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Yesterday, we ended up having to go @MethodistHosp Willobrook's ER due to Nicci suddenly experiencing sharp and continuous right side pain. The result after ten hours was no clear diagnosis and the hospital calling an officer to the room because Nicci asked a question
I'm fully aware of how hard a hospital staff must work under regular situations, and clearly these last few months have been anything but normal for them. We never raised our voices or were confrontational and the staff gave no prior indication they felt we were out of line.
Nicci wanted to know more about the course of treatment. Why? Because there's a history of medical providers ignoring black women's pain levels, often to detriment effects. Additionally, she kept a record of almost every interaction, which at first I felt like it wasn't needed.
I was clearly wrong.
The ER ran tests on her and I sat helpless as my wife screamed and cried in pain. They also gave her morphine...no change. She was hurting. After the last test, the doctor came for the first time and asked her to repeat what she was experiencing.
The ER ran tests on her and I sat helpless as my wife screamed and cried in pain. They also gave her morphine...no change. She was hurting. After the last test, the doctor came for the first time and asked her to repeat what she was experiencing.
Said all tests came back negative, and that hopefully the pain will go away and if it doesn't come back. The interaction lasted 2 minutes and then she was out of the room. Which again, I know they must be rushed and have many patients to see. BUT Nicci still had questions.
A nurse comes in a bit afterwards and says 'Okay, so did the doctor tell you *THING THAT THE DOCTOR DID NOT ADVISE US OF*. We say no. We ask if we can speak to the doctor, as we have questions about this and the medication prescribed to Nicci.
We're told the doctor is on a break. We say we'll wait. And (This is the important part). The nurse says "okay, I'll let her know." This was recorded on video. It was cordial, quick. At no point did we say we refused to leave. At no point were we told we had to leave.
Next thing, the @MethodistHosp Willowbrook (because they should be tagged again) in charge nurse comes in with the officer you see in the picture. Says she's the in charge nurse, she's reviewed our file, and the doctor will NOT talk to us (wait till the twist ending coming up)
BTW- She's here with the officer and two other nurses we never interacted with. I ask why the officer is there and she says because we refuse to leave. Keep in mind that in the ten hours we were there, the nurses saw my wife barely able to stand on her own, hear her shouts of
pain and saw her tears. But clearly @MethodistHosp Willowbrook felt the need to escalate things to the level they did. We go back and forth, Nicci & I being fully aware of the officer with a gun hovering at the edge of the room. We explain that all we want is to ask questions
about the medication prescribed. They finally bring the doctor back into the room. She spends five more minutes going over Nicci's concerns, details the reason for the medication and why the thing the nurse mentioned but she didn't happened. It was what we wanted and needed.
At this point despite the fact they brought an officer Nicci's voice remains calm. I don't know how. I know she wasn't feeling calm. She quietly asks why this was escalated to this point and they all try to come up with excuses "Well someone said you wouldn't leave."
Nicci sighs. She is in pain & didn't want to go to the hospital. We haven't left the house for months, but we both felt it had to be done. She says. "I can't believe in 2020 when a black woman had questions about her care this is what she is met with. I came here seeking help."
At this point they all stammer out a variety of excuses. Dr. Karen says the nurse practioner told her wrong, the charge nurse says the other nurse told her wrong, and they continue babble excuses and things said to try to make up for the fact that they know they were wrong.
We left the hospital then. BUT THE STORY IS NOT OVER FOLKS.
Shortly after we got home, the doctor started calling Nicci. Not the hospital, the doctor, leaving a voice mail about how she wanted to discuss "how things went wrong". We ignored it and took a long needed sleep.
Shortly after we got home, the doctor started calling Nicci. Not the hospital, the doctor, leaving a voice mail about how she wanted to discuss "how things went wrong". We ignored it and took a long needed sleep.
Only to be awaken around midnight by a loud knock in our door. It's the sheriff department. Because the doctor took it upon herself to call in a welfare check on Nicci and say she needed to go back to the ER. Sheriff leaves and I call the doctor back, who had called yet again.
I stop her from talking about the, let's call it what it is, racism and discrimination we'd experienced earlier and just please advise why she is now saying to return to the E.R.
She tells us that vitals were NOT run by the ER prior to Nicci being discharged, and she has concerns about that as well as other things she's now seeing she 'missed' in her review of the chart. Says if we come back she'll be admitted.
Which would have been info good to hear 12 hourish agos. The doctor alludes to appendicitis, but doesn't outwardly say. She says if we return she'll admit my wife and then they can discuss things further.
Nicci is feeling slightly better, so we're currently waiting to see if we need to go to a (different) provider. In the meantime, we're still trying to make sense of all of these. As with almost everyone, going to the hospital in the first place was not an easy choice, even in
pain she was in. Nicci had concerns (valid ones as it turns out) about the type of treatment, not to mention worries about going out during this pandemic. And my work with medical bills has made me aware of the cost of this type of visit-even with insurance. So we were already
stressed and on edge. We didn't need this. We didn't need @MethodistHosp Willowbrook to see a woman in pain and decide that because she asked a question a police officer needed to be call. We didn't need a doctor dismissing her complaints only to then come back and say "oops,'.
We have medical providers in our family and appreciate the hard work, but this was an experience that many black women face, and I'm angry that my wife was in pain, but had to remain calm, quiet, and try to deal with racism and poor medical care. How does this get fixed?
