Emergency Room

The power of suggestion is amazing. Or perhaps it's just good timing... either case, here's the story:

...I went to the dentist about 3.5 weeks ago - got my teeth cleaned. Now, they might seem unrelated, but because I had open heart surgery 26 years ago, I have scar tissue left over in my heart. Because bacteria can enter the blood stream during teeth cleaning, and the mouth connects directly to the heart, and heart scar tissue is easily infected by bacteria, I'm at risk of getting Subacute bacterial endocarditis (SBE), so I've always supposed to have taken antibiotics when going to the dentist, though, hadn't the previous several visits over the years because of the low risk, even though SBE can be fatal.

SOO I went and got my teeth cleaned, a week later I got some fillings and a wisdom tooth pulled, and then immediately my mother FREAKS because I didn't take medication. She insists I let her know if I get any symptoms.

And here comes the power of suggestion: About a week later my chest starts to hurt. Last friday, my right arm starts to go numb, and spends about a day half-asleep. GREAT.

Last night my father takes me to the emergency room. note: apparently you get put to the front of the line and seen immediately if you tell them you're a former cardiac patient and are having chest pains. I got put on Oxygen and a couple of different heart monitors, had some blood work done and a couple of chest x-rays, not to mention the opportunity to wear one of those stylish and too-short hospital gowns. Why did I have to wear my purple underwear that day?!

The emergency ward is a terribly depressing place. I'd say the average patient age is about 84, and most of them aren't in a good mood. Mostly nurses, and some doctors, are swarming around - they're obviously over-worked, but what obviously makes their job much worse is the incessant needy complaining of their elderly patients. I couldn't see most of the patients around me thanks to the cloth walls, but the woman next to me was constantly calling over any nurse who happened to walk by to accuse her/him of keeping her there for longer than she'd like - on-purpose, and to ask for constant re-adjustments to her bed/pillows. She was nauseated, and diabetic and on morphine, but kept trying to get different nurses to bring her a glass of juice. The nurse who was in charge of her would always over-hear though and explain to her that she couldn't drink anything, especially juice at that time, but she just continued to try and over-mine this nurse by trying to trick others into doing her bidding. I'm not sure if it was the same patient, but the same nurse confronted a female patient later for muttering 'incompetent' at her as she walked by, and had to deal with another who was complaining about being left on her bed out in the hall - the ward was out of bed stalls.

Don't become a nurse.

All in all I was relieved when a doctor finally came (after about 2 hours at the hospital) and talked to me and let me know the pain/numbness I was experiencing wasn't anything to do with my heart or lungs - most likely from stress and lack of sleep. I wonder where those two things came from?