Collecting Stories of Hope, Emergency Room Experiences, and The Slack Application

One of my best friends inspired me to do something a bit outside of the box and different - so I did some thinking. I found a website called, "Slack." You can create different "channels" so that people can communicate (almost like a chat room) about that subject.

If you would like to check the website out for yourself, the link is: http://slack.com/features

I made an account and then created a message board completely about Gastroparesis (GP) and/or chronic, invisible illnesses.

It has several thread subjects already, like the ER & Stories of Hope projects that I'm working on. It has a place to recommend doctors, ask questions about diagnoses, and is a great way to help and connect with others. There is nothing else about GP on this site, so please help me change that.



To join my channels:

https://join.slack.com/t/emilysstomach/shared_invite/enQtNDAyMDExOTgyMDY0LTMwNGU4NzhjNTExYzJmNWFlMzdlZGU5ZWUyZWQxZTUwOWRkNGMwYTczMjVjNjc4NGI0ODE4M2IzYzUxZTk3NzE



Think of it like email and email threads without the email part. That way, if I'm working on a project I can keep it to that subject on this site. If someone else is working on there project then we can all comment on that thread as well. It's just a way to keep all the subjects together and discussions together so that you don't have to search constantly for the subject that was discussed.


There is also a phone application for it! I found the application, "Slack" on my Android phone.



https://emilysstomach.slack.com

So, let's work together on this thread to not only have a good time, but to help those who are struggling. I mean, not everyone is on Facebook or, if they're like me, they're too tired to be on Facebook most of the time.

This is also for people who want to learn about gastroparesis and loved ones.

Source: Imgur





I am writing an article and I'm calling it, "Stories of Hope." Since a lot of people have been recently diagnosed and are struggling, I wanted to give them hope by posting different people's stories that they might relate to, and realize they can fight Gastroparesis, and they can still have some sort of life, though they might not ever have the same one they had before GP.

I started collecting "Stories of Hope" years ago, and I have them on my website if you want to take a look at a sample and see if that helps you: http://emily-scherer.squarespace.com/gp-stories/.

If you would like to include a picture, you are more than welcomed to!

My blog reaches thousands of people, and if anyone can relate and it helps them to keep fighting, I think that would be a positive thing and most importantly, you can help someone else. You never know who you might touch or help! I would really appreciate it.

I could use your first name and last initial, or I can make up a name for you, for privacy reasons. If you are interested in participating, please email your story to me at: emilysstomach@gmail.com.

You can also message my page, Gastroparesis - Emily's Stomach.

I feel like the people sharing their Stories of Hope are really Gastroparesis heroes and should be known and encouraged, because they help so many.

To those of you who have sent stories already, thank you for being brave and selfless.

Source: Imgur.




I am also collecting Emergency Room (ER) stories from people who have Gastroparesis (and/or any other invisible, chronic illness) because I want people to be aware of how we are treated when we go to the Emergency Room.

I feel like these stories will bring more awareness to what we go through as people who are battling chronic, invisible illnesses. I feel like the way we are treated is unfair and not right.

Doctors took an oath to help others and so what if the people coming in are drug addicts? Drug addicts can't have medical emergencies? They shouldn't judge but help instead of dismissing us. If you would like to share your ER story/stories, please email them to me: emilysstomach@gmail.com.

One of my friends went to the Emergency Room last week, they dismissed her as a drug addict, and so she went home and committed suicide because she was tired of the medical system failing her.

Summer O'Dwyer killed herself a few days ago because she was constantly called a "drug seeker" and the healthcare system failed her.

My best friend, Denise Smith, had her stomach taken out for a bypass, as suggested by her doctor. Then, she had complications and had to get her whole stomach out. She later died of pneumonia but the medical system failed her too.






These are why your stories are so important - "Stories of Hope" or your "Emergency Room Stories." You may just save a life and you might not know it.

Source: Flickr.


This "drug seeking" stigma has got to stop.

My neighbor is a nurse at an Emergency Room, by where I live. She told me that Gastroparesis was not real, and the people who came into the ER where she worked who claimed had Gastroparesis, only wanted pain medicine. I wanted to tell her that it would have been a lot easier for me to buy drugs off of the street than to spend thousands at an Emergency Room, and then being poked and prodded one hundred times! Additionally, when you are THAT sick to go to the Emergency Room, you should NOT have to fight for basic healthcare.

I have three different tests that prove I have Gastroparesis, and I cannot make those results up. I am not sure if doctors or nurses do continuing education, but more and more people are being diagnosed with Gastroparesis and other invisible illnesses.

The Hippocratic Oath states,

"The Hippocratic Oath is as follows,

"I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say 'I know not,' nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help."

I do not see anything in there about judging patients and refusing to help them. What is I was a full blown medical addict? What if I was having an honest emergency and needed help? Would I have been judged and sent home to die?

One of my GP friends had that happen (she was not a drug addict though) to her. She went to the Emergency Room where they treated her like a "drug seeker." She was having problems breathing I think, and so the doctor gave her a breathing treatment and sent her on her way. She died at home later that night because her lungs filled up with fluid. The doctor didn't do an x-ray, keep her overnight or anything that could have saved her life. I still cry.

Source: On Image.



The image below is what this project of Emergency Room experiences and stories are trying to debunk. Hopefully, these stories and experiences you share with me for my blog will help educate people about Gastroparesis and other invisible, chronic illnesses, so that we can get the medical attention we need without judgments or cruelty.

Okay first thanks to all of you who have submitted your ER stories! They have been collected and will be put into slides but have already been listed to the website www.facesofgp.org, in collaboration with my friend who runs that site and they will also be listed in my blog, and my website.

Now for my next request. I want as many faces and personal stories of who you are, when you were diagnosed, how your disease and treatment has affected your life. You can use your first name and last initial or I can make up a name for you (just let me know), but listing your state would be amazing if you feel comfortable with that.

You can email it to me at: emilysstomach@gmail.com

And/or you can post it in the group information below:

Www.facebook.com/groups/FacesOfGP

Together we will make a difference! Again, once the presentation is complete, it will be made available to anyone who would like to advocate to your local hospitals and doctors.

The end result is to have something like this (these are stories of Hope on my webpage): http://emily-scherer.squarespace.com/gp-stories/




Follow me at:

www.twitter.com/emilysstomach
www.instgram.com/emilysstomach
www.emilysstomach.com
https://emily-scherer.squarespace.com/
https://emilysstomach.slack.com
emilysstomach@gmail.com

Invisible Emergencies Series, Part Three - The Danger of Treating ER Patients as Drug Addicts (Research Portion)

In the Gastroparesis Community, we have lost people who went to the Emergency Room for REAL emergencies and were dismissed as drug seekers. One of my friends went home and died because her lungs filled up with fluid, drowned, and passed away. Another Gastroparesis Warrior went to the Emergency room last week, and was treated as a drug seeker who was then harshly judged, and went home and committed suicide because she was tired of the medical community failing her. She felt like there was no other recourse because the doctors would not listen to her or help her in any way, instead, all they did was judge her and accuse her of being a drug seeker.

I understand there is an "opioid crisis" in America right now, but does that give doctors and health care professionals the right to make judgments on patients?

I did address the difference between Gastroparesis Patients vs Drug Seekers in a previous blog article, which can be found here: http://www.emilysstomach.com/2013/07/gastroparesis-patients-vs-drug-seekers.html

Doctors have taken an oath to help others and they are NOT supposed to judge anyone - so what happened to the oath that they took? Furthermore, what if the patients were drug addicts? Drug addicts cannot have legit medical emergencies? Instead, doctors cannot seem to get past what they perceive to be "drug seeking behavior" to even evaluate if there is a medical emergency going on with the patient.

This has got to end.

Most people with chronic, invisible illnesses, will NOT go to the Emergency Room unless others drag them to the Emergency Room because of how they are treated. That is NOT OK. I have asked people to share their Emergency Room experiences to shed light and awareness on how people with chronic, invisible illnesses are treated. People who are dehydrated, which is an actual medical emergency, are scared to go to the Emergency Room because of how EMTs treat us, doctors treat us, and we are SO sick when we are in the Emergency Room, and we should NOT have to fight for basic medical treatments.

I have asked people in the Gastroparesis Community to share their experiences with the Emergency Room because I do not want to lose anyone else I care about. I know Doctors are busy and they deal with a lot of different, horrible things in the Emergency Room, but that is no excuse to treat patients who desperately need help, which is why they went to the Emergency Room to start with. Usually, anyone with an invisible chronic illness, will avoid the Emergency Room at all costs, until they have to go because they cannot control their vomiting, they are in immense pain, or their Gastroparesis has caused secondary infections and issues. I will be in collaboration with Kristine Bishop and Debbie Popp on the next installment of this series, sharing stories of those who are chronically ill with Gastroparesis, invisible illnesses, and how they were treated in the Emergency Room.


The Hippocratic Oath is as follows,

"I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say 'I know not,' nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help."

The following is research I have put together about drug seekers vs those who seriously need medical help.

Source: http://www.idealmedicalcare.org/patient-profiling-are-you-a-victim/





According to Pain News Network,

"The Danger of Treating ER Patients as Drug Seekers
January 13, 2016
By Emily Ullrich, Columnist

Recently the news has been covering the story of Barbara Dawson, a Florida woman who was arrested after she refused to leave a hospital that would not treat her for abdominal pain. While being escorted from the hospital in handcuffs, she collapsed in the parking lot and later died.

For many of us who are chronic pain patients, this kind of treatment is all too familiar. More often than not, when doctors see that we are on pain medications, they automatically assume that we are drug addicts and that we are 'drug-seeking' just by going to the hospital.

Personally, I have so many of these experiences, that I couldn't possibly list them all. Last year, I was hospitalized for upper abdominal pain. I had been to the emergency room earlier that week for the same issue, so the doctor told me he was admitting me, 'Because otherwise you'll just keep coming back.'

On my first day after being admitted, I was given no pain control and was taken off of my muscle relaxers. I got no sleep. I was told there was absolutely nothing wrong, and they couldn't find any reason to keep me. I overheard my nurse speaking to another nurse, saying that my liver enzymes were in the thousands.


I questioned the doctor, who was in the process of discharging me, about my liver enzymes. He asked how I knew about this. I claimed that I had asked the nurse, because I could tell he was angry and I didn't want to get her in trouble, although I had every right to know this potentially life threatening information. At that point, he felt pressured to keep me and try to figure out what was wrong.

Because they weren't treating my pain, my blood pressure was high and I was at risk of heart attack or stroke. Instead of treating my pain, they put me on two different blood pressure medications.

At one point, I was taken to another floor for an abdominal scan. I was in so much pain I was trembling. A nurse said, 'So, you're an addict. When's the last time you used?'

I was dumbfounded. I replied that I was absolutely not an addict and asked why she said this.

'Oh, maybe I used the wrong terminology,' the nurse said. 'You've been on pain meds for a long time, right?'

I said yes and she said, 'Well, okay. You can't deny that, then. I just used the wrong word, sorry.'

I was suddenly acutely aware of the frequent misuse of the term 'LTDU' (long term drug user), which is applied to many of us who take pain medications.

Upon transfer from my room to the exam room, I was given my medical records to hold. I opened and read them. Not surprisingly, I saw multiple remarks about 'drug seeking behavior.' The nurse told me I was not allowed to read my own records. I said, 'I'm allowed to hold them, but not read them? They're mine!'

'Yes. Well, it's hospital policy,' she replied.

I was hospitalized a second time last year, for the same issue, plus bradycardia. The admitting doctor was nasty to me, saying, 'I am admitting you, but you will not be given one drop of pain medication other than Tylenol.'

Eventually, I was given a small dose of pain medication, but I was still trembling and vomiting the pain was so bad; yet the doctors refused to raise my dosage. I called the nurse, who got me a patient controlled pain pump. This was slightly more helpful, but when I let them know that the dosage was not controlling my pain, they took it away entirely. The gastrointestinal team came in and talked to me, but never came back.

I was discharged within three days, with no answers. Over those three days, I was told by one nurse, 'If you call me every time it's time for your medication, you are called a ‘clock watcher,’ which we consider a form of drug-seeking.'

I was again gobsmacked. Later, another doctor came in and said, 'We have no reason to believe you're in pain.'

I said, 'Why would I go through all of this just to get a mediocre amount of pain medicine?! I'm not drug-seeking, I'm relief-seeking!'

The doctor said, 'Well, there's not much difference.'

During this second stay, I had to call the charge nurse and often the patient advocate, just to get minimal pain control. Every time, I pointed out their sign, which said 'If your pain is not relieved within 30 minutes, please tell your nurse. Our goal is to treat patients with respect and dignity.'

I pointed this out so many times that instead of heading their own policies, they literally changed the sign! They came in and screwed a new sign to the wall, which mentioned nothing about pain care or patient rights.

In August of 2014, before the two events described above, I had my gallbladder removed. I was already on pain medications for chronic pain and I expressed concern to the doctor that my pain after surgery would not be adequately controlled. He said, 'Don't worry. You'll get your precious Percocet. One prescription, that's it!'

I was hurt and offended that he was treating me this way, as though I would have an organ removed just to get pain medicine! But, it got worse. As I was waking up from surgery, my eyes were not yet open, and I heard one nurse say to another, 'The doctor said she's going to claim she's in pain, but just get her out of here.'

I opened my eyes and declared, 'I heard you!' They both grew silent, and pretended that never happened.

This past August, on my 40th birthday, I landed in the ER again. Again, I had severe upper abdominal pain and was told that, 'Nothing is wrong, and you will not be given narcotic medication.'

I asked the doctor to look at my liver enzymes. He saw that they were extremely elevated, and gave me a dose of pain medicine. The next thing I knew, the admitting doctor was in the room, telling me that I was 'getting what I wanted' and I was going to be admitted. She introduced herself, and then proceeded to verbally steam roll me, telling me that I would not receive pain medications while I was in 'her hospital.' She told me that I was already 'unnecessarily on pain medicines.'

I questioned her, but she curtly cut me off. 'I see that you have a bunch of 'garbage pail diagnoses,'' she said.

I was furious. I asked if she even knew what some of them where, and if she knew better than the doctors from 'her' hospital who had made those diagnoses. She rolled her eyes, and continued with her speech on the lack of treatment I would receive while admitted.

I said, 'So, I'm being admitted for pain control and further testing, but I won't receive pain control beyond the medications I currently take?'

'That is correct,' she said, her snide attitude seething. I told her that it was my 40th birthday and the last place I wanted to be was in the hospital, but I really wanted some answers. She just stared at me. I decided that I would take my chances, and go home. If this was any indication of the abusive treatment I was in for if I stayed, I wanted no part of it.

I was discharged with a diagnosis of intractable abdominal pain. Three weeks later, I looked at my online medical records, and noticed that my diagnosis had been changed to 'narcotic withdrawal.'

Four years ago, I developed a severe kidney infection. I was deemed a drug-seeker by numerous ER's, without any testing for my symptoms. Eventually, a doctor took me seriously, but by then, I was developing sepsis, and my life was in danger [due to sepsis].

Even during this horrible incident, I was taken off my regular pain medication and was given a tiny dose of IV pain medicine, equivalent to about half of my home medications. The nurses watched me writhe and cry in pain all day and night, until I spent two days in and out of consciousness. They argued with the doctor on my behalf and I argued with him, but nothing changed. I was still supposedly 'drug seeking.'

I could go on and on, but I think by now you get the point. Our lives are in danger, on the off chance that doctors may accidentally give medicine to someone who is trying to get high. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Also, I'm not sure how much validity is behind their theory. It seems to me that if someone wanted to get high, buying drugs off the street would be much easier and cheaper. Like most of us who take pain medication to treat our pain, I do not feel any euphoria, just a little relief.

How is this kind of behavior in line with a doctor's Hippocratic oath to 'First, do no harm?' It seems the oath is now 'First, judge and abuse.'

Emily Ullrich suffers from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS/RSD), Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Endometriosis, chronic gastritis, Interstitial Cystitis, Migraines, Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis, Periodic Limb Movement Disorder, Restless Leg Syndrome, Myoclonic episodes, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, bursitis, depression, multiple chemical sensitivity, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Emily is a writer, artist, filmmaker, and has even been an occasional stand-up comedian. She now focuses on patient advocacy for the Power of Pain Foundation, as she is able.

The information in this column should not be considered as professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It is for informational purposes only and represents the author’s opinions alone. It does not inherently express or reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of Pain News Network."

Source: Pain News Network






According to ABC News, in 2016,

"Lawyers for the family of a Florida woman who died after police forced her out of a hospital in handcuffs released police dash-cam video today from her arrest last month, capturing some of her last moments alive.

Barbara Dawson, 57, died at Calhoun Liberty Hospital in Blountstown, Florida, early Dec. 21 after she collapsed while being taken out in handcuffs by a Blountstown police officer, according to officials.

Dawson had gone to the hospital seeking treatment for abdominal pain the night before, but an officer was called to the hospital after she had been discharged by medical staff who alleged she had become unruly and refused to leave, officials said. The officer then arrested Dawson and removed her from the hospital for 'disorderly conduct and trespassing.'

Martha Smith-Dixon, Dawson's aunt, said at a news conference today that Dawson's family hopes the public release of the police dash-cam video will help bring "justice for Barbara" and prevent similar incidents in the future.

'Police are supposed to protect and serve,' Smith-Dixon said. 'The hospital is supposed to save lives. When Barbara, our family member, went to the hospital, she was denied all of those rights.'


Woman Dies After Being Hauled out of Florida Hospital in Handcuffs

Though Dawson is not visible in most of the police interior dash-cam video, she can be heard repeatedly shouting 'oh my God,' and saying she 'can't breathe' multiple times as Dawson is told that she's OK, 'there's nothing wrong with you' and to 'please stand up.'

The officer can be heard on the tape telling Dawson at one point, 'We surely don’t want to hurt you ... but you are going go to jail one way or the other, OK? So you can help us ... or we can do it the hard way.' An officer and hospital staff can be seen trying to lift her, now silent, into a police car as the dash-cam continues to roll inside.

Calhoun Liberty CEO Ruth Attaway said in a statement today that hospital officials are reviewing the police video, adding, 'First, we continue to grieve the loss of a patient and a member of the community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Ms. Dawson as well as with our community.'

'Our primary objective in this situation is to remain transparent and to welcome investigation from authorities. We have already welcomed reviews and investigations from the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as well as the Department of Health. To the fullest extent permitted by state and federal law, we will continue to be transparent and forthcoming with our community and the public.'

Daryl Parks, an attorney for Dawson's family, said today in a news conference that the audio from the recording revealed Dawson was 'in a panic, telling [the officer] that she cannot breathe.'

At one point in the video, a police officer radios in, saying, 'Let them know I have a 270-pound black female that has been non-compliant, lying on the ground, and it has been physically impossible for us to get her in the back of this car.'

There is a long gap of audio in the recording -- about 20 minutes -- from when Dawson could no longer be heard to when medical assistance arrived.

'We believe from a medical standpoint, and from a policeman's stand point, that [gap] is significant in the delay that you have there,' Parks said. 'There was not deliberate speed to assist her.'

A police report of the incident sent by the Blountstown Police Department to ABC affiliate WTXL-TV said the responding officer who was arresting Dawson believed 'Dawson was just being noncompliant and making herself dead weight in an effort to avoid going to jail.'

Parks said that the officer's assumption 'cost Barbara Dawson her life.'

The police report also noted that Dawson repeatedly asked for her oxygen tank before she collapsed and that she was brought back inside the hospital.

Dawson later died because of a blood clot in her lung, according to an autopsy report from the medical examiner's office in Panama City.

Blountstown Police Chief Mark Mallory told ABC News in a statement today that law enforcement were first responders and 'not medically trained professionals.' He explained that while police officers are CPR-trained, CPR 'would not be utilized on a person that is breathing and that has a heartbeat, as was the case with Ms. Dawson.'

He added that though 'the officer may have suspected that Ms. Dawson was intentionally noncompliant, he nonetheless fully executed his duty and responsibility, requesting that medical professionals continue to verify Ms. Dawson’s health status, even after the medical professionals initially assessed and evaluated Ms. Dawson following her collapse.'

'In Ms. Dawson's case, the responding officer acted appropriately, by audio recording of the events as they transpired on December 21, 2015, the officer sought medical professionals that responded to Ms. Dawson in the Calhoun-Liberty Hospital parking lot included the following: registered nurses, a paramedic, and a doctor,' Mallory added. 'Upon the arrival of the various medical professionals, the officer deferred to the professional training and expertise of the summoned medical professionals to evaluate and [assess] Ms. Dawson's need for medical intervention.'

'Regardless, Ms. Dawson's passing is a loss felt by our community, and our thoughts and prayers remain with her family and friends during this time,' Mallory said.

Lawyers for Dawson's family said today it was 'suspicious' that the hospital's surveillance camera 'wasn't working.'

Hospital spokeswoman Sandi Poreda told the Associated Press last month that there is no hospital video of the incident because a server was down for upgrades. Poreda said hospital staff determined on Dec. 22 that the server had not stored video since Nov. 28. She added that the server has been fixed, footage is now being recorded and the hospital is also in the process of installing new cameras.

Benjamin Crump, one of the attorneys for Dawson's family, said it 'is very important that we remember the larger implication in the tragic death of Barbara Dawson,' adding that police and hospital personnel treated her 'like she was not worthy of consideration.'

Lawyers at Parks and Crump Attorneys at Law, the firm representing Dawson's family, told ABC News today that the firm has not filed any lawsuits, as of today.

The BPD and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have launched independent investigations into Dawson's arrest and death. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration has also started its own investigation 'to determine if the hospital violated any state or federal requirements surrounding last week’s incident at the hospital.'"

Source: Located on the image




According to NewsWeek,

"

THE DRUG WAR IS WRECKING OUR ER DEPARTMENTS
BY GEOFFREY HOSTA ON 1/18/16 AT 2:42 PM

Every day I see people during the worst moments of their lives. As an emergency room doctor, I see the victims of violence, disease and age at their most vulnerable.

During one of my more depressing shifts, a nine-year-old girl (let’s call her Nancy) came into the emergency room with an arm broken at a 90 degree angle. On that same night, a drug-seeking patient (let’s call him Richard) came into the hospital for the fifth time that month with the same concocted excuse.

While I worked on Richard’s fake ailments, I was unable to alleviate Nancy’s excruciating pain. She suffered with little more than a stuffed animal to comfort her because Richard needed his fix.

In an environment of drug prohibition, patients like Richard are not rare. But it is not the sheer number of drug seekers that exacerbates what is already a problem of ER overcrowding. It is also the ailments that drug seekers like Richard create. They tend to invent symptoms indicative of serious illnesses that offer a quick ticket to the back and the best chance for intravenous drugs.

Unfortunately, those complaints require hefty ER resources, which would have otherwise helped people like Nancy. Worse still, addicts repeat the trick. One of my drug-seeking patients made 183 visits to my emergency department in a year and visited at least two other emergency rooms. Based on my experience, I estimate that drug seeking accounts for 20 to 30 percent of all ER visits.

Scholars corroborate my estimate. One researcher claims that drug seeking comprises as much as 20 percent of all ER visits. Meanwhile, ER visits for narcotic medications rose at least 75 percent for all age groups between 2004 and 2009.

ER doctors prescribed 49 percent more painkillers in 2010 than in 2001. Painkiller prescriptions (drug seekers’ favorite fix in the heroin-opioid epidemic) for ER dental complaints alone rose 26 percent between 1997 and 2007.

One study found that a group of patients at risk for drug seeking averaged over twelve ER visits per year. Participants also visited multiple hospitals — over four, on average — using multiple aliases. Another study found the situation to be worse, with drug seekers visiting the emergency room an average of 14.5 times per year (versus non-drug seekers visiting about two times a year).

ER drug seeking is so rampant that it has become a favorite online topic among healthcare providers. They discuss it in forums, dedicate numerous blog posts to the subject, and even write parodies with titles including, 'ER Places Bowl Full of Percocet in Waiting Room, Lowers Visits.'

Healthcare providers (such as ER doctors and nurses) have even reported violent addicts who had been denied drugs waiting to exact revenge in parking lots.

Many providers have become so frustrated that they prefer to risk under-treating pain in non-drug seekers than be burned again. (This is a shame, considering that identifying drug seekers is difficult , leading to widespread — and racially uneven — under treatment of pain.)

Some healthcare providers now sadly believe that ER patients with honest pain complaints are the minority. Presumably in an effort to relieve the side effects of drug seeking, one ER doctor won a 'Best of Craigslist' designation for anonymously telling drug seekers how to obtain drugs quickly and without annoying the staff.

Healthcare administrators have taken action to combat ER drug seeking. They have created 'habitual patient' files in order to track suspected drug seekers. Some hospitals have also adopted computer systems to identify and track suspect patients.

For example, patients are enrolled in one such program if they visit the ER more than four times in one month, whenever a staff member is concerned, or if the state has convicted the patient of prescription fraud. Other hospitals have increased physician education to help identify drug seekers. Administrators have also considered adopting screening tools utilized by pain clinics.

The prevalence of ER drug seeking has also caught the attention of legislators. Nearly every state has a prescription drug monitoring program, intended to help providers determine whether a patient is lying or over-prescribed.

Some states have linked these databases in order to limit out-of-state 'painkiller tourism.' Several states prohibit 'doctor shopping,' by which drug seekers obtain prescriptions from multiple providers.

New York City limited ER opioid prescriptions to a three-day supply and imposed other rules. The FDA , DEA and other federal bodies have guidelines affecting ER prescriptions. Perhaps the most telling sign of an important social problem is the contradictory policy requirements intended to solve it. While the DEA threatens loss of licensure for excessive ER prescriptions, other publicly-recognized bodies threaten hospital staff with retribution if they inadequately prescribe.

This preoccupation with ER drug seeking is the result of the sizable problems that it creates. For example, drug seeking almost certainly increases wait times and sucks up ER resources. That damages the healthcare of anyone who needs hospital care — so essentially, everyone at one time or another.

Considering that drug seekers are rarely well to do enough to afford health insurance, ER drug seeking probably drives up healthcare costs, too. And because prohibition encourages addicts to game the healthcare system, instead of patronizing legal businesses offering safe and inexpensive drugs, the law victimizes addicts as well.

I don’t blame Richard. Under drug prohibition, he has two places to get his fix: medical outlets like emergency rooms, or the streets. Some are surprised that people like Richard favor hospitals with their bureaucratic hurdles, gatekeepers and other annoyances. But on the streets, he faces violence, incarceration, job loss and impure, expensive drugs.

If there were a third option — to buy drugs legally — drug seekers would face a new equation. Under these new incentives, at least some (and probably most) ER drug seekers will prefer legal highs from salons and shops over clinical and bureaucratic emergency rooms and dangerous corner dealers.

And as ER drug seekers disappear, so do all of their associated problems. So support an end to the Drug War, if not to right its other innumerable wrongs, then for anyone who will ever urgently need ER care — like Nancy, your family, or yourself.

Geoffrey Hosta is a board-certified emergency room doctor with over thirty years of experience in emergency medicine."

Source: www.Flickr.com



According to Pro Talk,

"How To Get Labeled a 'Pill Seeker' – Even When You’re Not One
Posted August 9, 2016 in by Anne Fletcher


Recent personal experiences have opened my eyes to how similar the behavior of individuals in severe, chronic pain can be to that of people in the throes of severe substance use disorders (SUD) when they can’t get their drug of choice.

In other words, severe pain and substance use disorders can make you feel desperate and driven to get what you need for relief.


Is it “Doctor Shopping” or Chronic Pain?

Certainly, there’s concern when a SUD is so consuming that an individual 'doctor shops,' trying to get one or more prescription medications to get high. But it’s not uncommon for someone in acute or chronic pain to be put in the same position and to act the same way to get alleviation of pain.

However, if you have a history of a substance use disorder, even if it’s in remission and/or even if painkillers were not your drug of choice, it’s likely that you’ll have difficulty finding a physician to prescribe opioids. One of my relatives has a chronic medical condition caused by an alcohol use disorder that’s been in remission for nearly 9 months. The pain caused by the condition has been likened to that of childbirth, and the relative has been bedridden with it much of the past several months. The national society representing this person’s condition recommends opioids for acute and chronic pain when less strong pain relievers don’t work, which has been the case with my relative. The person has never enjoyed opioid painkillers in large part because they cause unpleasant allergic-type reactions (severe itching, nausea, and vomiting) but a few can be tolerated with lesser side effects in order to get pain relief.

Several local physicians have given the relative short-term prescriptions for the pain, but then cut them off although the pain has not been resolved and despite having an appointment in several weeks at a world-renowned clinic for the disorder in several weeks. (A specialist at a nearby pain clinic who hadn’t even seen the person said that opioids would not be an option, and another doctor said even the mildest of opioids 'could be a slippery slope.') Thus, the suffering continues.


8 Ways to Get Labeled a “Pain Pill Seeker” When You Aren’t One

While watching a loved one go through this and through my work, I’ve learned the following lessons about how people become labeled 'painkiller seekers,' even when they’re not:


Ask for painkillers when you have a history of any type of substance use disorder.

When the doctor says 'no' because of your addiction history, argue that painkillers have never been a problem for you. The truth is, according to renowned addiction physician, Mark Willenbring, M.D., director of Alltyr Clinic in St. Paul, MN and formerly with the National Institutes of Health, 'The neuroadaptations in the brain that result from the combination of genetic vulnerability and environmental triggers are substance-specific. That is, the dysregulation of consumption of the intoxicant only applies to the specific drug consumed. It does not apply to other drugs. In my practice, I find that opioid addicts seldom like alcohol, and vice versa.'


Look like you’re sick and tired when you go to the doctor’s office or emergency room.

My relative was told by a nurse in family practice, 'I can tell you right now that if you go to the E.R. the way you’re looking, you’re not going to get any help. My relative said, 'You mean, looking sick? Should I go home and put on makeup and then go to the ER?' Jeffery Junig, MD, PhD, an addiction psychiatrist in solo private practice in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Medical College of Wisconsin, said, 'People face ‘opioid discrimination’ not only for their medical histories, but also for tattoos, haircuts, or muscle-shirts. [I’ll add piercings to the list.] Over the years I’ve met many severe opioid addicts who looked like businesspersons or professionals, who were given 60 oxycodone tablets for a backache. Yet I’ve had patients who were stable in their recovery from opioid use disorders who received only ibuprofen for kidney stones.'


Act like you’re not sick enough – and don’t even think about cracking a joke.

That same nurse told my loved one that she didn’t seem like she was in enough pain to get emergency help. People who live with chronic pain can tolerate more pain than normal people and can often come across as being more composed than they feel.
Lose your temper – especially when you’ve been treated with disrespect. That obviously means you’re a 'druggie.'


Act like you’re very much in need of painkillers.

One health care professional outright told us that if you seem too desperate, it’s a red flag that you might have an addiction problem (even if you don’t.)


Go to more than one health care provider at the same medical facility and ask for help.

But what’s a person to do when one doctor doesn’t believe in giving out painkillers or another cuts you off for no apparent reason and you’re still in pain?


Have a mental health disorder that causes you to be emotionally dysregulated, especially when you’ve been experiencing chronic pain.

Medical professionals might say it’s all or partly in your head. Of course a vicious cycle becomes created as the dysregulation becomes worse and the pain worsens – or vomiting from your pain or illness makes it hard to keep your psych meds down.


Be very specific about the painkiller you want, especially if you’ve been offered one or more that you know you can’t tolerate or won’t work for you. That suggests you’re looking for your 'drug of choice.'


How Opioid Hysteria is Hurting People
Willenbring said:

'So many people are suffering needlessly because of the hysteria about opioids – we’ve gone too far the other way in making it so difficult for those who need pain relief to get opioid painkillers. The suicide rate is likely to be high in individuals with chronic pain.'

Junig agreed that, although we clearly had a problem in this country with the over-prescription of opioids, things have swung so far in the other direction that doctors are routinely cutting people off pain medications, throwing patients into withdrawal, which leads many of them to illicit opioids and even heroin. He added:

'Opioids and their actions are some of medicine’s greatest discoveries, and they can be used safely with appropriate precautions. And people with history of opioid dependence have the same right to pain relief as any other patient.'

His main issue is this:

'Many of the anti-opioid doctors try to distinguish between ‘acute pain’ and ‘chronic pain’. You’ll often hear comments that opioids are appropriate for ACUTE pain – for instance, after surgery or broken bones – but should not be used for CHRONIC pain, as if the suffering is somehow less severe or less-worthy of treating for those with chronic pain. But what if the pain is actually JUST AS BAD in the chronic patient as it is in the acute pain patient? What if the severity is the same?'

Junig said that he has a patient whose chronic pain is so intense that tears roll down his face every few minutes, when he is struck by paroxysms of phantom-limb pain. He even had an implant in his brain to try to control it, but the implant only causes him to have seizures and doesn’t reduce the pain.

'Many docs would call him a ‘chronic pain patient,’ Junig said, 'even though his pain is at least as severe as a person coming out of major surgery.'


Choosing Your Health Care Professional(s) Wisely

I asked Dr. Willenbring if I was wrong to be disinclined to advise people in recovery to be very careful and selective about giving out information about a past history of addiction to medical providers. He replied:

'I tend to agree with you. However, it’s getting more difficult over time, with the electronic medical record, to not have information about an addiction history revealed. Few people understand that when they sign an informed consent to establish care, there’s usually a provision in there to allow access to a patient’s full prescription history, whether it was provided by someone else or not. (That provision in the informed consent document can be struck if the patient crosses it out and initials it, but I believe that some systems still can tap into outside prescription history.)'

Willenbring added:

'Also, pharmacists already have access to that. So if someone has ever been prescribed Naltrexone, for example, or Suboxone, then that would make it clear that they have an addiction history. Another way that your history can come out is if a spouse or other relative, such as an adult child, sibling, or parent, interact with the provider. The risk is that if the addiction history is somehow found out after the fact, then the health professionals might regard that as deception and an attempt to manipulate for controlled medications. Obviously, this is a double bind, so one would have to weigh how likely it is that a provider will learn about an addiction history in some way other than directly from the patient.'

Jim Carter, Ph.D., a San Diego clinical psychologist who specializes in behavioral health, said:

‘Pill seeker’ is a ridiculous label. All patients seeking treatments from MDs are either ‘pill seekers’ or ‘surgery seekers.’ What else would the patient seek? I would encourage any patient (with or without a history of SUD) seeking opioid medication treatment to proceed with caution and carefully select a provider whom the patient can trust enough to openly discuss the potential risks and benefits.'"

Source: Imgur




According to Pamela Windell, M.D.,

"Patient Profiling: Are You a Victim?
Posted on January 21, 2014 by Pamela Wible MD


Ever felt misjudged by a doctor? Or treated unfairly by a clinic or hospital? You may be a victim of patient profiling.

Patient profiling is the practice of regarding particular patients as more likely to have certain behaviors or illnesses based on their appearance, race, gender, financial status, or other observable characteristics. Profiling disproportionately impacts patients with chronic pain, mental illness, the uninsured, and patients of color. Like racial profiling by police, patient profiling by physicians is more common than you think.

We rely on doctors to first do no harm–to safeguard our health–but profiling patients often leads to improper medical care, and distrust of physicians and the health care system, with potential lifelong consequences. For the first time, people share their stories:

'I was once denied pain meds after a fall off a 10-foot porch by the same doc who gave my pretty female friend pain meds after getting two stitches in her finger. I felt like my appearance had something to do with it.' ~ Jay Snider

'In 1986 I was in a motorcycle accident. I tore up my face on the road. I was taken to the ER and treated like crap because I had no insurance. They cauterized my facial wounds rather than stitch me up, and then dumped me on the sidewalk with amnesia. I still have distinct black scars; people think they’re tattoos. I went into collections and it took years to pay that one off. Six weeks ago, I fell while trimming a tree. When the ER found the insurance card in my wallet, I was treated like gold.' ~ James Cummings

'I was pressured by our doctor from my son’s birth all the way through grade school. I kept telling him no vaccines whatsoever, zero, nada. I was hassled, shamed, talked down to, and more. Not a fun experience, whatsoever. I was profiled as a bad mother.' ~ Sheri Ricker

'As a teen, I fractured my nose. Many sinus issues later, I consulted an ENT specialist. He insisted that I damaged my sinus passages by using cocaine. His assumptions caused me pain, humiliation, confusion, and anger. I repeatedly assured him that I wasn’t a user. Two surgeries later, my septum was removed. Afterwards, he was so cruel as to continue his tirade about my cocaine use. As the gauze was being removed from my nose, I fainted. When I was roused, he insisted that I leave immediately showing no concern about whether I could even make it home safely.' ~ Lonnie Stoner

'It was 1975. I was 23 and I’d been on the pill for 4 years, but I became concerned about potential negative side effects of long-term hormonal manipulation. So I researched other contraceptives and felt the diaphragm was the simplest and safest option for me. When I went to the county clinic to get fitted, I explained what I’d researched to the doctor. He scoffed at my concerns, urged me to stay on the pill, and disputed any potential negative consequences. He reminded me that taking a pill each day was SO much easier than having to be responsible for using the diaphragm properly. It was clear he thought I was too young and clueless to make this decision about my own reproductive health care. Although he tried to dissuade me from switching to a diaphragm, I insisted that’s what I wanted, and he finally fitted me for it. After he left the room, the nurse said, ‘Don’t worry, dear; it’s quite easy to use. I’ve been using one for years with no problems. It’s a good choice for you to make!’ It was clear she didn’t approve of his patronizing attitude either.' ~ Patsy Raney

'I injured my back at work. I couldn’t get time off, so my family doc prescribed pain meds so I could get through the day and Xanax for sleep. I returned every six months for two years and he always accused me of taking more than I was prescribed. He got progressively more rude and angry. I brought my wife with me to see if I was imagining it. She witnessed it too, so we searched for another doctor. I asked my new doctor to taper me off of the pain meds and Xanax so I could try medical marijuana instead. He was skeptical. He told me to go to the pain clinic. I’d gone there once before and was treated like a criminal. I didn’t want to go there! So he wrote up a contract that said I would agree to take pain meds and Xanax and I’d be drug tested monthly to make sure that I wasn’t using medical marijuana. When I told him I wouldn’t sign the contract, he told me to find another doctor. This was at a critical time when I needed real help and was worried about taking the meds for over two years.' ~ Carl Williams


I’ve been a doctor for 20 years. I thought I’d seen it all. Drug addicts have altered my prescriptions, even forged my name. Patients have lied to me. Many haven’t followed my treatment plans. Some have died as a result. Still, I try to treat everyone fairly and with respect. But now I’m wondering, 'Have I ever profiled a patient?' I bet I have. So on behalf of my colleagues and myself, I’ve got a message for any patient who has ever been misjudged or mistreated:

"

According to Healthe Careers,

"Is It Chronic Pain or Drug-Seeking Behavior?
By Stephanie Stephens On Jul 27, 2017


Current healthcare headlines frequently contain two words: opioid epidemic. As VOX recently reported, the number of opioid use disorder diagnoses has grown by nearly eight times the rate of the most effective treatment. A person can get opioids with a prescription from a healthcare provider — or on the streets.

An internet forum post from a student doctor doesn't mince words. It's directed at a 'drug seeker' who visits the emergency department in need of a script. It's also important to note that use of the term has fallen out of favor in recent years, as healthcare professionals focus more on 'the disease' and its treatment.

The post says: 'I hate you because you think you can march in to any E.R. in the country and demand narcotics your way like it is Burger King. I hate you because your fake symptoms force me to throw away millions of dollars of our national treasure on tests that don't need to be done…I hate you because in wasting the time of our E.R. staff, a harmless grandmother in the room next door must be tied to her bed because there is no sitter.'

But there are two sides to every story, right? There's the other side, as former EMT Christina Phillips documents in her March Kevin MD blog entitled, 'My mother isn’t a drug-seeking patient. She’s in pain.'

She writes: 'I still haven’t forgotten how easy it is, as a clinician, to see the symptoms first and the patient second, and to reach quick conclusions based on previous experience. How can I forget, when just months ago I had to help my mother contend with a doctor who, despite the chart in his hand and the eleven-inch scar across her abdomen, refused to believe that she’d had her pancreas removed?'

Distinguishing and dealing with drug-seeking behavior can be a challenge for any healthcare professional — even those with experience. Meet your fellow physicians on the front lines and learn how they approach the patient who comes seeking drugs. Yes, some really need them, and some do not, but it's how these patients are managed that makes all the difference to you, them and the healthcare system.



Patients Behaving Badly

Not so fast with judgments, suggests R. Corey Waller, M.D., M.S., FACEP, DFASAM and chair of the legislative advocacy committee of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. An addiction, pain and emergency medicine specialist, he's also senior medical director for the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Partners in New Jersey.

'Drug-seeking behaviors are predictable and identifiable, and should be looked at as symptoms of chronic brain disease — addiction — not defined by lab results,' Dr. Waller says.

'Neurobiological changes support a drive that asks, 'How do I survive?' Chronically-addicted, drug-seeking patients are scared of withdrawal, horrible pain and of not being able to control themselves or handle job or family responsibilities,' he says. 'If they're yelling or 'want to see your boss,' that's a sign of a higher degree of illness.'

He 'gets when physicians eventually abandon E.R. work because 'those patients drove them insane,' he says. Dr. Waller knows that even though he has specialty training in addiction medicine that helps him understand, not everyone does.

'As doctors, we like to fix things,' he says. 'We’re all Type As, and it's frustrating when we can't change the outcome for a person. And for some reason we as humans often shy away from this subset of the patient population.'

He thinks it's because we've all had personal experiences with addiction — with family or friends — and it raises an 'emotional context' that hypertension, for example, does not. 'Couple that with stigma, and it certainly deserves some soul-searching,' he says.



Raising Red Flags

One of his habitual drug-seeking patients made 183 visits to his emergency department in a year, said emergency-room physician Geoffrey Hosta, M.D., in Newsweek last year.

'This kind of behavior can sometimes even interject a level of aggression with the potential for violence in this setting,' says Rade Vukmir, M.D., J.D., FACEP of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a professor adjunct of emergency medicine at Temple University and a spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians.

'In the E.D., we're America's safety net, and our goal is to treat people appropriately, do a medical screening exam on every patient, and determine the appropriate diagnosis and treatment for the patient's best benefit,' he says. 'This process shouldn't be adversarial, but sometimes it can be in circumstances such as this.'

Drug-seeking behavioral signs can be telling, he says. Most people describe symptoms and experiences, but a patient's inappropriate focus on a particular medicine, specifying specific formulation, dose and route of administration, often stands out.



'I Want It That Way'

'This is what my doctor prescribes for me in this dose,' they might say. A patient who repetitively presents at off hours to a hospital when their primary care physician is closed, or a cross-covering physician is involved, may raise a red flag,' he says.

Additionally, patients may request refills early because medication was 'lost' or 'stolen,' they may say they're allergic to non-opiate pain relievers, and they may want shorter-acting narcotics versus recommended longer-acting meds, according to an analysis in Physicians Practice.

A 2013 study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine also lists such telltale behaviors as multiple visits for the same complaint, suspicious history and symptoms out of proportion to examination.

'We do try and help the patient through the process,' says Dr. Vukmir. Remember, we're not here to make moral judgments, and we're treating the condition, not the complaint.'

Doctors do have help with complexities of drug-seeking behavior from pharmaceutical databases in some states, he says. The U.S. Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration operate the Diversion Control Diversion State Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs. However, a clever and motivated individual might fill a prescription in one state, and drive to another city in an adjoining state, leaving what doctors describe as wide gaps in the database trail.



Contracts Keep It Clean

In a town of approximately 4,000 people, John Cullen, M.D., owns the only doctor's office in Valdez, Alaska. It's very isolated, he says, and when a new patient comes to see him and requests a narcotic prescription, that patient is probably really hurting without it.

'Many people really don't want to go through withdrawal, and, yes, it's tragic when someone gets behind that eight ball,' he says. 'We have to determine if they're really having chronic pain or they have an opioid use disorder, and that takes time. Sometimes we have to use opioids because of a patient's other health issues. Some patients can do very well long term.'

Gut instinct rules here, he says, for 'a lot has to do with how you feel about a patient. You develop a sense when people aren't giving you the full truth. Some are really good at this.'

When he does judiciously dispense them, patients sign his practice's pain contract. It stipulates they won't get narcotics from another source, and will obtain them from the specified pharmacy. They'll be tracked in a database and see the doctor on a regular basis without missing any appointments. They'll come in when requested for urine screenings and a pill count.

'The same rules apply to everybody,' says Dr. Cullen, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Family Physicians. Anyone whose behavior attracts the attention of local law enforcement will be duly noted at the medical practice. It's not a punitive thing, and we don't become emotionally invested as a prescriber one way or the other. We can simply say, 'You didn't follow up so we can't prescribe these anymore.''



Encouraging Opioid Avoidance

If they do stop prescribing, and all medical risks are assessed, the medical team treats the patient appropriately for withdrawal and prescribes long-term follow-up care.

'As family practitioners, we see ourselves as part of the solution,' Cullen says. 'Many patients on chronic pain medications come in on a lot more meds than they should. If they need to stay on them, our job is to get them down to a safe level. We all try very hard not to prescribe them — unless there is no other option.'

He utilizes alternative therapies such as acupuncture, physical therapy, exercise, massage therapy and more. 'Plus we have found non-narcotic gabapentin, pregabalin and anti-inflammatories to be very effective,' says Dr. Cullen. 'We also try to utilize the opioid buprenorphine more frequently, which is safer than oxycodone and morphine.'

Acceptance is a mighty force, Dr. Vukmir says. 'When a patient says, 'I know you’re concerned about me, and yes, I have an issue and am trying to get some help,' we are ecstatic. We will go to whatever reasonable lengths to get a patient into a supervised treatment program.'

'I talk to the patients about their individual risk for addiction and dependence versus the benefit of an opiate prescription,' says Aimee Moulin, M.D., FACEP at the University of California at Davis Medical Center. She says she encounters multiple drug-seeking patients every shift, 'especially in the lower acuity areas.'

'I try to keep the conversation focused on the best treatment options for the patient,' says Dr. Moulin. 'I’m open about my concerns for addiction and dependence, and hope to engage the patient in that discussion. I also refer patients to an addiction specialist and treatment if necessary. With every patient, I think about the risks of addiction and overdose.'"

Not all chronically ill patients are drug seekers. I can speak to my own personal experience that I have been treated as a drug seeker multiple times in the Emergency Room, and I always go to the same one so it's not like I "shop around." The last time I went to the Emergency Room, my husband forced me to go. I fell off of my bed and hit my head really hard on the corner of my nightstand. I had a huge lump on the back of my head. I do not remember any of this - I was completely blacked out. My husband said that I was trying to explain to the doctor what happened but I was slurring my words very badly. The doctor just automatically assumed I was a drug addict seeking drugs from the Emergency Room. My husband had to step in and had to explain what happened. After that, my husband said that the doctor took me seriously. I had a really bad concussion and they were about to write me off as a drug seeker. What if I had a brain bleed? Thank goodness, I did not, but the doctor was judging before he even ran any tests. The doctor should have kept me overnight for observation since I blacked out and do not remember any of this, but instead, sent me home with pain medicine for my head. This stigma of judging people to be drug seekers and/or drug addicts before tests are even conducted is ridiculous. It needs to stop.

Source: https://paincommunity.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/stop-stigma-284x300.png



I wanted to share this from University Health's Website because most people do not realize they have patient rights. According to their site,

"Purpose:

To assure that the basic rights of human beings for independence of expression, decision and action, concern for personal dignity and human relationships are preserved for all patients, and to define the responsibilities of patients.

A. Access to Care

Individuals shall be afforded impartial access to treatment that is available and medically indicated, regardless of race, creed, sex, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability or source of payment. Free translation services are available.


B. Respect and Dignity

The patient has the right to considerate, respectful care at all times, under all circumstances, with recognition of his personal dignity and worth.


C. Privacy and Confidentiality

The patient has the right, within the law, to personal privacy and information privacy, as manifested by the right to:

Refuse to talk with or see anyone not officially connected with the hospital, including visitors, persons officially connected with the hospital but who are not directly involved in his care.

Wear appropriate personal clothing and religious or other symbolic items, as long as they do not jeopardize safety or interfere with diagnostic procedures or treatment.

To be interviewed and examined in surroundings designed to assure reasonable audiovisual privacy. This includes the right to have a person of one's own gender present during certain parts of a physical examination, treatment, or procedure performed by a health professional of the opposite sex; and the right not to remain disrobed any longer than is required for accomplishing the medical purpose for which the patient was asked to disrobe.

Expect that any discussion or consultation involving his/her case will be conducted discreetly and that individuals, not involved in direct care, will not be present without permission of the patient.

Have his/her medical record read only by individuals directly involved in treatment or monitoring of quality, and by other individuals only on written authorization by the patient or that of his/her legally authorized representative.

Expect that all communications and other records pertaining to his care, including the source of payment for treatment, be treated as confidential.

Expect that information given to concerned family members or significant other legally qualified person, be delivered in privacy and with due consideration of confidentiality.

Request transfer to another available room if another patient or visitors in that room are unreasonably disturbing to said patient.

Be placed in protective privacy and/or be assigned an alias name when considered necessary for personal safety.



D. Personal Safety and Security

The patient has the right to expect reasonable safety in so far as the hospital practices and environment are concerned. To address the needs of patient, visitor and staff regarding safety and security, the University Police patrol 24 hours per day and are present in the Emergency Room around the clock. Other safety and security measures include limited access to the facility through the use of electronic access cards and readers on exterior entrances, video monitoring in numerous areas of the campus, and the use of employee identification badges that are to be conspicuously displayed.


E. Identity

The patient has the right to know the identity and professional status of individuals providing service and which physician or other practitioner is primarily responsible for his care. This includes the patient's right to know of the existence of any professional relationship among individuals who are treating him, as well as the relationship to any healthcare or educational institutions involved in his care. Participation by patients in research programs, or in the gathering of data for research purposes, shall be voluntary with a signed informed consent.



F. Information

The patient has the right to obtain from the practitioner responsible for coordinating his care, complete and current information concerning his diagnosis (to the degree known), treatment, pain management, and any known prognosis. This information should be communicated in terms the patient can reasonably be expected to understand. When it is not medically advisable to give such information to the patient, the information shall be made available to a legally authorized individual.

The patient has the right to formally access his medical records. The patient shall complete the Authorization to Disclose Protected Health Information (form #1148) which is then sent to Health Information Management for processing. The Manager/Charge Nurse is to be notified when such requests are made.

The patient may access, request an amendment to, and/or receive an accounting of disclosures of their own protected health information as permitted under applicable law.


G. Communication

The patient has the right of access to people outside the hospital by means of visitors, and by oral and written communication. The patient may request not to be included in the patient directory. Inclusion in the patient directory means that the patient's name; room number and a general condition report may be given to people who ask about the patient by name.
The prisoner patient has the right to visitors only as approved by the warden of the prison or jail where the prisoner patient is incarcerated.

When the patient does not speak or understand the predominant language of the community, or is hearing impaired, he/she shall have access to an interpreter if at all possible. This is particularly true where language barriers are a continuing problem.



H. Consent

The patient has the right to reasonably informed participation in decisions involving his/her health care. To the degree possible, this shall be based on a clear, concise explanation of his/her condition and of all proposed technical procedures, including the possibilities of any risk of mortality or serious side effects, problems related to recuperation, and probability of success. The patient shall not be subjected to any procedure without his/her voluntary, competent, and informed consent, or that of his/her legally authorized representative. Where medically significant alternatives for care or treatment exist, the patient shall be so informed.

The patient has the right to know who is responsible for authorizing and performing the procedures or treatment.

The patient shall be informed if the clinician proposes to engage in or perform human experimentation or other research/educational projects affecting his/her care or treatment, and the patient shall sign an informed consent if participation is desired and maintains the right to refuse to participate or withdraw from any such activity at any time.

The patient may refuse treatment to the extent permitted by law. When refusal of treatment by the patient or his/her legally authorized representative prevents the provision of appropriate care in accordance with ethical and professional standards, the relationship with the patient may be terminated upon reasonable notice.

If a patient is unconscious or is determined to be mentally incompetent and no consent can be obtained from an appropriate family member, legal action may be taken to obtain a court order for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. In life-threatening emergencies, where the patient is incompetent or unconscious, appropriate treatment may be administered without consent.


I. Consultation

The patient, at his/her own request and expense, has the right to consult with a specialist.


J. Transfer and Continuity of Care

A patient may not be transferred to another facility unless he/she has received a complete explanation of the need for the transfer and the alternatives to such a transfer, and unless the transfer is acceptable to the other facility. The patient has the right to be informed by the responsible practitioner or his/her delegate of any continuing healthcare requirements following discharge from the hospital.

Regardless of the source of payment for his/her care, the patient has the right to request and receive an itemized and detailed explanation of his/her total finalized bill for services rendered in the hospital. The patient shall be informed of eligibility for reimbursement by any third-party coverage during the admission or pre-admission financial investigation.


K. Hospital Rules and Regulations

The patient shall be informed of the hospital rules and regulations applicable to his/her conduct as a patient. The hospital's Notice of Privacy Practices is available from the Admitting Department or can be found on the hospital website.


L. Complaint Process

The patient has the right to file a complaint regarding services and is entitled to information regarding the hospitals mechanism for the initiation, review and resolution of such complaints.


M. Patient Responsibilities

Patients have the responsibility for:

Providing accurate and complete information about medical complaints, past illnesses, hospitalizations, medications, pain, and other matters relating to their health.

Following the treatment plan recommended by those responsible for their care.

Their actions if they refuse treatment or do not follow the healthcare team's instructions.

Seeing that their bills are paid as promptly as possible; following hospital rules and regulations.

Being considerate of the rights of other patients and hospital personnel.

Seeking information, and in the event they have questions, asking them."

Source: Facebook

"Got put in the hospital at 6am. The woman checking me in leaned forward and says, 'I know you’re white, but you’re incredibly white.' I pointed to the massive black circles under my eyes and she says, 'well.. I wasn’t going to mention that.'

Hospitals suck. That made me laugh."

That was her last post. She passed away after the Emergency Room treated her as a "drug seeker." She later killed herself that night because she was tired of the medical community failing her - always accusing her of being drug seeking, and never even thought to bother to check what was wrong with her. This has GOT to change!

Source: Facebook

"GASTROPARESIS is a disease that affects people of all ages, male and female. Lets raise AWARENESS!"

Denise was my best friend and I still miss her so much every day. She inspired me by dressing up and taking photos of what she called her "outfit of the day." She was denied medical care so many times, it was ridiculous. She passed away in 2016, from pneumonia. She had a gastric bypass before all of this to help her Gastroparesis, but it made it worse, so they took out her stomach completely. She was never the same after that and she ended up getting a lot sicker. She is in this article because I think she would approve of what I've written and I know when she was alive, she was a larger than life Gastroparesis advocate.


We need doctors to listen to us. No one wants to go to the Emergency Room and I know we should not HAVE to feel that way. Doctors really need to see past the "drug seeking" mentality and actually run tests, do lab work, and make sure everything is all right.

Invisible Emergencies Series, Part Two - The Chronically Ill's Perspective

I have been sent a lot of stories from people suffering from Gastroparesis, who have a hard time when they go to the Emergency Room.

When people with Gastroparesis vomit, it can be a life threatening chance of roulette. My doctor told me once that I vomit so forcefully, one day I am going to tear my esophagus and bleed out. He said there is nothing he can do about it.

However, the way Gastroparesis patients are treated by the Emergency Room staff is why a lot of us dread going, and usually do not go unless a family member drags us there. I know from personal experience that a lot of doctors and nurses do not think Gastroparesis is real. There is a nurse I know through a friend, who is an Emergency Room nurse at a nearby hospital, who told me and my husband that Gastroparesis was not a real illness.

Then, there is the opposite. I have met doctors and nurses in the Emergency Room who treat me terribly because either they do not believe that Gastroparesis hurts, or they think I am a drug addict. Since doing research for this series of articles I'm writing, I ran across this article in particular. This may explain a lot when it comes to Emergency Room doctors' thought processes towards those who come in with Gastroparesis: http://www.serenityrehab.org/blog/information/addicts-using-gastroparesis-abuse-prescription-drugs/ which infuriates me. I hope that we can change the stigma on that.

For a previous article I've written comparing patients with a chronic and/or invisible illness vs drug seekers, please click here: http://www.emilysstomach.com/2013/07/gastroparesis-patients-vs-drug-seekers.html

If I go to the Emergency Room, it is because I am REALLY dehydrated and in need of fluids. Furthermore, I do hurt because of projectile vomiting, and doing that straight for at least a week. I used a lot of muscles projectile vomiting and was very, very sore. I even pulled a muscle while vomiting! I could not keep my medication down to even help with the vomiting. If I wanted drugs, I am sure I could walk down a street and get some, and not pay thousands of dollars to go to the Emergency Room, to get stuck eighty million times, for a bag of fluid and a pat on the head.

However, dehydration is SERIOUS and you definitely should go to the Emergency Room if you are dehydrated.

Source: http://lifesignsblog.com/2017/06/08/how-much-water-do-you-need-to-drink-every-day/


Here are the stories that have been shared with me by other Gastroparesis Warriors on their Emergency Room experiences. I hope that it will help bring awareness to this issue. You should never judge a book by its cover.


Taylor writes,

"I was recently diagnosed with GP, my pain started in October and I waited for a month to access if it'd just go away, I'm already disabled from a few chronic conditions so I have a month rule, if it lasts longer than a month I get checked out. Regular doc thought it was an ulcer, sent me to the ER because she thought I was bleeding. The ER Doc found no bleeding and no infection, in the past I've always had that infection with my ulcers, and it didn't feel like my past experiences with ulcers, so I told her that, and pressed that concern with her that I seriously didn't think it was ulcers. She spent maybe all of 10 min. with me, and ignored my opinion of the matter and concluded it was ulcers anyways without any proof. She sent me home with an ulcer med, and that ulcer med almost put me back into the ER I couldn't even keep water down because of that med! Luckily I had my gastro specialist appointment in a week or two by that time. I called my pharmacist and explained what the ulcer med was doing and he told me to stop it immediately because it can have that effect if one is dealing with something else in the stomach, and he was right. I stopped the med, and at my first gastro appointment my doctor told me she highly suspected GP but that we'd need to do some testing first, and started treating me for GP after my endoscopy because she saw all the signs, and then confirmed with the gastric emptying test a month later. My ER experience is the epitome of why I try to stay out of the ER, I know the doctors are stretched and can't know everything, but if something is unknown, maybe not taking a wild guess and sending someone home with questionable meds is the wrong approach. I would have been better off getting a iv for hydration and sent home with anti-nausea pills till my specialist could see me."

Melissa writes,

"It's happened often that the ER doctors do not take me seriously enough but the nurses are by far the worst! I went in a few years back and I was in incredible pain. My body was just not working and I looked like I was 10 months pregnant. I hadn’t pooped in 2 weeks either. I was throwing up bile. My doctor sent them a message that I was coming in at his request and that he wanted a contrast CT scan done immediately … well that didn’t happen. I told them my conditions and expressed that the Gastroparesis and the IBS-C together were really hurting me to the point where I couldn’t even walk. The doctor did an x-ray and told me I was constipated and he was sending me home. I put my foot down and said, NO… Do what my doctor asked. He replied that he didn’t have to follow the doctor’s recommendation and that he was discharging me. No blood work. No IV fluids. Told me to go buy Miralax and take it once a day. I was shocked. I was already on it and taking it 3 times a day at my specialists orders.

The ER doctor also told me to stop eating so much and I wouldn’t get bloated. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The doctor walked out and the male nurse walked back in and pushed my stomach with a fist and moved it around and then walked out. He proceeded to sit down at the nurses station and they started to gossip about me and that I just wanted pain killers and a quick fix. That he wasn’t going to be the one to give me an enema.

Well…no one did. But it was my stomach that I needed help with. Not my bowels. I was getting a prescription for that from my doctor that evening. But it hurt so bad when he pressed on my stomach like that. I asked for the doctor to come back in and the nurse told me that he had real patients to see and wouldn’t be coming back in.

She told me to get dressed and he had my discharge papers. My husband took me home and I laid there and cried. While the medicine that I got for my IBS-C worked great…It didn’t help my stomach as it's not the same issue.

I have never gone to the ER again after that.

I have literally just laid there and felt like I was dying and cried my eyes out while my husband looked on and couldn’t do anything to help me except keep my hydrated. My GI doc won’t put me on any prescriptions for my Gastroparesis right now because I have irregular EKG’s and that puts me at risk. Ugh. I was on a medication before. A liquid and it was my life saver and the FDA pulled it off the market years ago so now I’m stuck. I am opposite of most and I gain weight very easily because most of the time my body thinks its starving. So stupid. As I type this, I can feel my stomach growing and becoming distressed and there is nothing I can do. I have cut out so much foods that antagonize it to no avail.

I tell the doctors where I’m living at now that I have Gastroparesis and some of them had to look it up online. REALLY?!? We need more awareness. I tell everyone about it and my little sister might have it. She’s getting tested soon."

Emily writes,

"I usually avoid going to the ER because of the ridiculous cost of the ambulance ride and because of stories like the one I am about to tell. A few years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain. It was the kind where you feel like you’ve swallowed razor blades and your insides are tearing apart. I ran to the bathroom because I couldn’t tell if I had to throw up or use the toilet. I spent about 30 minutes violently throwing up and eventually passed out on the bathroom floor in a cold sweat (something that I am unfortunately very familiar with). When I woke up, it started again. Usually when I have a vomiting episode like that, it passes after I rest and smoke cannabis. Nothing would help this time. The pain was so awful that I couldn’t stop crying and worried that it could be something more than my gastroparesis. I genuinely felt like my organs were tearing to pieces. I lived at home at the time for graduate school and I called my mother from the bathroom floor and asked her to call 911. I told her I desperately needed help and couldn’t stand up and didn’t know how to make the pain stop. I was taken on a stretcher screaming in pain while the EMTs looked at me very strangely. I arrived at the hospital and they laid me in a bed where I dry-heaved between passing out for several hours as my mother begged them to do something for me. After they allowed me to suffer for hours it became clear that they thought I was faking it or I was a drug seeker because I just kept begging them to help take the pain away. My mother screamed at them that I have gastroparesis (I guess they didn’t bother to even check my file) and they finally gave me something to make the pain go away so I could get a few hours of sleep. When the doctor visited me in the morning she quite literally shrugged at me and said there was nothing she could do for my condition. She told me to keep managing as I had been and gave me some Zofran (anti-nausea med). This wasn’t the first time I had been treated like I was faking my condition or turned away as this doctor had done, but it was the most memorable time for me. It was humiliating more than it was helpful and I lost most of my faith in the healthcare system that night."

Maria writes,

"I live in Tempe, AZ. I was diagnosed with Gastroparesis at 16, Im 29 now. I also have chronic pancreatitis a few times a year. I go to the same hospital almost every time. It's only a mile from where I live and almost every nurse and doctor have gotten to know me over the years. That being said, I have had good and bad experiences at the Mesa Banner Desert Hospital. Depending on my flare ups which changes constantly I usually go once a month due to dehydration, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. I usually get treated with fluids, pepcid, GI cocktail, Zofran (promethazine or compazine), and morphine or diladid. Sometimes I stay overnight usually if I'm still vomiting but I'm usually good to go hours later and get sent home. Did I mention that all my doctors usually know me by name? I think that has a big role to play when I head to the ER. I have had a few doctors, always someone that does not know me.. They ask me A LOT of questions and will sometimes deny me pain medication and or call me an addict. One time I was in a lot of pain and even my blood pressure showed that I was in pain. It was 145/ 99. I usually have perfect blood pressure so I pointed that out to this Dr. That mentioned that my blood pressure could also be high if I was "withdrawing". I was to weak to argue with her any longer and didn't care. Thankfully my mom was with me and walked around the emergency room until she found a Dr. that has treated me before. That Dr. Talked to mine and was able to get something for pain. She was angry and insisted that I was still a drug addict and made me feel low when I left the hospital. So I have had good and bad experiences before. I don't know if all hospitals are like this but whenever I do go to the emergency it shows every time I have been there. It also shows the medication that was given to me. I don't know if that means much or helps any but this is what usually goes on when I head to the E.R."

Elizabeth writes,

"Hello, i [sic] was diagnosed 5 years ago. My neighborhood hospital also knows me. One night stood out to me i[sic] was told by the e.r.[sic] doctor that I was doing this to myself. I was so livid I told him to leave my room and never come back. I was treated like a seeker of some sort when i[sic] all i [sic] wanted was a bag of I.v. fluids. I will never forget that day. I felt like there was no hope for me at all."

Source: https://s-h-ores.deviantart.com/art/No-Hope-349667350


Below are comments made about the healthcare system, emergency room, and how doctors and nurses treat Gastroparesis patients like drug seekers as summed up by my article here: http://www.emilysstomach.com/2013/07/gastroparesis-patients-vs-drug-seekers.html


My friend Juli writes,

"If I could ask for one thing from the medical professionals whether docs, nurses or other personnel, it would be to actually SEE and LISTEN to the patient in front of them rather than barely glancing at a chart and making assumptions based upon incomplete information. I understand it is overwhelmingly busy, there ARE patients who are malingerers, drama queens, and drug seekers, and dealing with the bureaucracy is a nightmare. I get that, but I think time would actually be saved, not to mention lives and money if there were more effort put into hearing and understanding what the patient is trying to say. Medical personnel may have lots of education and even experience, but patients are experts at living in their bodies."

My friend Brandy writes,

"Canadian ERs can be pretty bad, especially where I live. I have a huge tolerance to hydromorphone, but given enough it works. The last time I went into emergency, they not only treated me as a drug seeker there, but also when I was admitted through the ER and an inpatient. I had a doctor lie to me, he said they had a hospital wide policy not to give these meds IV. If I take these by mouth, they have no affect on me because of my gastroparisis. Then they told me that my only other option was IM (intramuscular), so that meant multiple needle pokes (every 4 hours). I'm a transplant patient and have a compromised immune system. That being said, it's not a good idea to constantly be putting open wounds on a transplant patient. I've actually gotten infections in my hands before just from the IVs they used to give me. Also, to clarify, I asked the nurse from oncology, a general surgeon and 4 ER nurses if there was the aforementioned policy in place. Not one of those people have ever heard of a policy like that in the hospital. Funny thing is, when I emailed the HR department, they told me the doctor was well within his rights to say that, plus within his rights to deny me the proper dosage/method of use for the pain meds. I was in there for a severe kidney infection, on IV antibiotics. I'm never going to that hospital again, and there is one other one that's a little further away but I'm willing to go there instead. And this wasn't the first time I've been treated like that at that particular hospital. The only reason I was going there is because that's where my kidney specialist is. She practices in the renal clinic plus has her own practice. The hospital I used to go there labels everyone as an 'inactive drug seeker'. If you go into the ER and ask for pain meds they then change the label to 'active drug seeker.' I'm not sure they change it if they offer you pain meds cuz[sic] they can clearly see you're uncomfortable, but that can also take hours depending on how long the doctor takes and how busy the ER is. I'm pretty sure they labeled me as a drug seeker as soon as I turned 18. Not only do I have to go to the ER for kidney infections, but back in 2012 I started having issues with my nerves/back, which actually started with the development of my gastroparesis. Turned out it was my tethered cord, but most times I went to the ER, they'd give me a prescription for T3s and send me on my way without further investigation. Took them till 2016 to take me seriously. By that time, I had lost complete sensation in one leg and was having on and off sensation in the other, and the finally took me seriously when I ended up severe back spasms in the ER, being unable to walk or sit comfortably. I now have constant chronic pain and obviously still have the gastroparesis."

My friend Karen writes,

"Luckily my doctor has written a care plan for when I end up In The ER. They are instructed to provide me w [sic] dilaudid, reglan, and benedryl, and Ativan if I am in panick [sic] mode. I have to say that my panic has gone down a lot knowing that the care plan is in place and I don’t have to worry about how I’ll be treated. I do still have asshole nurses giving me an attitude sometimes."

My friend Marlee writes,

"I went to the little clinic at Kroger here in Ohio one time in hopes for them to give me an ANTIBIOTIC for an abscessed tooth I had that was making my face swollen and she looks at me dead in the eye and says with a huge attitude 'I can’t give you pain meds...' I looked back at her and said 'lady I’m not here for pain meds. You can clearly see that I’m doing just fine without them. I would just like an antibiotic so I can go to the dentist and get this fixed. But you obviously think I’m coming in here to get something else' I walked out. I was so pissed that she degraded me and looked at me the way she did... like I’m some kind of druggie... it really hurt my feelings. It really is awful, and it makes us not want to seek help again because we fear that we will be treated the same way."**

**Author's Note: I hate it when the medical staff at the Emergency Room make you feel like less of a person when you need some help. To me, a tooth infection would count as an emergency - at least for some antibiotics until you can see your dentist! There are people who have developed sepsis (blood poisoning) that way and have passed away from it. The first celebrity I can think of that had that issue was an actor who was in Angel: Andy Hallett.


My friend Alexandra writes,

"I went to the ER one time for the second time in a week because I couldn't keep food down and was so dehydrated and in so much pain. I hate going to the ER and I hate being stuck with needles. I learned that my ER doctor had gastroparesis as well and so I felt comfortable with her and let her know I was in pain, but never asked for anything and never eluded to wanting a drug prescription. After I returned a few days later because I still wasn't able to keep things down, apparently she went into the system and called me a drug seeker, and this information was all available to my ALJ for my disability hearing. They used it as grounds to deny me, because my ER doctor ... with the same illness as me ... called me a drug seeker. It also happened in the hospital I was diagnosed with gastroparesis, right down the road from my gastroenterologist... They had to give me 4 bags of fluids because I was so dehydrated, but I still got the side-eye as if I were a drug addict."

My friend Rebeccca writes,

"It became so impossible to get pain medication that worked in Colorado that I just gave up. And now I live in near constant pain, every day. I just stopped talking about it."

My friend Juli writes,

"Would that doctors and nurses actually see and listen to the patient in front of them before jumping to put us into a box![sic] Would that politicians/ and bureaucrats actually sit down and think about what they are doing and think about unintended consequences of the laws and policies they pass GRRRR"

According to Vanessa Blevins from The Mighty (her Facebook Page can be found here: Parenting Through The Fog),

"To the Emergency Room Doctor Who Dismissed Me as a Drug Seeker

I understand. I do. You doctors are under a lot of pressure these days about your opioid prescriptions. It’s been all over the headlines. I also understand that in the emergency department, you see people coming in for a quick fix. I know the drill. I’ve ended an intimate relationship over my own pain medication going missing from my purse. I get it. However, I do think there are actually a few things you don’t quite 'get.'

For starters, I’ll note that my main complaint at triage was not pain, and while I did mention that I was in pain during the course of my triage exam, I also expressed the fact that I drove myself and therefore did not want mind-altering substances so I would be able to drive myself back home.

I came in with vision problems, extreme pressure in my head and what I swear is increased pressure in my spinal column. I had numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, vertigo, hand tremors, and my legs partially stopped working for a moment today. They went heavy and limp and half numb. Those might not be emergent symptoms to you, but they freaked me out! I’m a single mom of three kids. I can’t have body parts randomly giving out on me without explanation! I came as soon as I could, when I had time, and hopefully you would have time, to run some tests. I wanted to leave with answers. What I left with were vision problems, extreme pressure in my head and spine, hand tremors, and legs that went funny as the discharge nurse was walking me out the shortcut. At least the nurses were freaking awesome, as always!

Instead of ordering a simple test, you completely dismissed me. Even after I told you I wasn’t there for your drugs, you belittled me. Instead of providing care and compassion for someone who has been desperately fighting through bureaucratic red tape while still hoping for treatment, you added a whole new mess of red tape. Now thanks to you, I’ve got an ER visit as a drug seeker in my medical file. That is going to affect how I am treated at every emergency room I go to, no matter why I’m there. I actually do have several medical conditions which are commonly treated with narcotic pain medications. I also have a few conditions that cause vomiting. There are times when I can’t keep down my medications. So next time I have to go to the ER because I’ve vomited my legally prescribed and responsibly taken medication, instead of being treated with care and compassion as a person who is facing a lifetime battling chronic illness, I’ll be treated like an addict looking for a fix.

In the chronic illness and chronic pain community, we measure the energy it takes to get us through our days in spoons, and I used spoons I didn’t have in order to drag myself out and go. Did you notice I was wheeled in by medics? That’s because I nearly collapsed in the parking lot, but that’s not emergent. Move along. Nothing to see here. Just a druggie wanting a scrip. I’ve been putting this thing off for months, and no wonder! I’m hurting even worse now, from sitting on the gurney for so long, waiting to be discharged after receiving no medical care.

No, you don’t know what it cost me. I did tell you I had to wait on a sitter for my kids, but what I didn’t tell you is my daughter was still awake when I left. She’s 2 and we’ve never spent more than an hour or so apart in her entire life. Do you have any idea what it cost me to walk out the door and leave her behind, crying that she wanted to go with Mommy? How unbelievably selfish I felt for leaving her? As a mother with chronic illness, I’m often putting my own needs aside in order to care for my children and it took quite a bit of courage to talk myself into leaving my daughter in tears, in order to go take care of my own needs. But I told myself, 'You’ll have some answers when it’s over, so it will be worth it.' I’m not used to being so drastically wrong.

People like me who have an invisible illness often spend years of our lives having doctors tell us it’s all in our heads or we’re making it up for attention or we’re drug seekers until we finally find a doctor who has enough training and compassion to listen to us long enough to find an answer. Even after a diagnosis, many people with chronic illness are still left fighting for recognition in the medical community. Even with medical codes in our charts and diagnoses we can’t even pronounce, and a list of ailments recognized by the ADA and the Social Security Administration, even then we’re faced with judgement, discrimination and mismanagement of care by doctors like you. It takes me weeks, sometimes months, to build up the courage to even make an appointment with a new doctor. I have anxiety attacks on the way to every doctor’s appointment, even ones I’ve been seeing for years. Doctors like you are the reason I’ve been putting this off for so long, and the reason I didn’t want to go tonight. And you’re the reason I wish I had stayed home in my comfy bed and suffered in peace.

I want you to know that even if I had been a drug seeker, I still deserved decent medical care and respect. I had other issues besides pain. I complained of vision problems and sensitivity to light and you stood with a fluorescent light behind your head and expected eye contact. Even if you had no respect for me as the person you suspected I was, you were still supposed to be a professional and perform your job. I got more helpful and courteous medical advice from the discharge nurse who spent more time with me and showed more care for my well-being than you did.

I know you aren’t going to see this. I know you aren’t going to learn anything from tonight’s events. But I know I learned a couple of things. I learned I’m stronger than I thought, to be able to walk out of there with limited use of my legs but my head held high. And I learned I actually can be more passionate about patient rights. I have a feeling that my words are about to reach a lot farther than I could imagine. I know my story isn’t the only one of its kind. Tragically, I’m positive it won’t be the last. But if I share my story, and the next person shares their story, and we all keep sharing our stories, maybe eventually, someday, enough people will get pissed off that things will start to change and doctors who dismiss patients’ pain will be out of a job. Until then, my readers and all their friends are more than welcome to share this.

A version of this post originally appeared on Spoonies for Life."

Source: Invisible Disease Stuff




According to a guest writer for "The Unbroken Smile," Elena shares her story below,

"The Day I Was Labeled A Drug Seeker Because Of My Chronic Pain
October 17, 2017


The Day I Was Labeled a Drug Seeker Because Of My Chronic Pain – Five months ago I was given the wonderful news I was pregnant. I was ecstatic. I already have a 4 year old from my previous marriage and couldn’t wait to have another bundle of joy to adore for years to come. Everything was going wonderfully up until around 10 weeks. I was told the baby wasn’t growing and was implanted inside the C- Section scar. There was no saving either of us. If I didn’t choose to terminate it could end my life. So I reluctantly and with a heavy heart, chose termination in hopes I would get another chance and the soul would return to me for a second chance later in life.

I didn’t have health insurance at the time and my application wasn’t being processed. With little knowledge on my options I chose planned parenthood. Its a day I will never forget. The nurses were cold, I was so afraid. Outside was filled with protesters. “You’re a murderer” they repeated as I passed. I was, and I’m sorry. I paid and began the procedure with no medication. It’s a pain I’ll never forget. Both emotionally and physically. It was cold in the operating room, and the nurses seemed irritated every time I cried in pain. I was told to be quiet. It felt as though my insides were being torn out. The endless cramping, wrenching pain, the emotional toll topped it all. After I was rushed to a waiting room and given crackers. I voiced my concern about pain as my menstrual cramps were hell on its own. I was told the procedure was painless and so will my recovery. I knew they were wrong, and boy were they. I was given a bag of contraception and a look that said “I hope you learned from this” and a have a good day smile.

My drive home was agony. My stomach hurt, I was bleeding heavily, my heart mourned and the cramping was something words can’t express. I had a two hour drive home. I stopped to see my brother for some comfort and during our coffee adventure I chose to try something called Kratom for pain. I went home and crawled into the arms of my fiancee and cried. He held me silently but I could hear his heart breaking.

Days went by and the pain didn’t let up, my bleeding ceased quickly. I started to feel bloated. After days of thinking it wasn’t serious enough to go to the emergency room I finally swallowed my pride and left. I dropped my fiancee off at work and headed over. I explained it all three times to different people. It was 3:30 pm, and they started with IV fluids, CT scan and an ultrasound. I had a feeling they weren’t taking me seriously and at this point I couldn’t even take myself seriously. It’s nothing I told myself. 6 hours go by waiting alone, and not even offered pain relief. Finally after the long wait in a cold empty room the physician and nurse entered my chamber of solitude. He grabbed a chair and sat at a distance while the nurse administered a nausea medication via my IV line. 'I’m baffled you chose planned parenthood firstly. They’re butchers.'

I sat in silence, and shame.

'After reviewing your results from lab and imaging, your uterus is the size of a 13 week pregnancy. Your uterus is filled with lots of blood and infection. We have the OB on call coming in to talk with you. What she wants to do is what we call a dilation and cutterage.'

Fear took over. All I could think of was laying awake, being told to be quiet and that wrenching pain. I expressed my concern and told them they would not come near me. I was not doing that again. At that point a beautiful young doctor came in and introduced her self. Immediately I told her exactly what I told him. She looked concerned, apologized for my terrible experience and assured me I would not be awake or feel a thing. We talked after care and medication for home. For some reason I felt safe with her. She had called my partner and began calling the surgery team. The cramping hurt beyond anything I’ve ever felt.

I finally spoke up and asked for some pain relief. A look of surprise came across her face and asked if I had not received any. She ordered IV Dilaudid and I was down to a 2 pain scale when anesthesia arrived to take me. I began in the operating room near 10 pm on the 4th of July of all days.

When I came to, I felt extreme abdominal pain and soreness in my lower region. I was relieved. It was finally over and free to go home to my comfortable bed and lovely partner. She sat beside me, and explained the procedure was successful BUT she pulled 9 containers and I lost too much blood to be released. That I may need a transfusion. I cried and cried. I was given morphine and my partner was brought in shortly before being brought up to the depressing OB floor. I slept soundly, minus being poked throughout the night. I was released at 7 am, still pale and weak but I insisted. I was given iron pills, antibiotics, ibuprofen and oxycodone.

It was over. Finally over.

Throughout the next week I had a dull ache and ended up calling her office to inquire about the pain. It was a Friday and late so she refilled my oxycodone and an antibiotic until I seen her again. By the time I seen her again the pain was still lingering, a thorough exam was conducted. I was sent home with more pain medications and she was concerned with uterine infection. The pain never let up. Weeks started going by. Pain increasing, pain during intimacy, horrid menstrual cramps with little blood. She was booked every time so ER visits became the normal under the advice of the OB nurse. They treated me wonderfully at first. The first couple times they examined me.

Fast forward 3 whole months. I acquired a tooth abscess and went to the dentist. He couldn’t pull the tooth with the infection and couldn’t fit me in for a month for extraction. In that month I would call because of pain and draining. His advice was to get to the ER since policy prevents him for calling in prescriptions without a visit. This repeated 6 times total. 3 visits were the same ER, one was in a neighboring town as I was visiting my fiancees grandmother. They refused to even look. I contacted my dentist to inform him and he requested I return, by that time I was home so returned to the previous emergency room that I usually go to. There I was given antibiotics and 10 5mg norco. I was sent back a week later for a dental block. Things changed drastically. The physician was rude, argumentative and explained they cannot give me narcotics. I told him I was sent for a dental block only. He administered it and rudely sent me in my way. It continued like this until removal, they were rude and not very compassionate. After removal I ended up with a dry socket, infection and sinus infection.

I visited urgent care and the physicians assistant was rude right when meeting me. I was told they could use a paste to pack it when I spoke to my dentist. I asked her about that and the topic quickly became about narcotics. At this point I was in tears, humiliated and confused. I got up and was ready to leave as she forced a prescription in my hand: 4[sic] 10mg norco! She then stood there and said she pitied me and gave them even against her colleagues recommendation. I did not fill it, and it remains crumpled in my back seat.

The infection and dry socket healed with the help of my dentist’s packing, antibiotics, nasal spray and some Tylenol 3. After finally getting into him. I explained what happened he replied with 'I know you aren’t an addict' that felt good after everything. This was a few weeks ago.

Today I awoke to the usual abdominal pain. I avoid ER and physicians hoping it would pass. It was a stabbing pain, a pain that made it hard to walk. I laid there in tears in the fetal position for hours while my partner looked over at me from his game with sadness. He felt helpless. He knew how the ER has been, and my OB being booked. Which I have an appointment with her finally in four days.

I couldn’t wait.. Something was wrong. I couldn’t see through the tears, I couldn’t hardly move. I reached for my phone and called the hospital nurse line. A wonderful nurse answered and I explained the surgery and pain history. She mentioned endometriosis, and uterine or cervical scarring from having a c section and the two procedures. She recommends I be seen within 8 hours.

Reluctantly both myself and partner get in the car to return to the ER. The one where my OB works in case they need to call her. My partner has only heard whats happened with the other ER docs figuring me a drug seeker. This time he would witness it…

We were taken back by a lovely nurse and the physician was right in while she was getting my blood pressure cuff on. I explained my history, the pain and all the other symptoms. Even told that a nurse sent me here. He listened and was very kind. Listened to my lungs and pushed on my stomach enough to make me jump. He left and ordered labs. Quickly lab came in and started an IV to draw blood and for medication. I was so relieved.

Finally someone was taking me seriously. The nurse returned, informed me they will be giving me fentanyl and something for nausea. A woman came in to have me sign a medical records release the doctor wanted. I was confused as to why he would need it as i thought they were all linked and my procedure and OB records were from this hospital. I signed.

5 [sic] mins later the nurse returned and said instead of fentanyl he wants to give torodol instead. I was okay with that and nodded. She asked me for urine sample, and had no problem. After I was given a CT scan and a internal ultrasound. The ultrasound was painful, and was drawn out. I felt like a giant child crying on the table. I was desperate to find out what was wrong.

I was scared. Scared that if it progresses I may not be able to have another child, and would end up with a hysterectomy like I read online from many women in the same situation. I had also read that even with imaging they cant see Endometriosis or Ashermand[sic] Syndrome. Most had to have invasive surgery. I was more than willing to try that. Just please, make it stop.

'Whats[sic] your pain level after the torodol?' My answer as when I’m in pain is honesty with a little sense of humor. 'Well between a 1 and a 10 my arm is being torn off I give it a 5[sic]' my fiancee just smiled. The nurse was unamused and her demeanor changed towards me. I held my stomach, hunched over and just smiled. My fiancee rubbed my back in an attempt to comfort..

A few hours later the physicians assistant returned saying that my CT and ultrasound came back in 'pristine' condition. He stood there with his arms folded, I was doubled over in pain my eyes watering, and fiancee at the edge of his seat. 'There was a slight hint of a bladder infection' my heart sank. What’s wrong with me? Why am I feeling like this? I doubt a bladder infection can cause me so much pain for 4 months…

I was just checked two weeks ago and nothing… Then it happened. 'What I don’t understand who is your primary doctor? Seeing as you bounce around a lot and one day it was two different emergency rooms in the same day[sic]'

I explained it all. That we were homeless and staying everywhere we could and the day was two different ERs because I had made it to my home area when I was told to go back in. The first ER was nearly 2 hours away so I went to the closest. He smirked and sort of scoffed.

Rattled off how they don’t treat pain to drug seekers, and on his way out said, 'But we will give you some ANTIBIOTICS[sic]' I felt tears building in my eyes as the door slammed. My fiancee was speechless as he’s seen how I am at home. We were discharged with antibiotics.

As we got to the car I took my glasses off and sobbed in the drivers seat. I felt humiliated. I was scared. I was embarrassed. The pain remained as if a butcher knife was being stabbed through my cervix. What will happen now? What are my options? Will anyone help me now? What did I do to deserve this label? A half hour passed as we sat in the parking lot. I sobbed uncontrollably, opened my door because I could feel the contents of my stomach ready to spill any moment. My fiancee picked up the phone and found me some pain medication. He had never seen me cry, maybe tears forming while complaining or wiping away little drops.

We left to pick it up. So this is what it’s become? It was then I realized how many people probably result to street drugs or buying them on the street. Pain is the biggest reason people visit the emergency room.

A lot of us receive the junkie label. We are all just seeking relief. No one deserves this, no one deserves to be unheard, made to feel as if the pain isn’t real, and judged without anyone knowing whats really going on. The signs of a drug seeker can also be logical. We all move around, some say the pain is a 10, some are so frustrated they demand some form of relief. It wreaks havoc on your body and soul. I was told to visit the emergency room or urgent care for my relief by medical professionals and in turn it got me a big red label inside my chart. What can I do? My only hope is that on Tuesday she will hear me out. Otherwise it’s years of constant pain and who knows where a path like that will lead. I can only hope for the best. For myself and anyone else in the world who is in a similar situation."

Source: The Spoonie Blog



According to the Spoonie Blog,

"What to Do When You Have to Resort to the Emergency Room (When You Have a Chronic Illness)


A trip to the ER is no fun, no matter how you spin it. When you’re a chronic pain patient or someone with a chronic illness that can cause bouts of severe pain, it can be a complete and total nightmare.

A patient with chronic pain can help the Emergency Room staff to understand that their medical problems, especially pain, are a legitimate emergency by following a few guidelines and suggestions that will lessen some of the unpleasant drama of going to the ER.

Always bear in mind that the Emergency Room is a last resort, and Urgent Care will almost always turn away a patient with a chronic illness. Hospitals are so wrapped up in covering their asses legally that they have started turning away chronic pain patients much like Urgent Care does, even when the need for treatment is real and immediate.

Your regular healthcare team, especially your Primary Care Physician, is by far your best bet for getting help managing a chronic condition that is spiking out of control, but sometimes the ER is the only option. When that happens, here are some tips to help make your experience more manageable:

Make sure that you have a regular physician who treats your chronic pain. That’s a relationship that all chronic pain patients should establish before they ever set foot in an emergency room. Without this all-important steady doctor-patient relationship, the rest of this list is not really possible. In terms of seeking out aid in the Emergency Room for a spike or flare of pain having to do with an ongoing condition or problem, even having a bad doctor is better than no doctor at all. If you are having trouble finding a primary care physician who actually does care, the best place to start looking are local and even national support groups for your condition(s). They will have lists of hospitals and even specific doctors in your area who have been a good match for others in your situation. If those doctors are not taking patients, don’t be afraid to ask their staff where they would recommend going or if that doctor can make some recommendations of physicians they know to be effective at treating your condition. This search can take a while, but always keep a PCP on file, if you at all can. Not having a primary person who writes your prescriptions and handles your referrals makes the staff in an Emergency Room nervous no matter what.

Show that you have tried to contact your regular doctor before you go to the ER. If you have been in pain for five days and have not alerted your doctor, the ER staff will question how bad your pain really is. Even if the pain struck out of the blue that day, make an effort to contact your regular doctor first. ER staff will be more sympathetic to patients who have called their doctors and been told to go to the emergency room because the doctor was unable to see them. At least you’re showing you made an effort and only using the emergency room as your treatment of last resort, as opposed to the primary place you go for pain medication. This is important, as unfair as it is, they will not give you proper care if you are using the ER too liberally. Having your physician back up your story is never a bad thing, it helps establish legitimacy and urgency, and can help push you through to getting treatment sooner rather than making your wait for four hours “just to make sure you’re really in pain” before giving you any medication or imaging.

Bring a letter from your doctor. A letter from your physician, with a diagnosis and current treatment regimen, is a logical, completely reasonable thing to carry with you, particularly if you’re on a regular dose of opiates in today’s atmosphere of distrust and disbelief of pain patients. Always make sure the letter has your doctor’s name and phone number. That way, if ER doctors want to contact your physicians, they can. This is especially useful if you’re traveling or going to a hospital that you have never visited before.

Bring a list of medications. Bring a list of your medications, instead of relying on memory. Usually the hospital will already have access to the list of everything that you have taken for the past several years, so don’t try to lie about it, you will only hurt yourself in the long run. Always be honest about medications you have taken or have been prescribed. Work cooperatively with emergency room staff. It might not be fair, but if a patient comes in screaming and shouting that they need pain medication right away, the staff isn’t going to like it. Being loud and distressed will call negative attention to your actions and makes hospital staff that much less sympathetic. You might be in agonizing pain, but the staff is going to be more concerned with “drug seeking behavior” than your well-being. So rather than demand things, try to work cooperatively with the staff, even if they’re not being cooperative with you.

If you have an alert card or pamphlet explaining your condition, hand it to them and ask for it to be put in your file. For instance, I keep a card in my wallet explaining that I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and detailing the worst parts of the illness and information that is pertinent to an emergency. I also listed my most severe medical allergies around the border of the card in big black block letters. It’s important for the staff to know what is going to cause more pain & what may help. If you have a rare condition or one that is frequently misunderstood or which is conventionally thought to not cause pain, bring a relevant pamphlet from an awareness or advocacy group with you. Consider buying one of the brand new USB alert bracelets, pendants, or wallet cards. These plug into a computer in an emergency if you can’t speak for yourself, and they can be uploaded with as detailed medical information as you want, from medical history and current doctors with phone number and addresses to info like allergies, current medications, current medical concerns, and alternative treatments/supplements as well. Most manufacturers understand that a computer might not be nearby in an emergency and have a phone number printed on the back of the bracelet that you can call to access the information as well.

Ask for a nurse advocate or make sure someone is with you. This will help you when trying to explain things to the staff. It helps to have another person there to advocate for you.

If at all possible, use the same Emergency Department as the last one you went to, your pain will be that much more believable if you always use the same place. Plus, you might actually get doctors to take an interest in your chronic pain condition and maybe even other conditions that can cause a chronic illness patient to end up in the ER. Think about the ramifications that could have down the road for future patients!

Finally, since there are a lot of easy-to-forget details in this list, especially in the fog/panic/blacking out that happen whilst in horrific pain, I like to keep a folder handy with all those details written down, as well as a copy of most everything I need to bring with me. It isn’t always updated with the newest things I’m taking, so I bring the bottles themselves if I am on anything different since the last list was written. Being organized shows the ER team that not only do you take your condition(s) seriously, but that you have done all you possibly can to avoid the Emergency Room and to only use it as a very last resort.

About two years ago I was turned away from an ER without treatment by an extremely ignorant physician (after toughing it out all night crying and screaming at home), I had to contact and be seen by my pain doctor the next morning and then was sent right back to the same ER, only this time I was told to have them call my pain clinic when I got checked in. I did not want to go back there, but things went a lot smoother the second time, despite my apprehension. I was given the correct sedatives for once, and no one yelled at me or gave me super judgmental looks. I was treated for pain, monitored, and released without being asked to pee in a cup or otherwise treated like an addict. It was the only decent Emergency Room experience I have ever had, other than being in constant, black-out, vomiting, excruciating, unrelenting pain for almost 48 hours prior to finally receiving treatment and not sleeping a single hour of that time, all from an Occipital Nerve Block injection that was supposed to be a diagnostic tool, gone horribly wrong. (Hint: If your gut says “Do not do this, it isn’t safe” then listen to your gut, or it probably isn’t going to turn out well. I knew in my soul that the injection wasn’t going to be a good thing for me, and I don’t even have a minor fear of needles.)

I haven’t been back to the ER since, I have to admit I have stayed at home through even worse pain than that episode since then. No part of my soul trusts the Emergency Room to treat me, as a 26 year old fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome patient with occipital and trigeminal neuralgia, Spina Bifida Occulta, Joint Hypermobility Syndrome / Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, with damaged vertebral discs at the top and bottom of my spine and everywhere in between, just to name a few of my chronic pain conditions. None of that matters because what they see is a 26 year old who usually hasn’t showered in days, is twitchy and fidgety (pain makes me move nonstop sometimes), sweating profusely (a fibro symptom having to do with autonomic nervous system dysfunction or dysautonomia), has a hard time walking in a straight line, and usually I am extremely angry or panicky, one or the other. There isn’t a lot of sympathy for me if I don’t do absolutely everything right when I go to the ER.

It’s certainly not fair or acceptable, but the Emergency Room just is not cut out for dealing with us; the tough cases, the ones who can’t be 'fixed' or 'stabilized' because in hospital staff eyes, we are already stabilized and not in any immediate danger. Yet pain is dangerous. Chronic pain over a life time is more damaging to the actual structures of the brain than taking hardcore opiates every single day for the rest of your life. That isn’t to say that there isn’t some middle ground to be found here. I do not advise hardcore opiates for chronic pain on a daily basis, especially at my young age, because if I take heavy opiates now, years down the road when I need surgery or dose titration, eventually there isn’t anything else to elevate to by the time I’m in my late 30’s. That’s not how I want to end up. The only painkillers I currently take are tramadol and medical marijuana for breakthrough pain and seizure activity.

I have learned to make do, but it took years to figure out just how little I can do off of painkillers without my condition deteriorating. I’m still trying to adjust, trying to find the sweet spot between too much and not enough, and knowing that life with a chronic illness will always be a delicate balancing act.

I’m not just saying that heavy opiates are a bad idea, I actually used to take anywhere from two to ten 5mg oxycodone every day while I was working, and while it did not take the pain away, it made me more able to do things, more willing to put myself through pain over and over again all day long. I could still drive at that time, purely thanks to opioid medications, but I don’t think it was healthy to push so hard that I had to pop pain pills like mints, just to stay upright and not cry through my whole shift. At one point I was even on morphine every night to sleep just a couple of hours. Clinics were offering me methadone, which I vehemently turned down.

I had a rough, rough few months when my first visit with a brand new doctor ended with him taking me off oxy and morphine all of a sudden in the middle of a flare, no weaning, just completely off of opiates (and chronic fatigue/ADHD medication at the same time too) cold turkey without even the slightest heads up. I wasn’t even given tramadol by that asshole. I had to call crying in pain four times in one week before he would even write a tiny prescription for 12 (yes, one freaking dozen) during a two month long flare up! So humiliating. He also told me not to go to the ER no matter how much pain I was in. What a complete idiot. His favorite phrase was “at least you’re not in a wheelchair”. I could barely contain my hatred every time he said that or my other personal favorite: “you are a perfectly healthy young woman”. Not my weight, my blood pressure, my mental health, or my chronic pain conditions were healthy about me, so I was partly just shocked he couldn’t think of any reasons I wasn’t healthy.

Yes, middle ground. I understand that 'as-needed' for a chronic pain patient can mean literally anything, from almost never to pretty much always. So I say with caution and leaning more toward the almost never side of things, 'as needed' pain medication can save your life. When you need it, and you really need it, you know best, and you deserve to be treated correctly, efficiently, and even compassionately by ER staff. The above suggestions should help cut down on the emotional trauma that people with chronic pain often associate with going to the Emergency Room. In our greatest time of need, it would be nice to actually be able to count on getting help when we seek out this last resort in our coping toolbox."

Source: In Image







Please, keep your Emergency Room stories coming, because you never know who might be reading this blog or how many lives your stories may touch.

If you are interested in sending Emergency Room Stories (yes, you can send more than one), please email them to emilysstomach[at]gmail.com or you can PM my page: http://www.facebook.com/emilysstomach/.

I would like to include as many stories as I can for this series because everyone deserves to have their voices heard!

Source: Pain Warriors

Sources: Mostly located on the images above




The first part of this series can be found below:
Invisible Emergencies, Part One - The Personal Story Perspective: http://www.emilysstomach.com/2018/06/invisible-emergencies-series-part-1.html