Hospital human factors critique

[Ralphie ★]

My discharge instructions say not to lift anything more than 5 pounds. The discharge “lounge” dungeon has heavy ugly doors that you have to pull to exit that took about 30 pounds of force I would think. Lovely. 

Otherwise the rest of the public areas look like a palace so the contrast is just a tad jarring. 

[jsharr ★]

8 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

My discharge instructions say not to lift anything more than 5 pounds. The discharge “lounge” dungeon has heavy ugly doors that you have to pull to exit that took about 30 pounds of force I would think. Lovely. 

Otherwise it looks like a palace so the contrast is just a tad jarring. 

Did you pass Further on your way out? 

[Ralphie ★]

1 minute ago, jsharr said:

Did you pass Further on your way out? 

No, but I watched an old guy struggle through those doors with a walker. Stoopid, stoopid, stoopid!

[2Far ★]

17 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

My discharge instructions say not to lift anything more than 5 pounds. The discharge “lounge” dungeon has heavy ugly doors that you have to pull to exit that took about 30 pounds of force I would think. Lovely. 

Otherwise it looks like a palace so the contrast is just a tad jarring. 

I recall automatic openers on ours, even on just the aluminum framed glass doors.

 

How long are you restricted?

[Ralphie ★]

1 minute ago, 2Far said:

I recall automatic openers on ours, even on just the aluminum framed glass doors.

How long are you restricted?

4 weeks!

[2Far ★]

3 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

4 weeks!

Well sheot. Who's gonna help you pee?

[maddmaxx ★]

Did they direct you past the walk up pay window that looked like a drive in teller behind armor glass?

[2Far ★]

Did you tell us the deets or is it on the QT?

[Ralphie ★]

18 minutes ago, 2Far said:

Did you tell us the deets or is it on the QT?

Emergency appendectomy. At first in the morning I suspected flu, but by 8pm I knew it was much worse.

 

 

[MickinMD ★]

51 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

Emergency appendectomy. At first in the morning I suspected flu, but by 8pm I knew it was much worse.

Sorry to hear that.  One day, they'll figure out how to adjust human DNA so we don't have appendixes anymore.

[bikeman564™]

you must be week, I could lift 10 pounds

[Razors Edge ★]

1 hour ago, 2Far said:

Well sheot. Who's gonna help you pee?

If he's not too excited, he ought to be under that 5lb limit - just barely!

[Razors Edge ★]

1 hour ago, 2Far said:

I recall automatic openers on ours, even on just the aluminum framed glass doors.

Seems like that would be the norm in hospitals.  

[sheep_herder ★]

When I told the surgeon that I was picking up lambs after my hernia operation, he said that's OK, they don't weigh very much.

[Ralphie ★]

6 hours ago, sheep_herder said:

When I told the surgeon that I was picking up lambs after my hernia operation, he said that's OK, they don't weigh very much.

Sturgeons account for farmers. There are some good memes and such oot there for that. Brb!

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

8 hours ago, Ralphie said:

No, but I watched an old guy struggle through those doors with a walker.

Oh, so you were the one who couldn't get off his lazy ass and help me with the damn door... 

[dinneR ★]

Did you meet the Mandelbaums?

[Further]

It was a hell of a fight to get Mrs. and her wheelchair into our Dr. office. It was handicap accessible, but not easily.

One of my pet peeves are self closing doors when it is supposed to be accessible, holding the door while pushing the chair is a real juggling act.

[Bikeguy]

9 hours ago, Ralphie said:

Emergency appendectomy. At first in the morning I suspected flu, but by 8pm I knew it was much worse.

Glad everything worked out....   I missed all of the other posts, our daughter visited us for 2 days. 

Yeah...  I thought I had food poisoning once...   2 1/2 weeks later I got out of the hospital after acute pancreatitis.  

[Ralphie ★]

1 hour ago, Thaddeus Kosciuszko said:

Oh, so you were the one who couldn't get off his lazy ass and help me with the damn door... 

Oops! In my defense, I am on opioids 

[Bikeguy]

11 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

Oops! In my defense, I am on opioids 

I got morphine for one day for pain.  That didn't work.  Then they used fentanyl.  That's what I had to help me sleep in the hospital. 

WoBG was concerned I'd get adducted.   All I wanted to do was sleep in the hospital.   I swear... they make it nearly impossible to sleep in those places. The pain was rather unbearable for most of my stay in the hospital.  

[Ralphie ★]

1 minute ago, Bikeguy said:

I got morphine for one day for pain.  That didn't work.  Then they used fentanyl.  That's what I had to help me sleep in the hospital. 

WoBG was concerned I'd get adducted.   All I wanted to do was sleep in the hospital.   I swear... they make it nearly impossible to sleep in those places. The pain was rather unbearable for most of my stay in the hospital. 

After I was released I refused any drugs for pain.  

I was surprised that morphine barely helped atoll. Same for oxycodone. I don’t see how they can be addicting, because I feel like shit!

[Bikeguy]

1 minute ago, Ralphie said:

I was surprised that morphine barely helped atoll.

Yeah...  it did nothing for my pain at all. 

I waited for 2 or 3 days before took the morphine.  I didn't want pain meds.   But pancreatitis hurts a LOT, and I just wanted to sleep.   Those days were looooooong. 

[Bikeguy]

11 hours ago, Ralphie said:

Hospital human factors critique

I gave a critique during my stay....

It HURT me to breath.   I didn't move much.  I could not lay on my side it hurt a lot. Then one day a tech showed up with a portable sonogram  unit.  He needed to take about 150 pictures of my abdominal area.  I had to lay on my side.  OMG did that hurt.  I told the guy I'd live...  but it hurt a lot.  And I asked how long will this take.  About 30 minutes.  He was done about 40 minutes later.  I just wanted to pass out and sleep.   About an hour later.... another tech shows up with a portable sonogram unit.  I asked her... so you want to take about 150 pictures?    Yes.   I told her to go away...   and find the other tech.  

A few hours later... a hospital administrator came in and wanted to survey me about my stay in the hospital.  Let say... it wasn't a good review.   And then I told him.  I JUST WANT TO SLEEP.     Yeah I wasn't a happy camper. 

[Ralphie ★]

3 hours ago, Bikeguy said:

I gave a critique during my stay....

It HURT me to breath.   I didn't move much.  I could not lay on my side it hurt a lot. Then one day a tech showed up with a portable sonogram  unit.  He needed to take about 150 pictures of my abdominal area.  I had to lay on my side.  OMG did that hurt.  I told the guy I'd live...  but it hurt a lot.  And I asked how long will this take.  About 30 minutes.  He was done about 40 minutes later.  I just wanted to pass out and sleep.   About an hour later.... another tech shows up with a portable sonogram unit.  I asked her... so you want to take about 150 pictures?    Yes.   I told her to go away...   and find the other tech.  

A few hours later... a hospital administrator came in and wanted to survey me about my stay in the hospital.  Let say... it wasn't a good review.   And then I told him.  I JUST WANT TO SLEEP.     Yeah I wasn't a happy camper. 

Man, what a relief it must have been when that whole experience was over. This one is going down as a horrible experience too. I am not really improving. 

[Bikeguy]

11 hours ago, Ralphie said:

Man, what a relief it must have been when that whole experience was over. This one is going down as a horrible experience too. I am not really improving. 

That could be a problem.     You may want to go back to your doc if you don't improve.   

The longer version of my story.   It was a Monday in August in 2016, my first day on vacation.  I went for a 25 mile bike ride.  I mowed the grass (a 2 hour job with a lawn mower).  WoBG came home from a shopping trip with some rather good takeout.   About 2 hours later I was sick.  I was sure it was the food.  2 more hours...  my abdomen hurt enough I went to the ER.   I was diagnosed with gastritis and was released.

I still felt bad.  I go to my doc the next day.  He looks at all of the testing the ER did, and he tells me I have pancreatitis.  I go to the local hospital I get admitted and then they decide I need to be in intensive care.  After 2 days, I get moved to a regular room.  All this time... it HURT a LOT.   It gets slightly better.  The doc there tells me will continue to get better.   I get released on Saturday.   

I wasn't really improving.   It still HURT, a LOT.  

On Monday I see my regular doc again.  He looks at all of the test results, the hospital had and he tells me again, you still have pancreatitis.     This time I go to a bigger (and better) hospital (about 75 minutes to the SW).  It hurt sooooo much I was shallow breathing and my O2 levers were low.   I suppose you need to breath to stay alive.    Before I could get released I had to go thru PT and learn to breath again.

Maybe 2 days before I was released, I remember a walking in the hallway at the hospital with WoBG.  The docs there wanted me to get my strength back.   I walked about 100 feet down the hallway and turned around.  WoBG waned me to keep going. I had to tell her...  I felt like I just ran a marathon.  

After about a  week in the hospital the pain is gone and I get released.  This time I felt a LOT better, but I was still weak.  My strength and stamina came back in another week  Then I went back to work.  

I lost 38 pounds.  They treatment for pancreatitis is simple;  you eat and drink nothing until you get better.    I had an IV every day I was in the hospital, until I could eat real food.  I remember getting ice chips after a few days.  OMG that was a treat.  I got jello the next day.  Then bland food... etc... until I could eat and there was still no pain.

2 months later my gallbladder was removed.  To prevent this from happening again.

Yeah... it was a very horrible experience.  

Hope you feel better sooner than later. 

[Razors Edge ★]

5 minutes ago, Bikeguy said:

That could be a problem.     You may want to go back to your doc if you don't improve.   

The longer version of my story.   It was a Monday in August in 2016, my first day on vacation.  I went for a 25 mile bike ride.  I mowed the grass (a 2 hour job with a lawn mower).  WoBG came home from a shopping trip with some rather good takeout.   About 2 hours later I was sick.  I was sure it was the food.  2 more hours...  my abdomen hurt enough I went to the ER.   I was diagnosed with gastritis and was released.

I still felt bad.  I go to my doc the next day.  He looks at all of the testing the ER did, and he tells me I have pancreatitis.  I go to the local hospital I get admitted and then they decide I need to be in intensive care.  After 2 days, I get moved to a regular room.  All this time... it HURT a LOT.   It gets slightly better.  The doc there tells me will continue to get better.   I get released on Saturday.   

I wasn't really improving.   It still HURT, a LOT.  

On Monday I see my regular doc again.  He looks at all of the test results, the hospital had and he tells me again, you still have pancreatitis.     This time I go to a bigger (and better) hospital (about 75 minutes to the SW).  It hurt sooooo much I was shallow breathing and my O2 levers were low.   I suppose you need to breath to stay alive.    Before I could get released I had to go thru PT and learn to breath again.

Maybe 2 days before I was released, I remember a walking in the hallway at the hospital with WoBG.  The docs there wanted me to get my strength back.   I walked about 100 feet down the hallway and turned around.  WoBG waned me to keep going. I had to tell her...  I felt like I just ran a marathon.  

After about a  week in the hospital the pain is gone and I get released.  This time I felt a LOT better, but I was still weak.  My strength and stamina came back in another week  Then I went back to work.  

I lost 38 pounds.  They treatment for pancreatitis is simple;  you eat and drink nothing until you get better.    I had an IV every day I was in the hospital, until I could eat real food.  I remember getting ice chips after a few days.  OMG that was a treat.  I got jello the next day.  Then bland food... etc... until I could eat and there was still no pain.

2 months later my gallbladder was removed.  To prevent this from happening again.

Yeah... it was a very horrible experience.  

Hope you feel better sooner than later. 

Thanks for sharing.

While I have few if any health stories to share, I think a great thing about a place like the Cafe is that we have a LOT of different folks who have a LOT of experience with important stuff - like health issues.

While I hope @Ralphie comes around ASAP, I think stories like yours offer a huge amount of perspective and encouragement to pay attention to how you are feeling and recovering and some insight into possible pitfalls.

[Ralphie ★]

The doctor’s office today said my slow recovery is normal. When they say it takes one to two weeks I did not expect to feel like total shit for the  first few days, but ahspose it is part of the deal. Now when they mention pancreitis as a potential side effect of drugs like wegovie, I cringe!

[Bikeguy]

34 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

Now when they mention pancreitis as a potential side effect of drugs like wegovie, I cringe!

Trust me you do NOT want pancreatitis.   That was HORRIBLE.  

After I got back to work.  I was attending a managers meeting.  During a break someone started discussing fentanyl.  I let them talk for a bit.  Then I said;  "Yeah that's some good shit."   The room went silent.  Then I told them that's what they gave me when I asked so I could sleep.

34 minutes ago, Ralphie said:

The doctor’s office today said my slow recovery is normal. When they say it takes one to two weeks I did not expect to feel like total shit for the  first few days, but ahspose it is part of the deal.

I sure hope your progress continues.

[Kirby]

Sorry you're not feeling better, Ralphie, but I'm not surprised it's taking time.  Any surgery is a major hit to the body and you should just relax and don't try to rush anything.

[Ralphie ★]

1 hour ago, Kirby said:

Sorry you're not feeling better, Ralphie, but I'm not surprised it's taking time.  Any surgery is a major hit to the body and you should just relax and don't try to rush anything.

Believe me, I’m not!  Everything is coming slowly. Even by slothly standards.