The hospital ER was clean and relatively quiet. Dr. McHH immediately took control. He introduced himself and me as his patient. Dr. McHH then helped me and my shaking hands to locate my wallet, ID, and insurance card. He then demanded to speak to the doctor.
A nurse popped out in under 30 seconds. They wheeled me to a room and through me on the table. I was amazed at how quickly they undressed me and had a gown on me. It was done with precision and someone how modesty. I was super impressed with how they pulled my bra out of my sleeve. It reminded me of Joey Tribani’s special skill on the show, “Friends.”
Dr. McHH stepped out of the room to speak to the doctor and rest of hospital staff. My main nurse, M, was great. She put me at ease while surrounded by chaos. I was immediately hooked up to an IV and an EKG. Having finished speaking to the doctor, Dr. McHH came back into my room and asked for my keys. He rooted through my purse and bag until he found them. Then he drove back to the office to move my car so I would not get stuck with a huge fee or be locked inside the parking garage.
At this point, my body is wildly shaking and it is nearly impossible to speak. It takes all my energy to answer questions. And then I feel it. I know. I have to pee. Not just a little, a lot. A lot. A lot. I tell the nurse. She looks at me and tells me in no uncertain terms am I getting out of the bed. She smiles wryly and says, “Well I can give you a bed pan, but I 100% guarantee it will spill. Or there’s what I would do if I was you.” Okay. I’m listening. “I can put down a bunch of towels and an adult diaper if you would like, and then you just go. It will be hard at first because you’ve trained your body. But once you let go, it will be fine.”
I weighed my options. Towel it is. I, and adult woman, am choosing to soil myself. The nurse was kind enough to step out for a moment. She was right. Not an easy task, but I was up to the challenge and it was worth it! My dignity lost forever, I was cleaned up and waited to see what happened next.
My husband and 3 kids showed up with McDonald Happy Meals in hand. I quickly shooed them out, not wanting them to see me hooked up and wildly shaking. Dr. McHH met up with Dave and gave him my keys. He talked to the ER staff one more time and then he was gone. My sister and brother-in-law showed up soon after. They were able to retrieve my car from where Dr. McHH left it and drive the kids home.
Dave was finally able to be with me and didn’t leave my side. The ER doc, Dr. B, seemed great. He was friendly and listened. After consulting with neurology, it was decided I would get an MRI. My first thought? I guess I’m hitting my deductible tonight even without the ambulance ride.
I was surprised by how unscary the MRI was. It helped I was with my young son last year when he had one. I was strapped in and they covered my eyes. They asked me what kind of music I liked. Beatles. Unfortunately, they were using Pandora so I also got stuck with many things I did not like. In an MRI for 45 minutes to an hour, I half fell asleep. I remember trying to reach out to a brick wall and then suddenly it was over.
The MRI results came quickly. My scans were clear. I was shaking but they didn’t know why. At some point in the evening, I was given Ativan. This calmed the tremors a bit. Stable, they sent me home with directions to check in with my doctor if the symptoms got worse.
Relieved. I went home. I was feeling pretty good, but thought that maybe I should let my body rest and not go teach middle school the next day. I could probably do it, but maybe I should not push myself so hard.