Emergency Room

I spent the night, well not all of it, just from 1:00 a.m. to 5:30 a.m at the local hospital emergency room. My mom was running a fever of 103.5, and after much cajolling, I was able to convince her that she needed to go to the hospital. At 12:30, I was able to convince her, at 5:00 in the afternoon, she didn't want to go. LOL!

They undertook a number of tests and found that she has a very bad bladder and kidney infection. She was put on I.V antibiotics about 2:00 in the morning, and we had to wait until the medication entered her body.

While we waited, I realized that the acoustics in the emergency room are excellent. Actually a little too excellent, as you can hear the conversations from behind their respective curtains, of the other patients and family/friends, even when they whisper. At 2:00 in the morning, waiting around the emergency room, it was something to do...I know I shouldn't have been eaves dropping, but like I said the acoustics were a little too good, and there was nothing else to do, except watch, count and time the I.V drips --which I also did. Lol!

The girl across from us had had difficulties with her parents, and was debating whether or not to call them and let them know she was having minor health issues. Her friend, (and I, since I could hear everything) were kept entertained by the stories of her assorted family members. She was sent home around the same time we were, with a bladder infection diagnosis.

Another one, right next to us, was named Diane, and was brought in by the paramedics, because she had had too much to drink, and her vital signs weren't too good. She was placed on oxygen, with much prompting from the nurses to get her to move in the proper position. When she finally woke up, she didn't know where she was, and tried to get out of bed, and fell. The nurses ran to pick her up, and admonish her that no she couldn't get out of bed to go outside and smoke. She was still there when we left.

Two beds over, was Jane and her husband/boyfriend John. Jane came in as she was having difficulty urinating. After the initial visit and blook work, the doctor came in to tell Jane that he wanted to talk to her in private. She insisted no, that anything he had to say, could be said in fromt of John. The doctor persisted, that he wanted to do a pelvic exam in private, but no Jane needed John there to hold her hand. John stayed, and the doc performed a very painful examination, after which he said, he couldn't be sure until the cultures came back in a few days, but that he was fairly certain it was a sexually transmitted disease. This caused both Jane and John much upset, with both of them professing to themselves and to the doctor, that his diagnosis would surely be proven wrong.
They were still there when we left.

It's now Day 2 of the meds, and things seem to be progressing slowly better from an infection standpoint. The pain however, continues to be a major issue, and has taken on a life of its own, and fills her every waking thought...and by default mine. Of course, the more she thinks about it, the worse it gets.