E.R.
"You really don't know when you wake up in the morning what's in store for you", my husband reflected Tuesday night around midnight. "My thoughts exactly", I replied, as we sat in a hotel room in Duluth, Georgia trying to recover from the nightmare of the past 9 hours in the emergency room in Kennesaw, Georgia.What started as the flu and sinus problems turned into severe headaches for my husband over the course of the last two weeks. I'd given him everything under the sun in an effort to lessen the pain he felt.
I figured joining me in Atlanta for my weekend conference could be just the thing he needed to relax and get some work done with the laptop while I conferenced during the day. But by Tuesday at 3:00 when we went to leave, he was in intense pain. I wondered if he was being wimpy. But when he began shaking in the passenger's side of the car, ice to his forehead, and tears streaming down his cheeks, I knew he wasn't being melodramatic. And I was really afraid.
I had no idea of where to go, so I pulled off I-75 and saw a Kaiser Permanente building. We arrived only to find out they treated children - but they took a look at my husband and urged us to go to the nearest E.R. We had to go back south, to Kennesaw.
By the time we arrived, he could barely speak. He couldn't bear the light, and he was still in tears. The staff put us in a back hallway where he could sit in a recliner in the dark. I was scared there was something more serious than just a bad headache. He was finally seen by the doctor around 8pm, and given 2 shots (in the boo-oo-ty) that seemed to do the trick. He was then wheeled back for a CT scan, and the diagnosis - sinusitis. Really? Could sinusitis really be THAT bad - enough to make a grown man cry? Apparently so. Apparently all 3 sinus locations in his head were badly infected, and he may eventually need to have surgery if antibiotics don't work (and so far, they haven't done much good).
So, I am relieved, back at home, and thankful for the fine folks in the Kennesaw E.R. who put up with all those people sick and in pain every day at work, and are still kind.
My husband is convalescing at home with my sleep mask on to block out the light (it reads "Doll Face" and is hot pink - a real sight to behold) and a "Be Kool" cold pac stuck to his forehead, and lots of hydrocodone. I hope he is better soon. I've had enough E.R. for a while.
posted by No Longer In Crisis @ 3/16/2005 04:03:00 PM
<< Home