My Friday Night In The ER

Who doesn't want to spend their Friday night in the ER? That's where I was on Friday night.

It all started back on January 15th when I went to my dentist in a lot of pain from a bad tooth. My dentist put me on meds and said it'd get better. It didn't. I went through the full dose of my meds and was still in an insane amount of pain. Called my dentist twice and she never called back. Eventually couldn't take the pain anymore so I went to my doctor who first advised me to call my dentist (duh-I'd been doing that) and then sent me to Lancaster General to have cat scans because she was worried about the possibility of there being an infection traveling into my head. This was on Thursday night. I called my dentist AGAIN on the way to the hospital and told them I was having Cat Scans because my doctor was concerned. They said the dentist would call back. She never did.

I woke up Friday morning with a bad rash on my face. I've got a history of something called Peri-orbital Cellulitis. You know how you get cellulite on the back of your legs? Well you can also get cellulite other places on your body because your body is made of cells and when the cells bunch together, they cause cellulitis. Mine always happens right below my right eye. The problem with Peri-Orbital Cellulitis is that it is an infection that can lead to a staph infection, which is an infection of the blood and very bad. It's also scary because my Peri...is so close to my brain. It's been 13 years since my last bout with this, but because my dentist let an infection in my mouth go as though it was nothing, my Peri...flared back up. I knew something was up because in addition to the rash and the pain, I lost 7 pounds in 2 days. Not a good way to lose weight! So last night, I had to spend time hooked to an IV and am now on a ridiculous amount of meds to fight off the start of a staph infection. I've got to be monitored by my doctor and the hospital for the next few days to make sure I'll be ok. All because my dentist decided I wasn't an important case to call back. How pathetic is that? It just goes to show that in this world of downsizing, some medical professionals pick and choose who they think the important cases are. Apparently my dentist didn't think I was an important case and it's ended up costing me hundreds upon hundreds in hospital bills.

I do want to say though that Lancaster General is without a doubt, the BEST hospital I've EVER been to. Every single person treated me like a person and not just another number. The listened to me and explained things and the doctor even measured out my facial infection so when we got home we could measure again to see if it was better or worse. I got a little vibrating thing (kinda like what you get when you wait at a restaurant) in the ER to let me know when it was my turn to see the doctor. That was pretty cool. No more nurses yelling out patient names. Nice to know I remained anonymous. There's even a little room in the ER for kids to play in. Whoever came up with that idea should be kissed by parents. The ER was surprisingly calm. No screaming people or frantic employees. Most of my hospital experiences haven't been pleasant and I'd rather stay out of the hospital, but if I had to pick a place to go, it'd definitely be Lancaster General.