Well That Was Fun

Extreme sarcasm used above.

For about 6 days now I've been having abdominal pain on and off. I thought it was my stomach ulcer acting up so I started taking an over the counter proton pump inhibitor (antacid). Every other time this has happened the antacid helps within a couple of days noticably. This wasn't the case this time. After working Monday night and waking up Tuesday afternoon the pain was still there. Continuous. In a place I wasn't used to. And different - a cramping burn across my right upper quadrant. So about 10 o'clock last night I decided this needed to get checked out. I'm not an ED fan. I hate how the ED runs. I hate when patient clog up rooms because of stupid reasons like they ran out of their perscription. But all I kept thinking was it was my gallbladder or possibly appendix and I would be a stubborn, self-diagnosing nurse who would sit at home until it was unbearable.

Off to the ED we go. Once we got there they took my vital signs and my blood pressure was somwhere around 160/107. This is definitely and completely not my norm. I actually normally run a little low. And my heart rate was somewhere around 120. At about the same time I saw one of the patient care coordinators I work frequently with on my floor. She gets people into the beds they are supposed to be in. And that's exactly what she did for me. We barely sat down in the waiting room with all the ED crazies before we were called back. They hooked me up to a heart monitor and blood pressure machine.

Fortunately my BP and HR started to go down gradually. As I suspected it was probably do to the excitement and anxiety of the situation. Unfortunately, I had to share a room with three other patients with nothing but curtains separating us. One patient was bipolar and clearly drug seaking. She called "nuuuurh" (nurse) for an hour straight until they finally transfered her to Lucerne (where I used to work, and hearing her reminded me why I left!). Patient behind curtain #2 was a hard of hearing elderly lady that new her history like the back of her hand, and now I do too. Patient #3 wasn't nearly interesting enough to remember. Throughout our 10 hour stay I had about 7 different roommates. All complained they had been there too long, YET I WAS STILL THERE when they were transfered out.

So to make a 10 hour story short I'll sum it up. I peed in a cup, had labs drawn and an IV, the doctor pushed on my stomach and really seemed to enjoy doing it multiple times over the spot that hurt the most, I had a pelvic exam at 4am, and a CT scan at 6:40. Each time I had to prompt them to go find the results, and each time they came back negative. At 7 the doctor told me the CT scan looked normal and after they get the results of my urine test I'd be free to go home. My urine had been collected on hour #1. The results would take less than an hour, yet 9 hours later they had nothing. Apparently that urine sample mysteriously walked away, so I peed in a cup for the second time in one night! And it was all negative and I got to go home.

All in all, I'm glad I know it's not something acute that needs to be dealt with immediately. I have to follow up with my GI doctor. Now that everything else is ruled out, I'm going to self diagnose myself with gastritis. I'll probably have to have another scope done, but at least I'll know and it can be treated.