And now it's my turn to be patient... :)
Tuesday night was a pretty exciting night. My roommates, my close friend and I were trying to decide what to do for the night's entertainment. Wrestling matches ensued, and we were having fun Indian leg wrestling each other. Indian leg wrestling is laying side by side with your heads opposite each other, link arms and connect legs and try to flip each other over. I threw one roommate twice, then challenged another roommate. I flipped her once, and then we went one more round. This one didn't go quite so well. I got pinned in fetal position on my neck for a few seconds, and when I sat up, I knew something was wrong~I had full movement, no tingling or anything, but the pain was dizzying, from the crown of my head down to the bottom of my shoulder blades. I sat for a moment, then carefully laid back down. After a few minutes we started the movie and I started cryotherapy in an attempt to numb the pain and lower any swelling. By the end of the movie I knew I needed a priesthood blessing if I was going to sleep that night.
Thankfully my friend is a worthy priesthood holder, and he was able to take me over to his apartment and he and his roommate administered to me. (If you would like to know more, click the mormon.org link on the right) The blessing from my Heavenly Father made some amazing promises and counsel, and I was told the pain would go away with time. My friend drove me home and I went in and tried to get in bed. Because I sleep on a bunk bed, climbing and readjusting in it was agonizing, and I didn't last long there.
As the pain increased, I finally decided with the suggestion of my friend and mom to go to the E.R. By this point I couldn't move my arms very much without radiating pain, so I was humiliated as I had to wake up my roommate and ask her to climb up on my bed, get my bra, and help me put it on. I started crying I was so embarrassed. Here I am, a CNA of over three years, and I'm sitting on my bedroom floor bawling because I can't even get my own bra on without help. Thankfully she was a sweetheart about it. My friend drove over, picked us up, and took us to the E.R, and later on in the week took me to my Dr. appointment and waited 2 hours for me there. He is an absolute sweetheart, the woman who gets him will be treated very well. Anyway, the nurse took me back and got me situated and started asking me what happened.
He put up his hand and stopped me when I said wrestling, and simply stated "Almost all the problems I see in here start with 'Hey, watch this!' or 'Maybe we should try ______'." They were busy, and just gave me a shot of Toradol and sent me home. The doctor I saw afterwards was furious at them, because Toradol is more of an anti-inflammatory than a pain killer, and so I got to pay $100 for really nothing for pain, and for two days all I had was Ibuprofen for what turned out to be several pulled tendons in my neck and back.
A doctor's appointment yesterday and a couple Xrays of my thoracic and cervical spine indicated no permanent damage or fractures, and in a few weeks I'll be good as new. This experience has taught me three things~
1. Make sure you have some medical knowledge, as much as you can get your hands on. Knowing how hospitals work and what to expect, I was able to give efficient, detailed information that sped up my E.R. visit considerably.
2. Don't be afraid to be your own advocate. As I have said in a previous post, I was locked out of my friend's room when she went to this same E.R., and not told any information for hours. This time the ball was in my court, and I insisted that my friends be allowed back to sit with me, and was prepared to get feisty if there been an issue with that. Had I not told them to bring them back, I would have sat back there by myself for about an hour in an empty room. No one wants to be alone when they are in pain, tired, and in the hospital, and if staff isn't sensitive to your needs, say something! Say it politely, but firmly.
3. Sometimes God brings us low so He can lift us higher. Needing so much help this week has been very hard for me! I am so used to being the motherly figure in our apartment, as well as just being a caregiver, it was maddening for me to have to lay on the couch and ask roomies and friends to hand me items three inches from my reach, drive me to appointments, reheat hot pads, change the disk to put in another movie and give me massages, but thankfully God has blessed me with amazing, loving roommates who have been nothing but thoughtful and sweet, as well as my friend, who has been checking on me, driving me all over the planet, letting me lean on him while I walked when it hurt really bad, and even nagging me when I don't rest as much as I should ;)
Heavenly Father will help us through our trials if we lean on Him, and I am so grateful for the people He has put in my life right now, I couldn't have done it without them. He often brings me low to remind me how my patients feel, and I learn compassion and empathy through these experiences, and I will make sure I use these to better serve them.
Thankfully my friend is a worthy priesthood holder, and he was able to take me over to his apartment and he and his roommate administered to me. (If you would like to know more, click the mormon.org link on the right) The blessing from my Heavenly Father made some amazing promises and counsel, and I was told the pain would go away with time. My friend drove me home and I went in and tried to get in bed. Because I sleep on a bunk bed, climbing and readjusting in it was agonizing, and I didn't last long there.
As the pain increased, I finally decided with the suggestion of my friend and mom to go to the E.R. By this point I couldn't move my arms very much without radiating pain, so I was humiliated as I had to wake up my roommate and ask her to climb up on my bed, get my bra, and help me put it on. I started crying I was so embarrassed. Here I am, a CNA of over three years, and I'm sitting on my bedroom floor bawling because I can't even get my own bra on without help. Thankfully she was a sweetheart about it. My friend drove over, picked us up, and took us to the E.R, and later on in the week took me to my Dr. appointment and waited 2 hours for me there. He is an absolute sweetheart, the woman who gets him will be treated very well. Anyway, the nurse took me back and got me situated and started asking me what happened.
He put up his hand and stopped me when I said wrestling, and simply stated "Almost all the problems I see in here start with 'Hey, watch this!' or 'Maybe we should try ______'." They were busy, and just gave me a shot of Toradol and sent me home. The doctor I saw afterwards was furious at them, because Toradol is more of an anti-inflammatory than a pain killer, and so I got to pay $100 for really nothing for pain, and for two days all I had was Ibuprofen for what turned out to be several pulled tendons in my neck and back.
A doctor's appointment yesterday and a couple Xrays of my thoracic and cervical spine indicated no permanent damage or fractures, and in a few weeks I'll be good as new. This experience has taught me three things~
1. Make sure you have some medical knowledge, as much as you can get your hands on. Knowing how hospitals work and what to expect, I was able to give efficient, detailed information that sped up my E.R. visit considerably.
2. Don't be afraid to be your own advocate. As I have said in a previous post, I was locked out of my friend's room when she went to this same E.R., and not told any information for hours. This time the ball was in my court, and I insisted that my friends be allowed back to sit with me, and was prepared to get feisty if there been an issue with that. Had I not told them to bring them back, I would have sat back there by myself for about an hour in an empty room. No one wants to be alone when they are in pain, tired, and in the hospital, and if staff isn't sensitive to your needs, say something! Say it politely, but firmly.
3. Sometimes God brings us low so He can lift us higher. Needing so much help this week has been very hard for me! I am so used to being the motherly figure in our apartment, as well as just being a caregiver, it was maddening for me to have to lay on the couch and ask roomies and friends to hand me items three inches from my reach, drive me to appointments, reheat hot pads, change the disk to put in another movie and give me massages, but thankfully God has blessed me with amazing, loving roommates who have been nothing but thoughtful and sweet, as well as my friend, who has been checking on me, driving me all over the planet, letting me lean on him while I walked when it hurt really bad, and even nagging me when I don't rest as much as I should ;)
Heavenly Father will help us through our trials if we lean on Him, and I am so grateful for the people He has put in my life right now, I couldn't have done it without them. He often brings me low to remind me how my patients feel, and I learn compassion and empathy through these experiences, and I will make sure I use these to better serve them.
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