Monday I took my son to the emergency room in our local city, Binghamton, NY. His foot and leg had become VERY swollen, and elevating it did not make it come down. I have to admit that I do not like the allopathic community at all. BUT where my son is concerned, actually where anyone is concerned, including my husband and myself, there are times when you really do need their medical advice. This was one of those times.
A swollen foot and/or leg could mean a blood clot. A blood clot can, and does, kill people. Now my son is forty years old, and has a horrible phobia of hospitals or anything of the medical nature. I remember one time sitting in the waiting room of the dentist office and he was inside with the dentist. I was reading and all of a sudden............there is he walking out, through the waiting room past me and out the door! When he was nine, it took me and about eight other nurses to hold him down to give him a shot to have an operation. When he was a kid living at home, I'd take him to our family dentist and the dentist would come out and ask me if it was okay with me if he drilled without anesthesia. He said because my son would not allow him to give the shot and wanted him to do the work without the shot. He did it that way! Not me, as much as I hated the shot, I would never let anyone drill my teeth without that shot!
Anyway, as we sat in the waiting room of the hosptial, it almost seemed like we were watching a television show. When we first came in, expecting it to be crowded as usual, it was almost empty. We were third in line. Not bad. There was a television on, snack machines, coffee machine and a soda machine that also had water and juices. As far as a waiting room goes it was not too bad. We sat on the back wall near the machines, not where we could see the television as neither one of us cared to watch it anyway. I wanted to see all the activity...........hey, I live in the woods I don't see many people in my daily life!
Almost immediately three cops come in with a young boy with hand cuffs on that were behind his back. His leg was bleeding and they pulled him along. They then told him to sit down. It appeared as if the hand cuffs were hurting him more than the leg. One young cop..............actually they were all young. He spoke to one cop and then they had a little conference, and the older one unhooked the cuffs and then moved it to the front of him, so he could sit comfortably. Pretty soon his mother came in. Still the three cops stood around him like he had killed someone. Don't know if he did or not.
Then some people came in that were in an accident. They were all mad at each other. So they were a bit unruly. The cops that came in with them were trying to keep some sort of order. All through this more people kept coming in and sitting down. Pretty soon a woman, probably around 40ish came in, attractive but not beautiful, blonde, wearing a wedding ring, camouflage pants. She had this look on her face that I recognized. In my past life..........my way back past life, I worked as a bartender............I KNOW that look.
She had been drinking and drinking a lot. Well, she caused all kinds of havoc in the waiting room. A young black man was watching the television and at one point she got up and went to the bathroom and was gone a long time. He moved from the television area and sat in her seat. She came back and stood over him and motioned with her finger to get up. He did and moved away from that area. My son wanted to say something in the worst way. I told him to stay out of it and don't say a word. That is what causes trouble in situations like this. Two women sitting on the other side, one who was in very much pain, but still said things like she wanted to punch her and luckily the woman did not hear them.
She got up again and stood in front of the three security guards, one was bald, all young, husky looking men with a cocky attitude. Looked like they enjoy this kind of work or maybe that is how they are trained to handle this type of work. She says to them, "Think you're tough guys, huh?" They answered her, "Yep! Now go back to your seat!" She did. Eventually it was figured out that she was trying to get to Rehab. Then she was taken out of there and that situation. Thank goodness, but we were already inside the ER by then.
Anyway, my son got taken care of and everything is under control for now. The goings on in the waiting room took the edge off his anxiety over being there. Better than television, though I don't like being in a situation like that because you are so vulnerable to someone pulling out a gun or something. Maybe they ought to make you go through security check before coming into a hospital emergency room.
Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole
6 comments:
Years ago, when my son was young, I was waiting in emergency with him because he's broken his wrist snowboarding (even though he was wearing the proper wrist guards). What an eye opener ... people were being brought in with gun shot wounds, extreme trauma from serious car accidents, heart attacks etc. I tried to protect my son from the worst of the drama but, of course, he was captivated by all of the action. Like you said, it was more exciting than a TV show. I certainly admire the doctors and nurses who deal with these emergencies on a daily basis.
Interesting story, Katlupe! Kind of like being IN a TV drama! Hope your son is doing better!
Yeah ER waiting rooms can be a scary place and an intimidating place. I'm glad all is well with your son.
Maybe ERs should be segragated. Accidents and criminals in one room, and sick people in another?
Oh my, that's some story. I'm glad your son is okay, I can only imagine how scary that must have been to see his foot and leg swell. Always good to get something like that checked out.
I totally do not like ER's and I am a nurse.
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