Hospital of Heroes

I’m sorry, I haven’t been writing much lately, either on my blogs or commenting on my favorites. I’ve had so many thoughts to share, but I’ve been on Flexiril, a muscle relaxant that make your mind go all fuzzy and generates a lot of napping.

What happened, you ask? I slept wrong. It’s that simple and stupid. I have the best mattress in the world, a very good pillow that suits me, and I’ve been sleeping with them for a long time! But, it happens, we sleep a little wrong one night and end up with a crick in the neck. After a few hours, perhaps even a shoulder rub, it goes away for good. Right?

Not this time.

Sunday, I woke up with a crick. It was mostly gone by the time I went to bed, but Monday brought a whole new level of stiffness. I used a heating pad off and on all day, then finally gave in and took a back pill (from an old injury). Still stiff, but at least I could sleep and it would heal. Or so I thought.

Tuesday morning I awoke to sharp pains centered on my left shoulder blade and running to my hip, elbow, and neck. I forced myself out of bed (where I couldn’t get comfortable at all!) and tried to find something to eat. The pain intensified, and within an hour the whole left side of my torso and my left arm were so tense they were bunching involuntarily and twitching. It even wrapped around my rib cage and I couldn’t get a breath because my lung felt encircled by stiff muscle. That’s when I got scared. My boyfriend and my Dad both called, one after the other, and both implored me to go to the hospital.

So, I called a cab and went to the ER of Hoboken University Medical Center (formerly St. Mary’s). This is where this entry starts to fit in with my Words for Good theme, btw.

I have been to a lot of emergency rooms in my life (I’m a klutz who danced and rode horses, need I say more?) and I have to say, some of the people I encountered at this one were above and beyond my expectations.

First of all, they actually recognized I was in serious pain, and got to me pretty darn quickly (although it felt like hours at the time). I’ve had times where I was bleeding profusely and was forced to wait for less-needy folks to go ahead of me. Also, the person who does intakes asked me for my name and social security number, and then said she’d get the rest after my treatment because she didn’t want me to have to do all of it while in such a state. That has NEVER happened to me before, and I really appreciated it.

The real hero, or heroine if you prefer, was the triage nurse. I didn’t get her name since I wasn’t thinking clearly, but she did everything she could to make this fast and as painless as possible. She made sure the doctor arrived by the time she was done taking my blood pressure, and he made the diagnosis of cervical strain causing pinched nerves pretty quickly. Then she gave me a shot of pain meds herself, and her bedside manner was perfect! She told me everything she was going to do before she started and again while she was giving it to me, and somehow made me laugh the whole time! It was the most painless shot of my life.

The whole time this was going on, everyone in the entire hospital (or so it seemed) was banging on her window and asking her questions, which she handled deftly and with apologies to me for the distractions.

I want to find out her name and send her some flowers or something, and if I do, I will post about her again so I can shout to the world – THIS IS THE BEST TRIAGE NURSE EVER!!!

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Epilogue:
As for my back, it’s feeling a lot better. They told me to take a few days off, wear a cervical collar (I look so funny!), and take my meds. I am going stir-crazy, to the point where I actually want to clean, but it’s probably good for me to have a little break. I might even be able to lift a full glass of water by tomorrow, which would be such a relief! At least I'm finally coherent enough to write a little bit - phew!