Hospital Stories

[Mia]

Realize that hospital is usually not a great place to be if your a patient. For most people, and especially Aspies. My spouse is finding it difficult in hospital, with people coming and going constantly. The noise associated with hospitals, people touching you, the lack of privacy. Among many things. Yet, he made a friend named Peter and they commiserate while walking around, and lounging in the patient's area. So I'm glad he has someone to talk to. To compare recovery with and to simply get better, as I can't be there all the time.

Years ago, I was in a car accident and was in hospital for several weeks. When I began to recover, all the nurses on that floor celebrated by taking me to the cafeteria for lunch. It really made me feel better.

If you've been in hospital what do you remember? The good and the bad, and the in-between hospital stories?

 

[Gritches]

It was several years ago, I had just OD'd and had a heart attack. I spent a week in the Intensive Care Unit. That week changed my life. For the first time in a very long time, people were nice to me (the nurses). For the first time in a long time, I didn't have to be afraid to turn my back on the people around me. For the first time in a long time, I didn't have one hand on my knife at all times.

Being bed-bound was a very humbling experience. I was used to being highly mobile, going from place to place, not knowing where I was going to sleep or what I was going to eat. Now, I was in a warm bed and a beautiful woman with all her teeth was bringing me food. I didn't turn on the TV that entire week, I just laid there and reconsidered my life. It opened my eyes when I realized how feral I had become.

I developed a relationship with one nurse in particular. I didn't even have to ask, she just kept bringing me orange juice, ice cream, and warmed-up blankets. Not once did any of the nurses judge me for my reason for being there. They just treated me like a person, not a criminal, not a junkie. Once I had recovered a bit, they did an ultrasound on my heart. The doctor told me 15% of my heart had died. After the doctor left, aforementioned nurse stayed. She chewed my ass about drugs and how lucky I was to even be alive and how there wasn't going to be a next time. The weirdest part was that it felt like this practical stranger actually cared about me, first time I had felt like that in a long time. She referred me to a treatment program, I got clean, and the rest is history.

The point is, I'd probably be dead, in jail, or still a junkie if I hadn't been shown the care and compassion by those wonderful nurses. Ever since then, I've maintained that it's important to be kind to people who might not even deserve it because you never know who really needs it.

 

[garnetflower13]

I've been in hospitals too many times for any of them to stand out particularly, but I would say when staff are compassionate it has always been a good memory.

 

[Dan Dan]

I avoid hospitals and doctors at all cost. I had a bad experience when i was young with a doctor. And I dont like the smell or the bright lights and all the sick people being around me. I dont go unless i really have to. Like a life or death situation. A few of years ago i cut through all the tendons and veins across the top of my hand so I kind of had to go to hospital. I also refuse to take medication. If i have to I'll use a natural herbal remedy. Ive also stitched myself three times before when i had a deep wound to avoid hospitals.

 

[SusanLR]

I've been in hospitals too many times.
The first time was the worst for me emotionally
since I had never been in one before.
My anxiety was off the charts.
I was in for an allergic/anaphylaxis reation to a prescription med.

After that I started having a long bout with panic attacks and depression. Several psych hospitalizations for that.
Those were not good experiences.
The doctors and nurses are so non-caring and seem to get off on trying to make you feel worse.

Then there was food poisoning.
That is miserable. I was told the way to kill the bacteria
is to let the temperature rise to 102 degrees with no tylenol or anything cold to drink. Only tap water.
My head was busting, hurt all over, felt like I was going to pass out in bed.
I was in hypovolemic shock when I went to ER initially.
Don't get Salmonella if you can keep from it at all.

Then there have been surgeries.
Hysterectomy for beneign large tumor.
Hospital doctor who did the surgery was terrible.
He made fun of my panic and shaking before the surgery and again after in follow up check ups.
Nurses were alright. Nothing special though.

Then gallbladder removal.
This is how they found I had liver cancer.
Whom ever vented me for the gallbladder surgery
must have been rough. My throat was cut up and couldn't eat anything solid for two days.
I was coughing up blood from it.

The cancer surgery, (removal of left half of liver),
was a scary, panic filled event. But, when told you
have about 2 months to live if you don't do the surgery...
well, I decideded better to die trying than just lay down and give up.
Thanks to a great cancer hospital in Tampa- Moffitt Cancer Hospital, I'm an 8 yr. survivor.
Recovery and rehab took 6 weeks though.
That's how tough the surgery is for liver cancer.

So I've plenty of Hospital stories.
Probably will be more in the future knowing my luck.

 

[Suzanne]

I HATE BEING IN HOSPITAL and will do all I can to not go in. However, the ending of last year, I knew that something was not right and had no choice but get my husband to take me to hospital.

You should have seen my face when the chap, who was searching for the issue, said: you can discuss this with the surgeon. What? Excuse me? Did I hear right? Are you saying that I need to be operated on? Yes, you have a gallstone stuck in your bile duct. Now, all this was in French and so, what I thought he said was: too much salt and it has caused a blockage and my mind frantically searches the evidence that I have been eating too much salt and all I came back with: well, not exactly careful with salt, because I am sure salt is not bad for you, but obviously I am wrong and I groaned, but was DETERMINED to not be operated on.

I met the surgeon, who spoke a bit of English and then he explained exactly the problem; nothing to do with salt ( just an expression they refer to for gallstones)

He said to me that if the pain diminishes and the nausea, he would send me home with medication. I hate medication, but it was the better of the two evils and so, I went out of my way, to be a good girl and take my medicine; well ok, it was going through a drip.

I had the usage of my phone and so, could look up information on the gallbladder and the alarm bells went off. If the liver produces bile that the gallbladder saves and the gallbladder is removed and bile is redirected to the stomach, but the stomach is in a bad way, how on earth can this work? So, I stuck my heels in and refused point blank to be operated on. The surgeon even got a picture of the liver and gallbladder and stomach, but would not give me the information I required!

When it was the night before the decision to operate or send her home? He asked how I felt and I said with a huge satisfied grin. Pain has gone and nausea too and he equally looked smug and pointed to my drip and said: but of course, because they are pain relievers and anti nausea and I stuck my tongue out and said: that is not fair! I think the pain relievers were making me into a person I am not usually like, but it sure made everyone smile at me and that felt good.

It was my good friend who, all that time, been trying to be there for me. Putting up with my ranting. She then said in text: you know, that the acid can come from the gallbladder? No, I did not know this? So, again, research time and whoa what did I find?

So, the anetheist ( excuse terrible spelling) appeared ( lovely lady) and I nodded and said she can tell the surgeon that I will go a head with the operation. Obviously, they were just biding their time, but as usual, they did not give me the information I had found, and if they had, they would have had a more pliable patient.

I coped pretty well with this hospital stay. The last one, was 8 days and due to social phobia, I did not once venture outside my room and so, felt stifled and very scared. I felt that I was going to be there for an eternity.

Again, it had to be related to the pain relievers, because for some bizarre reason, I was BLOWING KISSES at the nurses, as they closed the door! I had this insane need to do that and felt MORTIFIED afterwards, but no matter, it happened again and again.

I think they admired me, because I spoke in French and because I was determined to get better, as I struggled out of bed, despite the pain. I went from being doubled over, to standing straight.

One of the highlights of my stay was when I woke up from the daze of being put under ( that is nasty; feels so uncomfortable), they held my head as I drank some water, accept I didn't! I spat it out, due to the severity of the pain in my throat. I did not connect that there had been a tube there, to keep my airways open! Then suddenly, I felt this amazing coolness on my lips and the most glorious taste. LEMON soaked cotton buds. I wanted to eat it, but she whipped it away and I was groaning in frustration. I managed to look on the table and saw a packet with 4 more. I did think: why did you not do that to begin with? I looked again several hours and they had removed them!!!

A hilarous episode accured which had the nurses in tears with merth. It was night time, several hours after my op and in the dark, a nurse picked up something and rattled it and I groaned and said: not now please. I had been given so many tablets to take, I just did not want anymore. So, later on, she did it again and this time, I grabbed it and was just about to swallow the tablets, when I heard: NON and it was whipped out of my hand! THEY WERE MY GALLSTONES. The nurses were laughing so much and even more, when I said: that would be a bad idea; I do not fancy another operation and we all laughed and I did not feel mortified!

Overall not a bad experience and living happily without a gallbladder and acid reduced hugely AND just to pass on this information. Honey heals the esophecus ( again, excuse bad spelling) and stomach. Mine were in a dreadful way, with acid erosion, but continuous use of honey, instead of sugar, has reversed it. I only found this out, when I needed information on an endiscopy I had fairly recently and I had not bothered to look, because as far as I was concerned, all was bad news. I did look and did a double take! My stomach: normal and so forth and now I know why the chap who did this, reacted so blase about it all, because there was no need to react anyway.

 

[Suzanne]

I've been in hospitals too many times.
The first time was the worst for me emotionally
since I had never been in one before.
My anxiety was off the charts.
I was in for an allergic/anaphylaxis reation to a prescription med.

After that I started having a long bout with panic attacks and depression. Several psych hospitalizations for that.
Those were not good experiences.
The doctors and nurses are so non-caring and seem to get off on trying to make you feel worse.

Then there was food poisoning.
That is miserable. I was told the way to kill the bacteria
is to let the temperature rise to 102 degrees with no tylenol or anything cold to drink. Only tap water.
My head was busting, hurt all over, felt like I was going to pass out in bed.
I was in hypovolemic shock when I went to ER initially.
Don't get Salmonella if you can keep from it at all.

Then there have been surgeries.
Hysterectomy for beneign large tumor.
Hospital doctor who did the surgery was terrible.
He made fun of my panic and shaking before the surgery and again after in follow up check ups.
Nurses were alright. Nothing special though.

Then gallbladder removal.
This is how they found I had liver cancer.
Whom ever vented me for the gallbladder surgery
must have been rough. My throat was cut up and couldn't eat anything solid for two days.
I was coughing up blood from it.

The cancer surgery, (removal of left half of liver),
was a scary, panic filled event. But, when told you
have about 2 months to live if you don't do the surgery...
well, I decideded better to die trying than just lay down and give up..

Thanks to a great cancer hospital in Tampa- Moffitt Cancer Hospital, I'm an 8 yr. survivor.
Recovery and rehab took 6 weeks though.
That's how tough the surgery is for liver cancer.

So I've plenty of Hospital stories.
Probably will be more in the future knowing my luck.

Wow, this pains me so much! It is always the blasted same. Take body parts out!!!!

If you EVER get cancer again, Susan, please go the natural route.

A friend was telling me a story when her son was a baby and had to have a minor operation and it appeared to go well, accept afterwards, the wound was looking angry and suddenly, she was ordered out of the room and then, it was explained that he had caught the flesh eating disease! She was looking on in hopelessness as she saw the skin die and spread and the drs were scratching their head in dismay. Her mum said: we have nothing to lose by trying tea tree oil and so, my friend had to sneak the oil on to the skin, when drs were not looking. The result was amazing. Within a day, the would healed and by day 3 and healed completely and the nurses were saying: what on earth? So, she said: I used tea tree oil. The answer: please do not say that, we will have to record it!

Another: A mother's son was being as children and spilled acid on his face and the wait for his face to have skin grafts was a long waiting list, so they decided to use honey and by the time they went back, the drs said: what on earth! He no longer needed skin grafts. They refused to believe it was honey; just a coincidence, but she later heard that they started using honey on others.

Cancer is big money to the pharma company.

 

[WereBear]

Can't sleep in them. Too much going on. And the food is pretty terrible

But the nurses are 99% wonderful.

 

[Major Tom]

I avoid hospitals and doctors at all cost. I had a bad experience when i was young with a doctor. And I dont like the smell or the bright lights and all the sick people being around me. I dont go unless i really have to. Like a life or death situation. A few of years ago i cut through all the tendons and veins across the top of my hand so I kind of had to go to hospital. I also refuse to take medication. If i have to I'll use a natural herbal remedy. Ive also stitched myself three times before when i had a deep wound to avoid hospitals.

I use super glue, self stitching sounds like it's painful. Super glue does almost the same as a stitch as long as you keep applying it.

 

[Major Tom]

I was in about 5 years ago for major back surgery. It was the most painful experience of my life. When I woke up from the surgery, I had no idea where I was or what was going on. All I knew was pain. Never in my life had I felt pain like that. The nurses were a mixture from kind to evil haha. I was stuck in a room with 8 other old guys that ignored me for the most part, but were very noisy amongst themselves. They wanted me to stay in the hospital for over a month after the surgery, but I griped enough that they discharged me in a week. It took over a year to "recover" (I still have numbness in my right leg and foot, plus circulatory issues that make my foot constantly cold). Turns out that one of the bolts in my spine is crooked, and the only way they can fix it is another surgery, which I declined.
This was my most memorable hospital experience. In many ways not good.

 

[OlLiE]

i have arrhythmia's, they have had to cardiovert me (sedate you for 5 minutes, use the electric reanimation paddles to stop and restart/reboot my heart).

the procedure only takes five minutes and i've had to have it done a couple of times, this time when i woke up i noticed it was about 3 hours later so i knew something had gone wrong, basically it turns i was still conscious when they shocked me, so they knocked me out completely to wipe my memory of the event, if i hadn't noticed the time difference i would never have known

they do the same kind of procedure with medecine instead of paddles, but this time you stay awake, you are in a bed with the crash cart next to you in case it goes wrong, they inject you with the medecine in your arm, its really cold, you feel it creeping to your hart through your vein, when it gets there it stops your heart for a couple of seconds while you are conscious and then dissipates and your heart restarts, basically fees like the living dead

also had multiple cardio ablations where they stick a catheter with a burning tip through your groin and then thread it into your heart to burn the pathways that are causing the asthma's. in belgium, after they've knocked you out they put a catheter through to your bladder to so you don't wake up having to pee badly after an operation that lasts hours, before you wake up they remove it. well, in the UK, they don't do this, when you wake up you're bladder is 'seized up' from having to wait too long, they give you a bottle to pee in, and if you cannot in a few minutes, in my case a massive guy comes into your room to shove a plastic catheter up your business so you can pee, they leave it in there for a while and then yank it back out - conclusions you end up peeing fire for about a week and a half, aside from the thoroughly unpleasant experience of having it inserted and removed - ps this was even in a private hospital, not the nhs

 

[Progster]

As I have mentioned before, I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and had to go to hospital to have various tests and surgery to remove the tumour. I was allowed to leave the hospital in the evening when not having any tests, so I did so and stayed at a hotel.

It was boring. If you ever have to stay in hospital, you need to take plenty of things to do.

It was noisy, no privacy, there was another patient on the ward who talked incessantly about nothing in a loud voice and wouldn't shut up, she had a TV blasting out all the time, it was unbearable. It was impossible to sleep because people or nurses were coming to and fro, and they had these awful lights on all the time. I had sleeping tablets, earplugs and a blindfold, or I would never have got any sleep.

I can't really fault the hospital, they do their best with what they have got, the doctors and staff were extremely competent and hard-working, understanding and helpful. The environment was challenging for me because of my Asperger's, but my difficulties weren't the fault of the hospital.

I was absolutely terrified of the surgery, but it was a routine operation, the surgeon was very experienced and it was either that or allow the cancer to spread and die before my time - faced with that choice, then I want to have the surgery no matter how anxious I am. I was prescribed Xanax and Sertraline to control the severe anxiety I was experiencing. Before the surgery, I could feel the lump in my breast like a ticking time bomb, waiting to kill me, and I just wanted to get rid of it as fast as possible. The surprising thing was that I had no pain from the surgery at all - I was prescribed painkillers, but I never used them.

 

[BK201]

Last time I was in hospital, there were so many mosquitos that all the patients were given Xanax pills after dinner.

 

[OkRad]

Wow, this pains me so much! It is always the blasted same. Take body parts out!!!!

If you EVER get cancer again, Susan, please go the natural route.

A friend was telling me a story when her son was a baby and had to have a minor operation and it appeared to go well, accept afterwards, the wound was looking angry and suddenly, she was ordered out of the room and then, it was explained that he had caught the flesh eating disease! She was looking on in hopelessness as she saw the skin die and spread and the drs were scratching their head in dismay. Her mum said: we have nothing to lose by trying tea tree oil and so, my friend had to sneak the oil on to the skin, when drs were not looking. The result was amazing. Within a day, the would healed and by day 3 and healed completely and the nurses were saying: what on earth? So, she said: I used tea tree oil. The answer: please do not say that, we will have to record it!

Another: A mother's son was being as children and spilled acid on his face and the wait for his face to have skin grafts was a long waiting list, so they decided to use honey and by the time they went back, the drs said: what on earth! He no longer needed skin grafts. They refused to believe it was honey; just a coincidence, but she later heard that they started using honey on others.

Cancer is big money to the pharma company.

Was it Manuka honey? A family member had staph on finger and was prescribed too many meds and so forth, so they used Manuka Honey, slathered it on, wrapped it up, and in two weeks it was GONE and never never returned and that was years ago!

 

[Suzanne]

Was it Manuka honey? A family member had staph on finger and was prescribed too many meds and so forth, so they used Manuka Honey, slathered it on, wrapped it up, and in two weeks it was GONE and never never returned and that was years ago!

I have no idea. She just said it was honey.

My honey that I use, is only sold in NETTO ( at least that is the only place we have found it) and it is not regular honey. Shows flowers and is from America apparent and some parts of europe.

 

[OkRad]

I don't like hospitals at all! I have sensory issues, and food issues and sleep issues and people issues and medication reactions and I have trouble with hyper awareness of time and hyperactivity and am very confusing to the drs and nurses.

When I have been in medical places, it's always been such extreme stress that I usually fall apart and it's traumatic.

I was in a lot as a kid and a few times as an teen and adult. I only got through by removing at least one of the stressors and that was food. I stopped eating just so THAT would not be a problem, at least. Fasting also brings about physiological changes which make coping easier for me.

Still, a grand nightmare.

 

[Kirsty]

Touch wood, I’ve never been admitted to hospital. It sounds really nice of them to take you away for coffee. You don’t come across such people often so that’s a gift to you. I hope your husband turns out okay. Thinking about you both.

 

[Dan Dan]

I use super glue, self stitching sounds like it's painful. Super glue does almost the same as a stitch as long as you keep applying it.

I use super glue on small wounds because it's painless and quick. But the three times i stitched myself the bleeding wouldn't stop so i had to. I just looked at youtube how to do it. Its not as painfull as you may think.

 

[Judge]

If you've been in hospital what do you remember? The good and the bad, and the in-between hospital stories?

All bad ones at six years old. Where my family was traveling at Christmas and I got very sick. Doctors thought I might have spinal meningitis and I was kept a few days in a hospital after a traumatically painful spinal tap. Not sure who cried more. Me or my mother!

They concluded instead that I had some unknown, but virulent virus strain and I slowly recovered. I never spent more than a day at a hospital ever since. I've had my share of those one-day hospital visits as well, such as discovering I was morbidly allergic to penicillin after some dental surgery. Though I suspect those one-day visits may change eventually.

 

[QueenOfFrance87]

When I was 14, I had a couple seizures. I admit it was scary, and I had no clue what was happening to me. All I remembered was going home from school and looking forward to playing video games. Then I suddenly found myself in the hospital. The next day, I asked my mom what happened, and she explained everything to me. I was given antiseizure meds, and haven't had any more seizures since.