BAD NURSE

Its 0511 hrs right now on the day after the aftermath of surgery.  Now I need to fill in you, my friends, on all that happened.

YESTERDAY

0400 hrs I'm up taking my medicine and cleaning up with the pre-op wipes

0550 hrs report to the pre-op sign in

0555 hrs sent down to Admissions.  Why?  Well they forgot to have to me do it the day before as a just in case.

0610 hrs  Back at the Pre-op desk and I'm cranky at this point

0640 hrs I get called back to Pre-op with my spouse and one other patient a Col. who decided to break the rules and bring not one person with him but three.  I guess he thinks he can break the rules.  They let him.

0700 hrs I'm changing into my gown, footies, and surgical hat.  Col's family is breaking more rules and using their cell phones to not only text, and make calls but to take pictures.  I inform my nurse, Pearl.  She was a nurse of mine with my old PCM when I first got here.  She is a no nonsense gal with a bad bed side manner but excellent at what she does.  She makes everyone at this point remember, though harshly, to shut off all electronic devices.

0720 hrs.  Surgeons, Dr.B and Dr.P, have come and gone to check on me.  At this point I've now been stuck 4 times in the attempts to start a line.  I have good veins but one inept male first punctured through a vein  on my left forearm blowing it, couldn't get the back of my right hand threaded and couldn't get my best vein on my left arm threaded either.  In they send the best guy to try.  He numbs the back of my left hand of which the other guy didn't do with the other hand and threads it immediately.  He couldn't believe the trouble the other one was having since my veins were obviously quite visible and easy to get.

0730 hrs.  I'm set, I've been joking with the staff for about an hour now in my attempts to remain calm.  When asked what I'm allergic to besides the Penicillin, Sulfa drugs and Azithromycian I state "humans, because you all make me sick"...Hahaha..we all laugh.  Well its true right?  We cough on each other spreading germs making one another ill.

1100 hrs I'm rudely woken up by the nurse from Hell.  I still don't remember her name but I won't forget the treatment from her.  After only an hour in post op, I'm allowed 2 hours to recover, she rudely shakes me awake saying that I need to wake up and leave now.

1120 hrs I ask to go pee.  No bed pan please.  She tells my husband where to take me to the bathroom as its in a different place than pre-op.  She then deserts us.  I find out I'm passing blood clots vaginally.  This is not okay.  I was told to get dressed while in the rest room and leave after.  I told the nurse, after we could find her again, that I'm not only bleeding but passing clots.  She dismisses it.  I ask her about my discharge instructions while J helps me on with my shoes.  She tells me that the doctor has already spoken to my husband.  Yes but my husband is still sleepy and didn't take notes.  I ask to speak with my surgeon.  Bad nurse tells me that he is in surgery and it will be another hour.  I was fine waiting I told her.  She insists that I leave.  Fine!  I start taking the tape off the pic line in the back of my left hand and she finally realizes that she forgot to take out.  Bad NURSE!  No cookie for you.

So it got worse.  I check my meds that J picked up.  I was given two meds that I cannot take.  Ibuprofen will eat a hole in my ulcer quick.  Bad nurse is getting testy with me for first wanting to stay longer, second for interrupting her conversation about another nurse's shoes.  She wanted a pair just like them and I was obviously bothering her.

I said okay I'll leave.  She offers me a chair I say no I'll walk.  I'm pissed by this point.  I did walk.  I wanted to be left alone.  I walked down to my clinic and told my nursing staff there what happened and I didn't have my ID card yet, J had it and he was getting the car.  I asked for new meds but of course without the ID card I can't pick them up.  They were upset at my ill treatment by bad nurse.  (I left out some of the worst of my mistreatment by her in this post). 

I walked the less than a mile home.  I had to cool off.  Walking home wasn't that bad.  They sent an ambulance, fire truck and MP patrol after me.  They got to me just one block from home.  Really nuts if you ask me.  I showed them my four bracelets and my discharge papers.  They let me go.  I pointed where I lived as it was easily seen by where they stopped me at.  I explained to them that they were making a spectacle of themselves.  (think keystone cops flic if you will).

1245 hrs I got home and my surgeon Dr.B. calls me.  He is worried and upset.  He wants to make sure I'll have someone at home for me.   J had a class in just 15 minutes he had to attend.  So I assured Dr.B. that someone would be with me.

J drove home and stayed with me but....here is the great part.  His SGT called and told J he had to leave me here alone and go to his class!  Yeah he did say that.  J after telling him no (Dr.B. is a major and outranks the SGT) hung up and realized that yes I've been treated badly by his chain of command and the nurse at the hospital. 

I've said before that family comes last in the Army and I proved it.  Not only did the Col. who was going through surgery violate the rules but he got better treatment than I did.  And lets not forget the SGT that thought that I could be left alone when I'm not supposed to be for the first 24 hrs. 

J will report back to work today after lunch.  He is going to follow the orders of my doctors.

I could have gone into more detail but then I'd would be violating OPSEC, PERSEC and probably a few other things.  Suffice it to say that I'm going to try to never have surgery at Madigan ever again.

Now for the surgery; I'll make this brief.  They removed the cyst on the left ovary.  They removed the endometriosis that they could find and made a fourth incision to get to the one on the top of my uterus.  I have stages 1 and 2 of endometriosis.  Depends on where its located in me as to how severe.  The stage one was on the left fallopian tube and removed with a laser cauterization technique.  The adhesion endo was on the top of my uterus.  If there is more in there it can wait since I'm not doing a laperotomy to get it done for a while.

Well I'm nauseated and dizzy not a good thing so I'll stop for today.