten]

Thank you everyone for your kind words and support.

Just a quick note to let you know I'm around, but I'm not feeling well. I will give you a more detailed update once I'm feeling better but right now, I need to recover from this most stressful and nervewracking experience. I wish I wouldn't have gone there, and for the time being, I'm more than fed up with hospitals! As long as there is no case of emergency, I will definitely not go anywhere!! And in case I'd need another surgery, I will go to the hospital where I had my two back surgeries in 2004 and 2010, and not to that place where I went this time. I more or less released myself yesterday and because I simply couldn't stand being there.

[Karen]

Sounds like you did the right thing, sweetie. Now let your fur nurses love on you until you feel calm and better again!

[gini]

Kirsten - just a note today to say I have a candle burning for you - and I am sending out prayers for your comfort and calm. Your fur babies know what to do - and they will give you lots of love.

[Asiel]

Sorry you had such a bad time of it at the hospital you were at. Sounds like you did the right thing by releasing yourself. But don't give up on your problems...when you get back on your feet I would take the advice Pom has given you..sounds like you just got the wrong doctor...getting the right one would mean solving a lot of problems and pain so you could enjoy life more than you are now. Being told nothing can be done for you is a cop out, don't fall for that.

[Kirsten]

Thank you very much for doing that, Gini, and thank you for your kind words everyone. Still need to give you a more detailed report of what happened. Over the past week, I did my best to try to recover from this most stressful experience. My camera and my girls helped a lot!

Anyway, this is what happened. As you know, I went to that hospital on Tuesday last week; my doctors here at home thought it would be a good thing if the specialists in that hospital would take a closer look to my various conditions: herniated discs, facette-joint-syndrom, scoliosis, sacroiliac joint-syndrome, and - most of all - the hypermobility and the constant luxations. Admission was still okay, I've been told I'd have to stay for 8 to 10 days. But I also learned that the entire treatment there is based on injections, those that are directly injected into the spine or into the nerve roots. I got these before in 2010 - when I was in heavy pain due to my second disc hernia, and I was never in such a bad pain after I had surgery. I was a little confused when I heard that, but I decided to wait and hear what the doctors say.

When they showed up later that day - meanwhile I was in my room which I had to share with a woman whom I thought was a little harsh and weird - I was asked where I my pain was located. I said that varies, depending on which joint/vertebra I have delocated; and on that particular day, I wasn't in pain at all because my spine and hip joints were less twisted than usual. The doctors reacted confused and asked, more or less, why I came and what I expected them to do. I replied that I wanted further diagnosis, and maybe some options concerning a possible future surgery. They said things like that couldn't be decided in advance, and that their injections won't be an option for me (which didn't surprise me and to which I agreed!), and that I would be better off to continue to work with my physiotherapist, which I'm doing for years, anyway. They decided I should have an MRI scan later that afternoon, and that I could most likely go home the next day. So far, so good.

But then, everything went wrong. An hour later, a nurse showed up, telling me she has just settled the appointment for my first injection - into the cervical spine!! Go figure!! Of course I told her I won't have that one! I started feeling really uncomfortable there, and that got worse as the day progressed. After supper, I realized I won't have the MRI that day; I was told I would have it the next morning instead. In the evening, I noticed I got more and more depressive, I got a bladder infection, I was so homesick and missed my girls. By that time, I had already realized that being there was just a waste of time. I thought that somehow, I'd have to make it through the night, get my MRI the next morning, and then go home.

But the worst was yet to come. Before we went to bed, I opened a small bottom-hung window under the ceiling of our room. The room was freshly painted and therefore was smelly, and I needed some fresh air. Keep in mind that most German buildings don't have A/C. Anyway, my roommate freaked out and said she has to change rooms because of the draft (ridiculous as there were two curtains between that really small window, and the room). I was so embarassed that obviously no one could stand being in the same room with me (this was something I worried a lot about in advance due to my various medical conditions) that I freaked out and I told her she could stay - I was going! I really packed my stuff that night and was ready to leave. While I did that, she went to the night nurse and insisted on getting another room. Fine! I felt awful with the entire incident, cried and just wanted to get out of there. Because I was so upset, the night nurse (the only friendly person in that clinic!) called a doctor who told me to wait for the MRI the next morning, and then go home.

Somehow I made it through the night, barely slept - and woke up with a bad migraine. Also, the bladder infection was still there, and I worried how to make it through the MRI with my irritated bladder. At that point, I had to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes. The doctor and a nurse showed up, telling me it wasn't sure if I would have the MRI that day. I told them that in that case, I wanted to go home NOW, as I wouldn't wait another day, especially after the incident during the night which had caused a depression. The nurse hissed at me I couldn't blame my roommate for wanting to leave after being so ruthlress to open the window, and I had enough! I cried and yelled that I just wanted to get out of there. The nurse replied - in a very unfriendly manner - that they were no prison, and that I was free to leave. Crying and sobbing, I called my mom and told her to come and get me out of there.

While I was waiting for my mom and Reinhold, the door opened, and another nurse showed up to bring me to the radiology - for the MRI! Weird. I thought I'd probably be ready by the time my mom and Reinhold arrived, and followed her. When I arrived, I asked the x-ray technician if I could go to the bathroom before we start; unfortunately, I told her about my bladder problems. When I came back from the bathroom, she told me to go back to my ward to have my bladder problems treated. I won't get the MRI now! That was enough for me and I'm ashamed to admit it, but I lost my nerves and yelled - to the x-ray technician, and later to the nurses when I came back to my ward. I was hyperventilating, I was trembling, I was sobbing - and no one looked after me or had a word for me. A while later, my mother arrived and we left. None of the nurses said good-bye...

That's the entire story, and I'm ashamed that I didn't have the mental strength to make it through this entire procedure. In fact, it is scaring me that I broke down so quickly; I thought I was more stable. I felt horrible there right from the start, and I just couldn't stay there. For the time being, I have enough of hospitals, that's for sure...