After a brief visit it was decided that I would be best served by visiting emergency at the hospital in Hull. She provided documentation which was hoped to cut the initial waiting time, we were fortunate as they recognized her as having privileges at the hospital thus accepting her documentation and recommendation.
At that point I requested a stretcher and was placed in a small cubicle where we waited to see the specialist. We waited four hours to meet Dr. Boucher who turned out to be very professional, thorough everything you'd want being in this predicament. Agreeing with my family physician for the required x-rays I was sent to the x-ray department and then returned to the emergency ward where I lost the benefit of the small cubicle. We found ourselves with the other patients on stretchers in the emergency ward, in some respect I enjoyed it better than being cooped up in a small room all by yourself at least here could see people moving talking and going about their daily business which was much better than being isolated.
The x-rays came up clean as their focus was moved from broken limbs to finding out about the inflammation of my leg and foot. Since there existed the possibility of a potential blood clot I was given medication similar to heparin yet administered via injection in the stomach area and this while I waited for some type of echo imagery which would show the condition of the blood vessels and anything else.
Now in all businesses you have qualified individuals and what can only be described as idiot's. They reside in every type of industry and are generally people who make excuses for everything that happens to them. Quick to place blame on others they rarely take responsibility for their actions instead sharing with everyone the reason for their failure which is in all instances caused by something out of their control or an incompetent individual. In the end everyone within the department knows why this situation arose that this individual did everything in their power yet they can certainly not be held accountable for someone else's error.
Everyone makes mistakes there is certainly nothing wrong with accepting the possibility that things could have been done differently. I guess it's easier to hide and blame others for our mistakes or errors in judgment.
This situation came about as I needed to be weighed in order to determine the correct amount of medication required. When she asked how much I weighed I answered truthfully that I did not know. When she asked how long it had been since I had weighed myself I estimated eight years as being in a wheelchair getting weighed isn't that easy and honestly not that important. She looked at me and my spouse with a look that without words suggested our ignorance. Of course this created a problem for her as now she had to weigh me, she asked if I could stand and support my weight which I confirmed providing I had something to hold onto I could stand up. She mentioned there would be people around to help, a scale was positioned in front of me she was on one side and an orderly assisted on the opposite side. When I stood up I expected some type of support yet they offered none until they sensed that I was falling the situation went to chaos as now several people had joined the group trying to prevent me from touching the floor. Would have been easier just to lower me slowly and let me sit on the floor rather than struggling to pick me up again and as a result reinjuring the leg I was there for in the first place. At that point she insulted my wife by telling her that I could not bear weight and to never suggest that I could in the future as that led to the whole mess, she then proceeded to tour the emergency ward ensuring that anyone and everyone who asked about the patient who fell received her version of the story.
Eventually after I made a few suggestions I think her brain fired up and she requested a patient lift device with a built-in scale! Bravo what a brilliant idea.
That evening I requested assistance from the same individual to lower my pajamas in order to urinate, I asked her four times and on four separate occasions she confirmed my request and indicated someone would be with me as soon as possible. No one showed up and before I knew it she had left thank God.
If anyone reads this and works in that department they will know exactly who I am speaking of even though I have no names she would treat every situation in a similar fashion.
It was decided that I stay overnight as the echo graphical test would be performed the next morning. I agreed yet my leg was very painful that second fall probably didn't help much yet I stayed in the stretcher and finally at around midnight a nurse by the name of Vicky came by to let me know that she would be looking after me during her shift. Unbelievable I was totally impressed with her and her genuine concern for my welfare. She could probably tell that I was in pain and every once in a while she would come by and ask me to rate the pain on a scale of 1 to 10, I said nine and was given two Tylenol's, at 3 AM when she saw that they were not effective she went to the doctor who prescribed a shot of morphine.
It took a good 30 minutes for the medication to work however it did and I was able to sleep till 6:30 AM.
The biggest problem was that my leg decided it was time to go into spasms and each time it did my injured leg shook which only aggravated the situation. In any case the last time I stopped her and said she had taken my nine and turned it into a one, I blew her a kiss she said she was very happy and I went to sleep.
The next morning I was taken for a test which is similar to what women have during pregnancy to see the baby except in this case it was for my leg and that red inflamed area on my foot. The technologist saw a substantial amount of cellulite in my leg however the blood vessels were clear. The inflamed area appeared to suggest a cyst of some type which needed to be investigated i.e. biopsied in order to determine treatment.
Returning to the emergency room with these results I met another very professional Dr.Leblanc who decided to utilize a local anesthetic and see what was in that inflamed area, the information from the lab suggested a hollow area with no fibrous tissue or anything for that matter. After three or four attempts to draw out a specimen and ending up with blood and nothing else it was determined that it was nothing but a bad bruise.
In closing I was sent home with two types of antibiotics along with a supply of Tylenol 3's. Believing my spouse would not pick me up from the hospital until 5:30 PM I requested another painkiller as my foot hurt from the numerous punctures.
My second shot of morphine, oh my God now I know why they keep this stuff locked up. Denise showed up at the hospital at 2 PM and I was on a high until 6 PM when I went to bed and slept till 3:30 AM the next morning. I've started treatment with the antibiotics and will keep a close watch on the affected area to ensure it does not increase in size.
This is what I looked like upon my return home after my last morphine shot! As you can tell I left with the hospital gown and the hospital blanket. I didn't care not one single bit
LOL
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