ER

[Guest guest]

I would rather be beaten than go to the ER for anything, but I do think that

there are times when you do need to go. For instance, back in January I woke up

with the one of the worst headaches I can remember. I could hardly stand up. I

had no one with me and so decided to call 911.

Long story short, I had been sick with an upper respiratory type thing for at

least a week and thought I was getting better. When I got to the hospital, they

did tests that showed that I had a severe pansinusitis infection (not flu) that

was very close to going into my brain. Had I not gone to the hospital and had

the proper tests they would not have known how serious it was and would not have

treated it as aggessively as it needed to be treated.

Each case of pain/illness is individual and I have always said that I would

rather be laughed out of the emergency room than carried out feet first. We are

not doctors and so we can't always know if it is a true emergency or not. I

agree that the ER is not a place to go to manage a chronic medical condition

but it is a must when we are experiencing symptoms that are urgent/possibly life

threatening in nature. And there are times when one can have a " pain crisis "

and need the help that the ER can provide. Like I said it is definitely NOT my

first choice to go but I am glad it has been there when I did.

I have had several instances where one of my doctors has sent me from their

office directly to the ER. When that happens I do have them call ahead just to

let the ER know they are sending me. The ER docs do the tests and treatment

they need to do as they see fit, but it does lend more credibility when they

know that your doctor sent you to them.

Terry