In response to this article I'm very sure there are wonderful hospitals, doctors, and nurses all over the USA. However my last stay in a local hospital here in South Carolina was so traumatizing that I now have a terrible fear of hospitals, doctors, etc. While camping I contracted a blood infection. There were no close hospitals located where we were. My husband drove steadily for five hours while I was in agonizing pain to get home and to our local hospital. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia approx. ten years ago. I also have arthritis. All this was explained in the emergency room. I was given an injection of morphine once while waiting to be admitted, and once I was in my room. I cannot explain it, but by the second day the place where they had inserted the IV began to hurt and it was an agonizing pain. They called in someone from the IV team who relocated the IV, but before he could even walk out of the room it was hurting horribly again. By this time I had lost so much weight from terrible Diahrhea and not being able to eat that I was just skin and bones. During the night a nurse removed the IV and I felt instant relief, but she tried over and over again to find another vein in which to insert the IV. The pain was indescrible and I pleaded with her not to put it back in, but she finally was able to do it. Again the agonizing pain. I can't explain why the IV was causing such horrible pain, but I tried with every word I had in my vocabulary to describe the agony of it and pleaded for at least something strong enough to relieve the pain of the IV. At one point I was brought 1 50 mg. tramadol for the pain. Because of the Firbromyalgia I take 2 50 mg. tramadols 4 times a day. Prescribed by my Rheumatologist. So as you can imagine 1 tramadol was like taking a baby aspirin. I could not get anyone to listen to me. They simply kept telling me that I shouldn't be having that kind of pain. I left the hospital later that morning before my antibiotics were completed because they would not attempt to bring my pain under control. I knew I was taking a chance on my life, but I could not endure the agonizing pain any longer and would have eagerly chosen to die over the pain. Fortunately God had His hand on me and I did get well. It was my understanding that it was not right or even legal to allow a patient to continue to endure such pain and agony, but I must be the one that is confused and without the right information. Because of my experience I still suffer anxiety when I think of ever having to be in a hospital again. I hope it's different for everyone else.
I recently fell down stairs and broke my ankle. This ended up being a bad break, needing surgery and an overnight hospital stay. I hate how I have to always tell the nurse/doctor about the fact that as a fibro patient I am never below a four and on a bad day am always at a six at least. Imagine the fibro pain after a fall down stairs, surgery and a hospital bed that felt like I was lying on a surfboard! Ass to that the fact that I was not given my regular meds, although I made several lists, gave oral statements to several people, and brought my bag of meds to the hospital as verification. So I not only had the pain of surgery, fibro pain from the fall and the insult to my system, I had to go into withdrawals, in a hospital, because the doctor did not order my meds! I was beyond miserable. I spent the entire night crying, and begging the nurses to let me have my meds, all of which I have been on for years. I finally got my doc's assistant to order them in the morning and I was fine within 30 minutes. This should not have happened.
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I have fortunately not been admitted to the hospital in a very long time. I think the last time I was in labor.
But I was asked recently this question about pain and to assign a number value to it. I was perplexed not only by the numerical value but also by the fact that I wasn't exactly in "pain" but rather discomfort. This was during a gallbladder attack and when I gave a number "7" but clarified that it was discomfort and not pain I was looked at kind of funny. :>)
It is going to be a hard question for anyone to answer, no doubt, because everyone has their own subjective interpretation of pain.
Just a quick story...I remember when I was pregnant for the first time and nearing my due date. I asked my doctor when I should go to the hospital. I wanted to know if I should rely upon pain symptoms as in contractions. She did give me the shpiel about the timing of the contractions. But being a nervous Nelly I asked for more guidance and so she added, "Go to the hospital when you can no longer laugh at a joke." So I asked her honestly, "Okay what if the joke isn't funny?" So I guess every doctor has their own informal gage of pain as well.
Great post and I do want to look at Karen's article on how to assess pain on the numeric scale. They should have such a thing in doctor's offices or hospitals...it would make things a lot easier for both doctor and patient.
MM
HI MM,
Your story made me laugh. What if the joke is not funny or what if a person does not have a sense of humor??
Seriously, pain in the hospital is no laughing matter. I was inspired to write this article for two reasons. First, I wrote it in a hospital while waiting for my husband to get out of surgery on his hand and wrist. Second, I have recently been serving on an advisory committee at my local community hospital to improve the care for people with pain.
I hope this article can serve as a touchstone for further discussions and suggestions about how to improve pain control while in the hospital. Karen's article about the pain scale should be also be a source of guidance.
Thank you for you interest in the matter and for making me laugh today.
Dr. Christina Lasich, MD
Hey!
Glad to make you laugh. That doctor turned out not to be so good. :>) As though my husband was going to sit there and crack jokes while I am in labor and assess my ability to laugh. The timing of contractions also didn't work. I just felt continuous pain. Labor was nothing like what the books or my doctor described. Or maybe I am just the one oddball.
Now with my second pregnancy...it was so different. I was in labor but I was cleaning...doing dishes...trying to get the house ready for me being away. And by the time I showed up to the hospital I was just about ready to pop. I had no idea. For my first baby...I was in labor for just about a whole day. My pain was vastly different for each birth.
Back onto topic here...it is my humble opinion that Karen's pain scale should be made into a poster and put into hospital waiting rooms. This is information which is vital and functional. I really think you two should find a way to do this. This question gets asked so frequently and such information would be so useful.
How is your husband doing? I hope he is recovering nicely.
Great post...well done.