my trip to the e.r.

yesterday i woke up with a pain in my stomach. it was a sharp, stabbing pain; something akin, i guessed, to heartburn. how does a person get heartburn first thing in the morning, though? weird.

i got ready for work, and as i drove along my 25 mile commute i was cognizant of the pain the whole way. it was very present; i couldn't forget about it. i wracked my brain... did i eat anything weird last night? no. drink anything odd? no. just diet food. nothing unusual.

i recalled the baked chicken i ate for lunch on friday (3 days prior!) and how i felt like i'd accidentally swallowed a little tiny piece of bone. could that be the problem? if so, how on earth did a chicken bone hang around in my stomach for three days? nah, that couldn't possibly be it.

by noon the pain had travelled lower and to my left abdomen. it was still sharp, to the point where i would gasp out loud from time to time when it would flare up. i drank lots of water and tried eating some food (thinking that would help "push" along whatever possible obstruction i might have), but nothing worked. by 5pm the pain was all i could think about. i left work at 6pm (bailing out on a pledge drive is one of the most awful feelings in the world) and quickly drove home. twice i thought i might have to pull over to the side of the road. when i finally pulled into the driveway i knew i was probably going to be heading to the hospital soon.

as much as i hate hospitals, it didn't take much convincining from ray to get me back in the car. if it was a chicken bone causing these problems, i was at risk of puncturing an intestine. not good. we checked into the duke hospital emergency room about 7:30pm.

the waiting room was filled with all kinds of people in varying stages of pain. a pretty, bookish young black woman sat between her husband and mom, quietly crying and clutching her stomach as she rocked back and forth in her chair. a 30-something white man laid on the cold tile floor in a fetal position, a bucket next to his mouth catching periodic spats of vomit. the tv was tuned to "wife swap." a woman with gorgeous long braids slept beneath her coat.

the triage nurse seemed concerned for my case; she kept saying that i was sitting like a woman in labor. that was the only position that was comfortable: as flat as possible. she took some blood (leaving an IV access in my arm "in case they want more blood or need to inject you with dye for a CT scan.") asked for a urine sample, and took my temperature and blood pressure (100 over 61). she seemed worried enough that she marked my chart as a higher priority and said that i should be called into the ER soon. of course "soon" is completely relative in ER-terms. it was about 9pm when i was finally given a bed and told to put on a gown.

ray wanted to accompany me everywhere, but he wasn't allowed into the x-ray room. i was positioned for two standing x-rays (ow ow ow! standing is bad!) and two x-rays lying down. as i rested on the x-ray table i could actually feel some of the pain subsiding. the technician apologized for taking so long, but i told her that i was more comfortable than i had been all day. she finally came back to sit me up and get me off the table, and as soon as my feet hit the floor i was doubled over again.

back in my ER room another hour went by. ray pulled out my ipod and played "breakout". i tried to read a magazine. the elderly woman in the curtain next to mine was being admitted for multiple myaloma. i could hear an ornery old man across the room being diagnosed with pneumonia and a blood sugar count of 500. ray went to the cafeteria and got some sushi. i started farting. oh my god, the farting felt good. i tried to fart as much as possible.

i think it was around 11pm that the resident came by to tell me they didn't see anything on the x-rays. i told her again about the chicken bone, but she insisted they didn't see anything like that on the film. of course this confused me. how could i have been feeling such sharp, intense pain without having something show up on x-ray?

the pain had been subsiding as the hours passed. perhaps the farting helped. i did have to pee; i asked ray to show me where the bathroom was. maybe i could poop, too.

no luck there, but the walking to and from the bathroom was virtually pain-free. when the doctor came to check on me a little after midnight i told him that i was feeling much better. he confirmed that the x-rays were negative, and if i wasn't in pain anymore i could go home. "i feel so silly," i told him. "nonsense," he said. "if you were in pain, then you did the right thing by coming here."

the discharge nurse arrived almost an hour later and had to wake me up to take the IV out of my arm and read the exit papers to me. i got dressed and ray drove me home. i was in bed by 1:45am.

today i'm feeling none of the sharp pain i felt yesterday, though i swear my gut is talking to me today. it's making all kinds of noises. i refuse to admit that i checked into the ER because of gas, but at this point i have little else to fall back on.

whatever happened to the chicken bone remains a mystery.

Posted by xta at October 25, 2005 10:01 AM | TrackBack