greg334
Veteran Expediter
Just wanted pass on a recent experienced I had, well I am still having and this is rather long.
Yesterday I was sitting in my truck getting ready for a run – back to back runs Saturday and today, yea! – cleaning up the mess I had in the sleeper when I had to almost slam into a Mercedes C something when they came on I 84 at a high rate of speed and losing control in my lane while I was kind’a in the lane (that is another long story, thank God I don’t panic). While I was cleaning it up, all of a sudden I had a pain in my right side while I was putting back my books on the shelf, something like I was stabbed (burning) or kicked really really hard, worst then the pain I had from hard landing I had in a plane accident where I screwed up my back. Well anyway the pain started just below my rib cage and in time (30 minutes) extended to the center lower right side. The pain at times was so bad I could not stand, sit or do anything; temporary relief was only laying on the edge of the bed on my stomach and that lasted long enough to get into the drivers seat.
I had to get to a hospital so I looked up the nearest hospital (thank you MS Streets and Trips) which was 2 miles away. I called FedEx and told them that I had to cancel my run (more lost money) because I had to get medical help, they were concern but that conversation is another story. I took the time not to panic which is very important, think about what it was that was causing the pain – appendicitis, gall Stones, food poisoning, prostate problems all things I thought of, but without a fever and pain in the appendix I ruled out the appendicitis possibility.
I decided I wasn’t going to leave my truck at the truck stop and stubborn me I drove the two miles. I thought about a cab and ambulance but again that would really cause me more problems worrying about my truck at the truck stop. I called the hospital to first make sure they had an emergency room (there are hospitals that don’t have them) and if I can park my truck in the parking lot – yes on both.
I made it to the hospital, the two miles were not as bad as I thought it would be, I was in a lot of pain and just followed the big H signs. When I got there, I parked in the back lot and walked in. The lady was helpful and tried to explain to me that I needed to go back out and around the building to get to the emergency room but when I bent over and told her that I could not really walk anymore. So she got help and I went to the emergency room in style – wheel chair with a flag on it.
The admin lady was just about the same as my doctors office and knowing the routine, I had everything ready – insurance card, drivers license, all my medications. During this time, my wife called me on the cell phone thinking that I was at my pickup and told her I was in the emergency room – big mistake, she panicked and get really upset. I told her not to worry I will call her after and hung up. I had to go through the triage before the intake process and the nurse who did the triage was really helpful and calming. At this point the pain was worst than ever and I was bent over trying to hold on. Well I got through all that and was admitted to a room. I had to wait and wait which seemed to take a really long time, then the nurse came in put the IV in my arm all the time apologizing about the pain of the needle, which I told her I don’t care nothing hurts as bad as the pain I had in the stomach.
Eventually the doctor came in and went through the normal questions, pushing here and pushing there and mentioned that he thinks I have Kidney stones. He said I will get something for the pain; I will get a cat scan and a catheter to see what I have in there. Well they gave me 10cc of morphine for the pain which did nothing for me and waited 10 minutes to give me the catheter, which was as painful as the pain in my side. I eventually got another shoot of morphine which just made me tired and then off to the cat scan.
During this time, my wife was trying to figure out where I was. She knew I was in Connecticut, but how close to her Aunt (she lives outside of New London) so her aunt can come up here and check on me. My wife followed the instructions on my emergency sheet I had made up for her; she called FedEx and talked to a dispatcher – the second step would be to call the Connecticut state police and have them talk to FedEx if they would not help. Yes she has all the information to talk to them, my contactor number and pass code, the problem is that they were really reluctant to tell her anything (which is alright because it has to do with security) and no one seems to have put into any notes that I talked to Joe at FedEx when I canceled my run (who was helpful but didn’t track me or anything like that) and she ended up being called back with all the info – thank you Chris at FedEx.
So I laid there waiting for the results from the cat scan, which the tech said I would be only 30 minutes. I waited and waited, the nurse came back in and gave me Dilaudid and that finally kicked the pain after15 minutes. The doctors told me no water, no ice so I laid there feeling better because of the drugs but so dry mouth that it was getting to me. I laid there for 3 hours, and decided to get up and get my phone to text my wife. I told her I was alright, what they suspect the problem was and not to worry. We went back and forth a bunch of times and she seemed to be a little better, her worry was in the text messages.
After 3 hours of waiting, a different doctor came in and told me that they are still waiting for the cat scan results. I asked for ice chips and asked if I can drink them, he so have at it. Well finally the results were in and a discharge nurse came into the room. She told me what they found, told me I am to see my GP by Tuesday (yea right, I will be lucky to make it home by Thursday) and I have a prescription to get filled asap for the pain.
Yes, it is a kidney stone, 4mm stone to be exact. I have been sitting in my truck in the parking lot of the hospital since I was discharged. I won’t drive until tomorrow morning because of the amount of Morphine and Dilaudid they gave me and the hospital told me when ever I leave is fine with them.
I did talk to FedEx and I have to deal with Safety in the morning to get back into service, seeing that the dealer who did my inspection didn’t fax the qualification paper work to them like they said they would and I am out of service until that is solved. I hope to get out of here soon without going to NYC.
I think what helped more than anything is the emergency sheet I made up for my wife. It has all the information for her to talk to anyone, including my truck number, license plate number, description of the truck, phone numbers, pass codes, and how to find me. I know she panics about things like this so it got her settled down.
Right now I am not doing too badly, I am getting the drugs out of my system and feel rather like cr*p because of the drugs they gave me I am not used to. I can’t fill the script because I can’t drive the truck down to CVS a mile down the road.
So for those who never experienced it, I hope you never do and for those who know what I am talking about, Man that hurts. Here is a link to the kidney foundation - http://www.kidney.org/
Yesterday I was sitting in my truck getting ready for a run – back to back runs Saturday and today, yea! – cleaning up the mess I had in the sleeper when I had to almost slam into a Mercedes C something when they came on I 84 at a high rate of speed and losing control in my lane while I was kind’a in the lane (that is another long story, thank God I don’t panic). While I was cleaning it up, all of a sudden I had a pain in my right side while I was putting back my books on the shelf, something like I was stabbed (burning) or kicked really really hard, worst then the pain I had from hard landing I had in a plane accident where I screwed up my back. Well anyway the pain started just below my rib cage and in time (30 minutes) extended to the center lower right side. The pain at times was so bad I could not stand, sit or do anything; temporary relief was only laying on the edge of the bed on my stomach and that lasted long enough to get into the drivers seat.
I had to get to a hospital so I looked up the nearest hospital (thank you MS Streets and Trips) which was 2 miles away. I called FedEx and told them that I had to cancel my run (more lost money) because I had to get medical help, they were concern but that conversation is another story. I took the time not to panic which is very important, think about what it was that was causing the pain – appendicitis, gall Stones, food poisoning, prostate problems all things I thought of, but without a fever and pain in the appendix I ruled out the appendicitis possibility.
I decided I wasn’t going to leave my truck at the truck stop and stubborn me I drove the two miles. I thought about a cab and ambulance but again that would really cause me more problems worrying about my truck at the truck stop. I called the hospital to first make sure they had an emergency room (there are hospitals that don’t have them) and if I can park my truck in the parking lot – yes on both.
I made it to the hospital, the two miles were not as bad as I thought it would be, I was in a lot of pain and just followed the big H signs. When I got there, I parked in the back lot and walked in. The lady was helpful and tried to explain to me that I needed to go back out and around the building to get to the emergency room but when I bent over and told her that I could not really walk anymore. So she got help and I went to the emergency room in style – wheel chair with a flag on it.
The admin lady was just about the same as my doctors office and knowing the routine, I had everything ready – insurance card, drivers license, all my medications. During this time, my wife called me on the cell phone thinking that I was at my pickup and told her I was in the emergency room – big mistake, she panicked and get really upset. I told her not to worry I will call her after and hung up. I had to go through the triage before the intake process and the nurse who did the triage was really helpful and calming. At this point the pain was worst than ever and I was bent over trying to hold on. Well I got through all that and was admitted to a room. I had to wait and wait which seemed to take a really long time, then the nurse came in put the IV in my arm all the time apologizing about the pain of the needle, which I told her I don’t care nothing hurts as bad as the pain I had in the stomach.
Eventually the doctor came in and went through the normal questions, pushing here and pushing there and mentioned that he thinks I have Kidney stones. He said I will get something for the pain; I will get a cat scan and a catheter to see what I have in there. Well they gave me 10cc of morphine for the pain which did nothing for me and waited 10 minutes to give me the catheter, which was as painful as the pain in my side. I eventually got another shoot of morphine which just made me tired and then off to the cat scan.
During this time, my wife was trying to figure out where I was. She knew I was in Connecticut, but how close to her Aunt (she lives outside of New London) so her aunt can come up here and check on me. My wife followed the instructions on my emergency sheet I had made up for her; she called FedEx and talked to a dispatcher – the second step would be to call the Connecticut state police and have them talk to FedEx if they would not help. Yes she has all the information to talk to them, my contactor number and pass code, the problem is that they were really reluctant to tell her anything (which is alright because it has to do with security) and no one seems to have put into any notes that I talked to Joe at FedEx when I canceled my run (who was helpful but didn’t track me or anything like that) and she ended up being called back with all the info – thank you Chris at FedEx.
So I laid there waiting for the results from the cat scan, which the tech said I would be only 30 minutes. I waited and waited, the nurse came back in and gave me Dilaudid and that finally kicked the pain after15 minutes. The doctors told me no water, no ice so I laid there feeling better because of the drugs but so dry mouth that it was getting to me. I laid there for 3 hours, and decided to get up and get my phone to text my wife. I told her I was alright, what they suspect the problem was and not to worry. We went back and forth a bunch of times and she seemed to be a little better, her worry was in the text messages.
After 3 hours of waiting, a different doctor came in and told me that they are still waiting for the cat scan results. I asked for ice chips and asked if I can drink them, he so have at it. Well finally the results were in and a discharge nurse came into the room. She told me what they found, told me I am to see my GP by Tuesday (yea right, I will be lucky to make it home by Thursday) and I have a prescription to get filled asap for the pain.
Yes, it is a kidney stone, 4mm stone to be exact. I have been sitting in my truck in the parking lot of the hospital since I was discharged. I won’t drive until tomorrow morning because of the amount of Morphine and Dilaudid they gave me and the hospital told me when ever I leave is fine with them.
I did talk to FedEx and I have to deal with Safety in the morning to get back into service, seeing that the dealer who did my inspection didn’t fax the qualification paper work to them like they said they would and I am out of service until that is solved. I hope to get out of here soon without going to NYC.
I think what helped more than anything is the emergency sheet I made up for my wife. It has all the information for her to talk to anyone, including my truck number, license plate number, description of the truck, phone numbers, pass codes, and how to find me. I know she panics about things like this so it got her settled down.
Right now I am not doing too badly, I am getting the drugs out of my system and feel rather like cr*p because of the drugs they gave me I am not used to. I can’t fill the script because I can’t drive the truck down to CVS a mile down the road.
So for those who never experienced it, I hope you never do and for those who know what I am talking about, Man that hurts. Here is a link to the kidney foundation - http://www.kidney.org/
