@AnalogRTO Are you in the medical field? If so, what i would give to have you at the Wilkes-Barre VA is limitless (figure of speech...I'm incapable of giving what I wish I COULD give!) as the ER's in my area are all the same. You're already on opiate medications? YOU'RE A DRUG SEEKER!
Years and years ago I shattered a Dr's face (broke his nose but good and I was oh so proud that his blood reached the ceiling and 2 walls!) as I was at the "other" local hospital in my area (Geisinger) on the recommendation of my PCP as I had already spent well in excess of 120 days hospitalized in 2004 at my local hospital of preference (because my PCP used to see patients there, had admitting rights etc.) as well as Hershey Medical ctr in Hershey, University of Penn, Jefferson University and Jefferson Headache Ctr and finally Johns Hopkins (worst one as the DR I had was a gaping asshole who treated me like dirt and I left after 6 hours! i was called the next day with them offering to transport me the 4 hours there and home when admin learned of it but I was so infuriated that was never happening) but anyway.,.......
In Geisinger, I was admitted late on a Sunday and placed in a private room. I had a 104 fever (I had quotidian fevers that would reach as high as 105 every 10-12 hours for over a year) though the indescribable headache was my largest complaint followed closely by horrific low back pain that prevented me from standing or walking. I had been peeing all over myself (unknowingly/uncontrollably) for months by that time and the next morning in walks a Dr who was obviously a foreigner as I couldn't understand half of what he said but he began by berating me for lying in a soaking wet diaper! He was speaking to me in an aggressive tone when I could had SWORE he accused me of being a drug seeker. NOW, I was sincerely convinced I was dying for more than a year when this was newish to me and truly afraid for my life. I began to incline the head of my bed as I was struggling to understand what he was saying and i asked him to repeat what he had said when he put his face within an inch or 2 of mine and magically lost all traces of his THICK accent. He told me that he was sending me home because I was only in "HIS" hospital so I "could suck up all of HIS drugs"! Well, less than a year earlier I was bench pressing over 500lbs, was able to rep over 1600lbs on an inclined leg sled (simulated squat rack that removes your spine from the equation) and i was still quite MASSIVE, build wise. When he put his face right on top of mine, lost his accent and spoke those words I said "fuck it" (to myself), grabbed the collar of his shirt with my left hand and twisted it so I could ensure I had a vice like grip and let loose with a violent overhand right. I was quite upset that I couldn't hang on to his collar as he instantly collapsed to the ground but I was PROUD that his blood reached the ceiling and 2 walls! That asshole was out cold for several minutes, lying in a pool of blood and then got up, screaming as he held his hands to his face and ran out of the room! I laid back in bed, figuring I'd relax as much as possible until the police came to arrest me! They never did!
After an hour or so, I rang for a nurse as my underpads and bed were drenched (hospital diapers are useless) and I was overdue for my pain med as my headache was as bad as it was the previous night which is what sent me to the ER to start with. when she walked in she instantly saw the blood and asked me if I fell out of bed and I told her what happened, expecting to see the police at any moment. Instead she started jumping up and down while shrieking, thanking me as she (and the rest of the nurses) DESPISED that asshole! They saw him sneaking off of the floor not long beforehand with tremendously thick bandages covering his face, saying nothing to no one! She told me she was having a patient advocate come and take my statement and then proceeded to help me out of bed into a chair after changing my diaper, changed my bedding, got me back in bed with the assistance of another nurse and then gave me my overdue pain medication (IV Dilaudid) which immediately lowered the headache from a 9/10 to a 5 or so.. I spent much of the next 2 days speaking to advocates, hospital administration between an MRI, CT scans, endless lab work and medications plus meals. I was told that "hitting people is never OK" but that was the only scolding I received. I heard from one of the nurses that this particular AQSSHOLE Physician was meeting with admin and of course the story he told them was that I was violent and out of bed and hit him for no reason. Too bad for him he told them I attacked him as he came through the door yet the blood on the walls and floor put him on the far side (from the door) of the bed, so they knew he was lying. they fired him! Turned out he was already on thin ice as he had countless complaints lodged against him due to horrible bedside manner, being aggressive with patients etc. The nurses LOVED me and for the next week I was there I had ice cream sundaes, coffee, bagels, pastries etc. as there is a bake shop not far from the hospital!
I can't tell you HOW MANY TIMES I WISH I could hit some of these GAPING assholes, with the ones in the ERs by far the worst! I never imagined I would experience this at the va ER as everyone there goes out of their way to make you feel respected. NOT the assholes in the ER! The last time I went was last April as my Pain Mgmt Dr took one look at me and asked me who best the shit out of me. when my headache is at its' worst, my eyes puff out, my face gets dark red to purple (as does my head) and my eyes go wildly out of alignment (diplopia) and I see 2 of everything but on wildly varying planes. I refused and when asked why I told him I had gone to the er 2x in the previous 5 or 6 days and they outright REFUSED to do ANYTHING outside of give me a Tylenol and an ice pack and then had the police escort me from the grounds! He told me I was going and he was calling down there. being he was adamant, i reluctantly agreed. WOW....i was literally "yelled" at and told to my face that "we don't give a shit who intervenes on your behalf" we don't treat headaches like "that" anymore. I was offered a Tylenol and ice pack and told the guy he had 3 seconds to get out of my face or else. I walked out before the could get a cop. In speaking with the police the 2 earlier times the police officer asked me to NOT include him in any complaints as he wanted NOTHING to do with what they were doing, told me they've been doing that to a LOT of other people and he wanted his name kept out of it as he knew what they were doing was unacceptable!
I was given the phone # to the veteran's white House hotline, which I had never even known to exist and the woman I spoke to was FURIOUS with how I was treated! I spoke to her for almost an hour and she sounded like your typical "strong black woman" and IF I knew her name and where she lived I'd probably go propose to her! SHE WAS AMAZING! Within minutes of hanging up with her I began getting phone call after phone call from everyone who I had dealt with in the ER the previous week (3 different times) and they sounded LIVID! I was asked WHY I called that number. I was asked HOW I got that number. I was asked WHO gave me that number! I imagine the must have all been ripped a new asshole! The head of the ER (who was the one who told me that he didn't care WHO was advocating for me on my behalf) was miserable and asked me what I feel they should do and HOW I managed to remain professional and tell him HOW I had been treated dozens upon dozens of times previously in the prior 20 years continued to tell me that they no longer treated headaches in that manner and I told him that was not my problem! I don't care WHAT they have to do, but treating me worse than shit, giving me a fucking Tylenol and throwing me out with a police escort was beyond unacceptable!
I have been PROMISED that this will never happen again, but I have little to no faith in that promise. I have had at least a dozen days when the pain was off the charts indescribable yet I still refuse to go as I am sincerely afraid of what I might do IF treated like shit again! I have no desire to be labeled "that type" of patient though I can promise that IF this happens again and IF I lose control that THEY will come out of the event looking much worse than I will as I will not hesitate to speak to every single news paper, TV station and anyone else who will listen. I have had politicians send me letters asking me if this issue has been resolved (NO CLUE HOW THEY EVEN KNOW as I never contacted them!) but I know how to "play the game".
I've simply had it with being mistreated. I am way too sick and tired of paying for the sins of others! I never in my life did ANY illegal drug. I have never once felt high from the myriad of super duty opiates I have been on for over 20 years. I have never ran short, ran out early, had pills go missing. You name it! My pills are in a place that I and I alone can access UNLESS I am hospitalized as my Dad has a key to that safe. My soon to be ex used to until she ran around with at least a half dozen guys and financially DESTROYED my life. Being there is a significant amount of cash and my guns in said safe I changed the locks and the keys are only with me and my Father, period.
I have ZERO sympathy for any DR. who speaks down to their patients, treats them like dirt when/IF someone like me decides they have had enough and floors the bastards! I KNOW they deal with actual addicts and drug seekers daily but it can NOT be that hard to separate those who are abusing drugs from those who need these medications. I've offered to give blood & urine samples as they can quickly determine who is who with either and in a short amount of time but to instantly assume that a chronic pain patient is just another drug seeker is beyond UNACCEPTABLE! That would be no different than me instantly selling $5000 worth of work to every vehicle I come across whether it needs it or not! I am more highly trained in my field than 99.5% of my peers and I know Dr's are likely in a similar situation so to be told that "they see drug seekers so often they feel everyone is one" is no different than me insisting that every damn vehicle I look at visually without doing any inspecting needs $50000 worth of work, period, because i se soo many vehicles that need all of that every single day. That's a copout and beyond dishonest.
I'm sorry...my head is pounding and I'm losing the ability to retain my train of thought. I had a better description but the thought escaped before I was able to fully articulate it., I hope my point is understandable though. I especially am intersected in hearing from medical professionals here, even if only through a PM ((I will keep your information between the two of us) as I feel hopeless and honestly believe that I would be better off dead although I must emphatically state that I am not nor have I ever contemplated harming myself, period. I'd much rather harm people that truly deserve it!
CptKirk
so here’s to hoping that stops in the near future.
