Just say no to iatrogenic reactions

I took Cam with me when I went to the ER night before last. He asked and I said all right. We'd been there about an hour and a half when a new nurse came out and made a very important announcement, designed, I believe, to show us how important she is. She said that all the hospitals in Anne Arundel county, and she made it sound like are thousands as opposed to two, were on yellow alert and she didn't know why everyone in the county was so ill. Then she read a list of names to verify that everyone waiting hadn't given up and gone home.

My name was not one of the fifteen she called out. Cam got a little worried and walked up to make sure I had not been dropped off the list. She asked how long I had been waiting and then said in a very snippy voice that an hour and a half was not a wait. I think it's not a long time to wait at an ER but it is a wait and there was no reason for her to be so rude to Cameron.

At that point we called Chris and asked him to take Cam home so he would get some sleep before school the next day. It's a good thing we did because I didn't get home until 6:30 am.

The triage nurse called me very soon after Cam left. She listened to my lungs and called respiratory therapy right away. She had me sit where she could keep an eye on me until I had a nebulizing treatment and then she sent me for a chest x-ray.

After awhile a nurse came in and took me to a room and listened to my lungs. My wheezing was nearly gone but I was still coughing a lot. I went into a paroxysm and lunged for the trash can so I wouldn't vomit on the floor but the nurse grabbed me and told me to stay put. So I did what anyone would do and I threw up all over the floor, luckily missing her feet.

Several hours and another treatment later she moved me across the hall to the more sick area because of course you don't want to fool around with someone with a history of bloodclots and a nasty cough.

Eventually I fell asleep but I hurt too much to get any real rest.

Then a doctor came in and said my lungs sounded good and did I want another treatment before I went home? He was fairly condescending and asked me questions like did I knew what an inhaler is and do I have a regular doctor.

Then he said to go home and to use my inhaler but not more than every four hours and to come back if I needed it more often than that. I pointed out that I had already had two nebs and I was still coughing until I passed out or threw up so I met his requirements for returning and I hadn't even left yet. He thought for a minute and offered me a prescription for some cough suppressant.

Then he asked me if I thought I needed some steroids.

I have a mixed opinion of questions like this. I do think that I know my body better than anyone else and I am quite good at diagnosing and I like to be involved but on the other hand I'm not a doctor so why is he asking me?

I said "I have pseudotumour cerebri. If I were a doctor I would be extremely hesitant to prescribe steroids unless I absolutely knew for certain they were necessary and would not exacerbate the existing disease."

He sat there blinking and looking at me for four or five blinks and then he said I was right. It's funny to see someone reevaluate you right on the spot.

End result no steroids, an offer for me to not work for three days, which I did not take as I work from home, and perhaps a clear sign that I am way too sick to be thinking about participating in the training for the next AIDS marathon. I did ask for a sign and I think this may have been it. Since the group is about to start three mile runs and I can't even walk to the bathroom without coughing myself blue I think that I might need to wait for the 2006 race.