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Location: Sometimes Maryland, sometimes NoVA. Depends on the day of the week
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My friend shattered her kneecap and was taken to the ER in an ambulance (three years later, and she just had her 5th surgery). Still had to wait about 2 hour for pain meds. Although you are in terrible pain, its not life threatening. But man, it sure sucks to be in that position Hopefully you recover quickly.
you're probably right. Since that's typically the case, they should give those of us who wait a discount
Who the hell would be at the ER,much less wait for hours if we didn't need medical attention?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jane72
Well, in the ER, they triage. They take patients with more serious or life-threatening emergencies first. It's not exactly first come, first serve.
And memorial Day weekend is a big weekend for accidents- lots of drinking and craziness.
They may not have taken your pain into consideration. They probably just figured, "Oh well, shoulder injury, no bleeding. He can wait all night if he has to."
you're probably right. Since that's typically the case, they should give those of us who wait a discount
Who the hell would be at the ER,much less wait for hours if we didn't need medical attention?
My grandson had an obvious broken ankle from a dirt bike accident...went to the closest ER and they said there would be an 8 hour wait. She left and brought him to my smaller town 25 miles away and he was seen almost immediately. Guess it just depends on how busy they are and some hospitals, especially the trauma 1's, get all the really serious cases and have to handle those first.
I had originally dislocated my shoulder while just trying to raise myself out of bed. Had to call my parents to come over to my apartment because my roommate didn't know what to do. They came over (6:15 am) and ran around the apartment closing all the windows cuz it sounded like I was being attacked. Had to call an ambulance to get me to the hospital. The pain was excruciating but right after they adjusted it I felt okay, just a little muscle fatique from being strained. I thought I was fine until I dislocated it two more times over very little strain. Apparently I had stretched the ligaments and had to have them tightened. I had surgery to repair the shoulder. Do NOT believe that is going to solve all your problems. I went through five monthes of physical therapy three X week and have since dislocated it at least another 1/2 dozen times. I have a very high pain threshold and this was worse than I have ever experienced. Make sure you see a specialist and realize that, unless it was from a SPECIFIC accident, you may have a long term problem
I dislocated my shoulder for the second time two weeks ago reaching for something on a shelf. It was 1:00 am. It hurt like hell. On the pain scale 1-10, I would say a 9.
I was driven to the ER which is 20 min away... (every second feels like hell when your entire arm is hanging on by 4 tiny little tendons that are stretched to the limit)... I got in immediately. The doctor ordered 'hydromorphone' for the pain and according to the nurse, while she was puling the plunger with her syringe, it was incredibly super powerful... 10 times more powerful than morphine...
It did absolutely nothing to me. It just made me nauseous.
Just then, a 150-year-old morbidly obese woman with 20 tubes coming out of every orifice in her body gets wheeled in the room in front of me. After they tried to resuscitate her by shoving a tube show her throat and electrocuting her with defibrillator paddles over 10 times in the span of 4 hours... they finally gave up.
What a waste of time. Even if they did resuscitate her what kind of miserable existence would she have to live in for the rest of her pitiful life in agony and suffering? I'm starting med school in August and as soon as I saw her I knew she was a goner.
Meanwhile I'm pale as a ghost, hyperventilating, with beads of perspiration raining down my body. I was about to leave and drive to the next hospital because it was just ridiculous me sitting there with my arm and shoulder muscles dead, cold, and immobile.
Finally, at 5:00 am the doctor came in. The new lie was the nurse telling me she was going to give me a medication that causes partial anesthesia and complete amnesia. She swore I wouldn't remember anything.
Guess what? The stupid med didn't work and I was awake the whole time and remember the whole thing including the stupid doctor suddenly grabbing my arm and rapidly thrashing it over my head while he twisted it.
My mom heard me screaming from the waiting room.
The pain got much better but it felt like someone had mistaken my arm for a wet mop and wrung it until my sweat glands popped out.
Since the first time I dislocated my shoulder everything went perfect... pain relief was awesome... don't remember a thing... arm felt brand new in 5 minutes... I didn't bother to investigate any further. (By the way... same hospital but different doctor).
Everything I've read about the different techniques that exist in the world all say.... no matter what maneuver is chosen... that it should be done GENTLY. In fact the word gentle was all over the place when I googled how doctors fix a dislocated shoulder.
That doctor has obviously not read a single medical article, journal, or paper since he graduated a thousand years ago and is still using the caveman method of relocating bones and joints.
I got home at 8:00 am... 7 hours in hell... and I just wanted to get a paintball gun and run back into the hospital and shoot the stupid doctor and nurse in the face... with red paintballs... so it looked like blood... and hurt like hell.
Bottom line: It's a roll of the dice. Just pray you don't get a doctor who went to med school in Somalia.
I recommend next time you fix it yourself then. Or make an appointment with the physician of your choice and wait it out til they're available. When you go to the ER, you get what's available. Sometimes it's someone with less than a gentle touch. Sometimes it's a grumpy over-worked nurse who just had to pull a double shift and finished telling some stranger in the waiting room that he'll have to go home alone because his wife just died trying to deliver their stillborn twins. Sometimes you get both in one visit. Them's the breaks.
Also, hydromorphone is known by the brand name Dilaudid. It -is- around 10 times stronger than morphine, and is faster-acting than morphine. If you felt 'nothing' then you were probably in shock, at which point you wouldn't find much pain relief in anything other than full general anasthesia.
The doctor probably did exactly what was needed. You were just aware, which is unfortunate but again - them's the breaks. I recommend you find out WHY you dislocated your arm twice in such a short period of time, and do whatever is necessary to not let that happen again any time soon. In addition, maybe don't come to a health and wellness forum and call doctors stupid, if you want to be taken seriously. If they're so stupid, why are THEY the ones getting paid to be there, and YOU are the one in so much pain?
Last edited by AnonChick; 01-21-2015 at 07:36 PM..
OP 2-3 hour wait, you were lucky. The average ER wait across the country is 6 hours. In our area it's even more. I had to wait 8 hours and when my wife went it was 11 hours.
I dislocated my shoulder for the second time two weeks ago reaching for something on a shelf. It was 1:00 am. It hurt like hell. On the pain scale 1-10, I would say a 9.
I was driven to the ER which is 20 min away... (every second feels like hell when your entire arm is hanging on by 4 tiny little tendons that are stretched to the limit)... I got in immediately. The doctor ordered 'hydromorphone' for the pain and according to the nurse, while she was puling the plunger with her syringe, it was incredibly super powerful... 10 times more powerful than morphine...
It did absolutely nothing to me. It just made me nauseous.
Just then, a 150-year-old morbidly obese woman with 20 tubes coming out of every orifice in her body gets wheeled in the room in front of me. After they tried to resuscitate her by shoving a tube show her throat and electrocuting her with defibrillator paddles over 10 times in the span of 4 hours... they finally gave up.
What a waste of time. Even if they did resuscitate her what kind of miserable existence would she have to live in for the rest of her pitiful life in agony and suffering? I'm starting med school in August and as soon as I saw her I knew she was a goner.
Meanwhile I'm pale as a ghost, hyperventilating, with beads of perspiration raining down my body. I was about to leave and drive to the next hospital because it was just ridiculous me sitting there with my arm and shoulder muscles dead, cold, and immobile.
Finally, at 5:00 am the doctor came in. The new lie was the nurse telling me she was going to give me a medication that causes partial anesthesia and complete amnesia. She swore I wouldn't remember anything.
Guess what? The stupid med didn't work and I was awake the whole time and remember the whole thing including the stupid doctor suddenly grabbing my arm and rapidly thrashing it over my head while he twisted it.
My mom heard me screaming from the waiting room.
The pain got much better but it felt like someone had mistaken my arm for a wet mop and wrung it until my sweat glands popped out.
Since the first time I dislocated my shoulder everything went perfect... pain relief was awesome... don't remember a thing... arm felt brand new in 5 minutes... I didn't bother to investigate any further. (By the way... same hospital but different doctor).
Everything I've read about the different techniques that exist in the world all say.... no matter what maneuver is chosen... that it should be done GENTLY. In fact the word gentle was all over the place when I googled how doctors fix a dislocated shoulder.
That doctor has obviously not read a single medical article, journal, or paper since he graduated a thousand years ago and is still using the caveman method of relocating bones and joints.
I got home at 8:00 am... 7 hours in hell... and I just wanted to get a paintball gun and run back into the hospital and shoot the stupid doctor and nurse in the face... with red paintballs... so it looked like blood... and hurt like hell.
Bottom line: It's a roll of the dice. Just pray you don't get a doctor who went to med school in Somalia.
Bottom line....based on this post, hope I never get YOU for a doctor in 8 years or so...
Assuming your story about starting med school isn't BS...which it probably is....
How long did you keep it in the sling, before moving it, and stop taking anti-inflammatories?
Didn't the ER give you any follow-up info? My son dislocated his elbow before Christmas, was put into a sling, given meds, and was told to follow up with an ortho doc (which he did). Now he's doing physical therapy two times a week.
I don't think you should be asking us for this kind of medical advice...you should be talking to a doctor.
Oh, taurus, I am sooo sorry.
OUCH!
Don't break a rib or have a kidney stone, either...better yet...keep
some Vicotin back in case you do!
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Hopefully you recover quickly.
