Disclaimer:

Disclaimer: If you are easily offended by sheer honesty, or you think me having my own opinions is "being negative", then this is not the place for you, and I suggest you leave and head elsewhere. I call a spade a spade, and I don't sugarcoat anything.

Monday, December 28, 2015

Ouch!!!

This SUCKS!!!! I smashed my finger this morning as I was putting up my bed sheets. I clapped my hands together, and my 4th (ring) finger on my left hand was apparently sticking out, and I hit my other hand with it at full force! It hurt like holy HELL!!!! It;s the same finger incidentally I got caught on a ride back when I was a kid and twisted. It never completely healed, and is permanently crooked. Well, when I hit it this morning, it got red and warm and began to swell up. I thought it was something that would pass. So, aside from the pain, which I took care of with some Tylenol, I really thought nothing more about it. That is until this afternoon after I completed my workout. That was when I noticed my finger had really swollen and began to turn black. My first thought was "oh no!"

I began to worry, I thought maybe I really had broken it. I took to Facebook, hoping one of my friends may have some kind of idea of what to do. Keep in mind, I have no money, I live in an area that has no busline, no dial-a-ride, no shuttle, the only thing I can use to get around would be a cab, which is a $20-each way ride. My car is still dead!! I had no other idea. Well, my sis heard about a cab driver that would give people free rides to the hospital if they had an emergency. But that is in Montana, where few people live anyways. I told her I would try that with the cab companies here. I called 2 reputable companies in this town. I told them my situation, and they said they would try to ask any of the drivers if they would do a charitable ride. But none of them would. The second company really wanted to help me, but the one guy they had available said he'd recently been burned by someone who he did that for, and vowed he would never help another person in need again, no matter what!! I don't see personally how he could be burned taking someone to a hospital that already stated she doesn't have any money. Not even for an emergency.

Now you understand why I absolutely HATE irresponsible people!!!! They are the cause of all the grief in the world!! I told the dispatcher I wasn't looking to burn anyone, I just needed a ride to the hospital and back. I was now scared and frustrated. My biggest fear at this point was I wouldn't be able to get to the hospital, and my finger is broken and it would get infected. That is how my grandma died. She broke her arm, and did not get to a hospital in time, and it got septic, and it eventually killed her. So that dispatcher told me to call 911. My ma had said the same thing on Facebook. So, I did. I felt I had no other choice. I told 911 that this is not a huge emergency, but that I think my finger is busted and I have no other way of getting to the hospital. The operator was sympathetic, and contacted the hospital who sent the paramedics. Followed by the ambulance. I thought having an ambulance take me would be too much, but how else would I get there? The paramedics could not take me. The ambulance would take me, but not bring me back home.

Well, I had a choice. I could have either stayed here, bandaged my wounds and taken my chances, or take the coming ambulance to the hospital and find out for sure if my finger was truly broken or not. I picked the lesser of the two evils and caught the ambulance, it was already on it's way anyways. I figured worst case scenario would be I'd be stuck sleeping in the ER waiting room until morning, and then call this medical transport service which they were all telling me about. They had told me about it, but also said because it was after 5 on a Sunday, they might not be available. Well, it was either that or walk home. In the summer months I wouldn't have minded it. But it's winter and bitch-ass cold out there!!

Well, the attendants in the ambulance were nice people, and kept me smiling. I got to the ER and was greeted immediately by one of the doctors. They prepped me for an x-ray. While I was waiting for the results of the x-ray, another doctor came in, I remember her name was Paula, and she had a look that resembled an old english schoolteacher. She had the classic beady eyes, mushroom haircut and big-lensed glasses with the big, thick rims. Kinda dyk-ey looking. I think I'd had her before, and she was not very friendly then. She wasn't very friendly tonight either. She started to give me grief because I took an ambulance there. I told her I felt I had no other choice. I had to get there. She began asking me where I work and I told her I don't. She asked me how I survive with no money, and I told her my secret. But what made me mad was she started talking at me like I was a 10 year old just playing around with the system. I wanted to wring her neck!! She said "The ambulance is supposed to be used for emergencies only. You could have stopped someone getting one who was maybe having a heart attack."

Well, the last thing I wanted was to cause a heart attack victim to die, or not get help in time, but I did what I believed was right for me at the time. Another thing that pissed me off about this woman was she said my finger was not broken before she even got the x-ray pictures. When I found that out, I was like "How do you know if you hadn't seen them yet?" And the coup-de-gras of insults, this so-called doctor had gone all around the ER telling others that I had taken an ambulance there, and even made fun of it. I found that out when I went to the reception area and told them I need a way to get home, and they asked me how I got there, and this Paula was sitting beside the secretary I was talking to and mockingly said "She's the one who took an ambulance here for a smashed finger." The secretary followed that up with "oh" in a tone of voice that was like "So that's the person you were talking about!" I could not confront the doctor because I wasn't positive at the time. But it hit me then that this woman had gone around spreading shit about me. She doesn't even know me!! She can't say things like that about me! She was saying I should take a cab, I told her "If you can find one that will take me home even if I have no money, I'd be glad to! Good luck in that" I had already tried.

Seriously, I don't really like this hospital. Most other hospitals I've been to have had mostly friendly doctors. This one is just the opposite. Well, at least where that Paula chick was concerned, she sucked dirty tiger balls!!!

1 comment:

mikessa said...

I see where she really went wrong: first she violated what is known as HIPPA rules, which deals with confidentiality. I have no idea what her motive was but there was absolutely no excuse for her behavior. She had no right to treat you that way.
Violation of confidentiality is grounds for immediate dismissal, and people can be sued for that. I suggest very strongly that you talk to her supervisor and let him know that this went on lastnite. She cant get away with this. She needs to take responsibility for her stupidness.
You have to fight back otherwise she's gonna get away with this. Who knows who else she's been telling secrets to?