The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day...
5/18/11
So it's only fitting that I've been reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day all week to kiddos...today turned out to be my very own day of that sort.
So it was ENT specialist appointment day (yay). I should preface all of this by saying I'm a huge baby, I hate doctors, I have severe anxiety, will cry at the sight of a needle, and didn't attend a single doctors appointment by myself until it was just impossible to have my mom come with me (i.e.-college and she couldn't make the commute for an annual checkup. When I was about 23.)
I put on my big girl pants and drove to the appointment. Upon arriving was informed that they hadn't contacted my insurance yet so I would have to pay 20% up front (not like my crappy insurance will cover much if any).
I go to use the restroom pre-appointment only to find that someone has defecated in the trash bin DIRECTLY NEXT TO THE TOILET. They then proceeded to discard all of the paper that they used to clean themselves up into that same trash. The smell was pungent and I instantly started to gag. Then puke.
On to the appointment. The doctor was not so friendly, not so forthcoming with information (like say what the hell he was doing in my ear), and didn't provide me with that miracle cure that I expected!
The appointment went a little something like this:
There was something jammed into my ear, some sticking, some swabbing, some kind of rinse/flush, then something that hurt like hell and caused me to initially tear up. When I regained composure thinking he was done, he did it again but worse, instant tears. I do know that he took some kind of culture to be sent to the lab.
Next up was the nose. He sprayed some expanding gel into my nostril then proceeded to put a lighted scope into it that went all through my nose and then down my throat. About halfway through my nose he indicated that the spacing was tight and to just "breathe through it". It was all I could do to not kick him in the balls and tell him to "just breathe through it". Imagine jamming a pencil through your nose canal when really only a toothpick fits. That's what it felt like. That gel was bogus and only numbed my throat making it feel like I was going to then choke and die.
He never explained what the gel was, so after the procedure I started to freak out because my throat was numb, I thought I was having an allergic reaction and going into anaphylaxis.
Possibly the worst part of the appointment was the news that he did share with me. He gave me two new antibiotics, both very strong. He also gave me a prescription for Prednisone in the event the Bell's Palsy gets worse. But here was the punch in the gut; he said that if the antibiotics don't start working on it that I will have to have a day surgery that would consist of him cutting inside of my ear to drain it (drain what I have no idea, my brain matter, the infection, who knows) maybe he said put a drain in. Honestly I stopped listening when he said that they locally numb the area but that it's quite uncomfortable. I thought today's appointment was quite uncomfortable so I think he and I have differences in opinion on that matter. I have zero interest in letting good old Dr. Kevorkian at my ear with any kind of cutting device.
So I finally escape the torture chair and head out to the office to pay/runaway...and I'm handed this hazard bag that contains a test tube looking thing with my "culture" lab specimen. Apparently here in Guam you take your own items to the lab. I proceeded to do this and pay again.
I have a follow up appointment Monday morning and to be honest I could puke thinking about it. Whatever he did today was so painful I'm just hoping to not have a repeat.
I then had to find a pharmacy to fill these prescriptions that I was given. The lady at the doctor's office was less than helpful with that, she said, "you'll have to find one that takes your insurance, so I suggest calling them" (perhaps she should have called them 3 days earlier when I initially faxed my insurance card to her...) With no help from her I found a pharmacy, that took my insurance, and gave me my drugs. I hope to experience NONE of the side effects listed.
So yeah, today was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
So it's only fitting that I've been reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day all week to kiddos...today turned out to be my very own day of that sort.
So it was ENT specialist appointment day (yay). I should preface all of this by saying I'm a huge baby, I hate doctors, I have severe anxiety, will cry at the sight of a needle, and didn't attend a single doctors appointment by myself until it was just impossible to have my mom come with me (i.e.-college and she couldn't make the commute for an annual checkup. When I was about 23.)
I put on my big girl pants and drove to the appointment. Upon arriving was informed that they hadn't contacted my insurance yet so I would have to pay 20% up front (not like my crappy insurance will cover much if any).
I go to use the restroom pre-appointment only to find that someone has defecated in the trash bin DIRECTLY NEXT TO THE TOILET. They then proceeded to discard all of the paper that they used to clean themselves up into that same trash. The smell was pungent and I instantly started to gag. Then puke.
On to the appointment. The doctor was not so friendly, not so forthcoming with information (like say what the hell he was doing in my ear), and didn't provide me with that miracle cure that I expected!
The appointment went a little something like this:
There was something jammed into my ear, some sticking, some swabbing, some kind of rinse/flush, then something that hurt like hell and caused me to initially tear up. When I regained composure thinking he was done, he did it again but worse, instant tears. I do know that he took some kind of culture to be sent to the lab.
Next up was the nose. He sprayed some expanding gel into my nostril then proceeded to put a lighted scope into it that went all through my nose and then down my throat. About halfway through my nose he indicated that the spacing was tight and to just "breathe through it". It was all I could do to not kick him in the balls and tell him to "just breathe through it". Imagine jamming a pencil through your nose canal when really only a toothpick fits. That's what it felt like. That gel was bogus and only numbed my throat making it feel like I was going to then choke and die.
He never explained what the gel was, so after the procedure I started to freak out because my throat was numb, I thought I was having an allergic reaction and going into anaphylaxis.
Possibly the worst part of the appointment was the news that he did share with me. He gave me two new antibiotics, both very strong. He also gave me a prescription for Prednisone in the event the Bell's Palsy gets worse. But here was the punch in the gut; he said that if the antibiotics don't start working on it that I will have to have a day surgery that would consist of him cutting inside of my ear to drain it (drain what I have no idea, my brain matter, the infection, who knows) maybe he said put a drain in. Honestly I stopped listening when he said that they locally numb the area but that it's quite uncomfortable. I thought today's appointment was quite uncomfortable so I think he and I have differences in opinion on that matter. I have zero interest in letting good old Dr. Kevorkian at my ear with any kind of cutting device.
So I finally escape the torture chair and head out to the office to pay/runaway...and I'm handed this hazard bag that contains a test tube looking thing with my "culture" lab specimen. Apparently here in Guam you take your own items to the lab. I proceeded to do this and pay again.
I have a follow up appointment Monday morning and to be honest I could puke thinking about it. Whatever he did today was so painful I'm just hoping to not have a repeat.
I then had to find a pharmacy to fill these prescriptions that I was given. The lady at the doctor's office was less than helpful with that, she said, "you'll have to find one that takes your insurance, so I suggest calling them" (perhaps she should have called them 3 days earlier when I initially faxed my insurance card to her...) With no help from her I found a pharmacy, that took my insurance, and gave me my drugs. I hope to experience NONE of the side effects listed.
So yeah, today was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
Comments
Post a Comment