3 Days In Medical City; Lesson Learned, Tummy, Now Stfu

3 days in Medical City and all I have to show for it is a misspelled name.

Tuesday started off innocently enough. I got up, worked a bit, answered some emails, then got ready for work. Since my condo is tiny, it doesn't take much to cross to the kitchen, the bed, or my work area. All told, aside from a bit of general oh-god-oh-god-why-is-it-Tuesday blues, I was feeling like I normally do.

In any case, as I started walking to the office, I felt a sharp pain in my right abdomen. At first I thought it was a side-stitch, but considering that my day job is located less then a block away, I realized that I couldn't possibly be *that* out of shape.

I went to the Borrough Medical Center right after logging in at work, and after seeing the general practitioner, I was told to take a few routine tests. The test results proved inconclusive, as there was some sort of bacteria (or infection?) in my blood, but my urine test was clear and my obgyne's ultrasound turned up nothing but healthy ovaries.

The General Practitioner then told me that I may have appendicitis, and that I wasn't allowed to take pain killers so I could monitor how badly my abdomen hurt. She then said that I might consider going to a bigger hospital just in case. By the time I got back to the office, I realized that 1) My abdomen still hurt and 2) Mother would kill me if she came to visit and found a mouldering corpse instead of her daughter.

I ended up using my sick leave and my mother drove me to the nearest hospital which was, as it turned out, Medical City. Now, it must be said that my family is a firm advocate of going to St. Luke's because I have cousins who are doctors and they practice there. This was my first chance to use MC's, and is pretty much the first time I've been hospitalized, ever.

In any case, after being admitted into their ER, they asked that we redo all the tests. This time, my blood turned out clean but my urine test wasn't. By that time, the boy, my father, and brother had all turned up and were no doubt wondering if my appendix would rupture in a shower of confetti and paper airplanes.

The good news was that the clean blood test showed that my appendix was fine, but the bad news was that I'd need to get that infection treated and my mother insisted that they find out what that sharp pain was. I ended up getting admitted and having antibiotics administered intravenously, and by early morning I had broken out in a fever that was quickly squelched with my lovely nurse Charity (heehee) and a quickly-administered paracetamol.

The next day was more observation and antibiotics, and I was woozy from the aftermath of the fever, having that damned IV needle in my arm (that wasn't even attached to anything!!) 24/7, and generally feeling sorry for myself. Day 3 (i.e. yesterday) was more ultrasounds and a switch to oral antibiotics, after which I was cleared for everything.

In the end, my bill ran to somewhere around 40k. (Who knew tests and antibiotics could be so expensive?) :( What I actually ended up paying for was barely 5k, though, because Maxicare (I love health insurance) ended up paying for almost everything. I'm suddenly extremely grateful that dad insisted my brother and I get Maxicare insurance last year (freelancing = no company coverage), because it has saved me quite a bit in check-ups and the like.

The Medical City staff were all really nice, and the residents and nurses were awesome. The two doctors who handled me, however, (the ER doc and the doc who was eventually assigned to me when I was admitted), weren't the most hospitable of professionals. I gave them both low scores on my Feedback form because while Greg House is entertaining to watch, I can pretty much say that you don't want an asshole for a doctor.

Still, all's well that ends well. I'm home and in one piece, and all I have to show for it is a misspelled medical bracelet. :P