Getting Sick

Food Poison or Appendicitis?

I was up all night Friday vomiting and running to the bathroom. About three in the morning, I call my insurance company to ask whether I should call 911 because this cycle was unending. Her response was that it sounded like I had food poisoning, and to wait 24 hours. Are the people who answer the phone when you dial the number on the back of your hmo card medical personnel?

I waited only four more hours until my friend was up to feed her dogs. I called her to ask if she were up all night running to the bathroom, not being able to get comfortable and sweating. She said none of the above at all. Therefore, I blew off the earlier diagnosis and called my primary care physician. He told me to call 911.

The ambulance got here in five minutes, and I'm at the hospital's emergency room within five more minutes. And there I wait. I lay on that emergency room cot for six hours before a cat-scan, and two more before I'm told my Appendix must come out immediately. Two hours later, I'm off to the operating room.

Such is the state of our wonderful healthcare system. In case anyone is wondering, something has got to burst, or about to burst, break or go completely wrong with you before any doctor will touch you. At least that is how it works with HMO's.

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trish1048 says:
2 years ago

Hi,

Wow, can I relate! Eight years ago on a Friday, I got to work at 7. By about 7:30, 8 am, I started feeling sick. Horrible pains in my stomach. I thought, ok, this isn't good, maybe it will go away. Well it didn't, and by 11:30 I was doubled over in horrible pain. They asked me could they take me to the hospital, I said no, I'll call my dr. Got an appointment for 1. Couldn't sit any longer, so I got in my truck and left. The pain by now had me crying. As I drove up the highway I thought, I'll never make the dr's. So I drove straight to the emergency room, which was on the way anyway. In I go, I barely remember what transpired next, just that I was now in a large room waiting for someone to take care of me. I couldn't stop crying, I was in by now horrendous pain, kept asking them to help, but they had so many patients in the room, it was difficult for them to address me. I continued to cry, beg for help, and I suppose at some point I started nodding off, and this went on, as far as I can recall, off and on till around midnight. I don't remember a thing until the next morning when I found myself in a room, and the surgeon came in and said it was my appendix. Whether it had burst or not I couldn't tell you, my guess is that it did, or why else would the pain have been so unbearable? Oh, and while I was waiting in that room the night before I also kept asking for something for pain, and the reply was they couldn't give me anything until I was seen by a dr since they didn't know what my problem was.

The next morning my regular dr came in and said I was doing fine, and that I had had the best surgeon around. That made me feel a little better.

All I can say is thank goodness there is only one appendix. I would rather give birth 5x before experiencing pain like that ever again.

Patty