When my boyfriend said,"Let's go out tonight" I'm sure he wasn't thinking let's go out...to the ER. But that is exactly what happened this friday night. Ever since I injured my left foot and was left with a big hole on top of it, I've had to worry about it getting infected. I think it is.
I asked him to drive me to the ER and it being a Friday night, I knew we were in for a long wait. I originally injured it in August. The 14th to be exact. And it still has not healed. This is due to the fact that my feet keep swelling because my kidneys aren't functioning at 100%. So after the first ER visit when I got stitches, it was healing. Then my feet swelled and BAM! the wound reopened. And I was left with a giant hole in my foot. It won't heal also because I'm on Prednisone and that keeps it from healing normally. This sucks so bad. I can't wear normal shoes. But today I thought I should have it looked at. So I asked to be taken there for our date. He obliged but was not happy about it and let me know it every time he sighed so very loudly. I don't enjoy spending time in the ER either but I think that he thinks I do. I checked in and waited to be called. The nurse took my vitals and then I waited again, and waited, and waited. Apparently there were several gun shot victims in the trauma room. Okay, I can understand that that would be more important than my foot being infected but I was determined to stay and be seen by a doctor because as we all know, INFECTIONS KILL LUPUS PATIENTS. Not all of the time, but they do kill. They can kill. So I take these VERY seriously.
I sent my boyfriend to his car to nap because he kept nodding off next to me. Oh yeah, I was in pain by the way. All they offer is Tylenol until a doctor sees you. The pain was tolerable so I just popped a couple of Tramadol and continued waiting. My guy woke up and brought me some food to keep my energy up as I waited and waited. We'd arrived at 7 pm. It was now about midnight. I could have sent him home but I didn't want to be alone. So we waited and waited. Again he went to his car to nap and I stayed in the ER, waiting. I started nodding off and I actually napped right there in my wheelchair. I was exhausted. At 7 am, my guy went and got us breakfast. Okay. I'm beyond tired. I'm grouchy, cranky, moody, sleepy. And all that has been done for me is I was given Tylenol. As we chatted about what a great date we were having we realized it was past noon of Saturday. That's it. The only way that my feet would stop swelling up is if I kept them elevated...and here I was sitting in the wheelchair for 18 hours! My feet were so swollen I couldn't lay them flat on the ground. I could wait no more.
When I went to speak to the nurse about it I'm sure she thought I was being difficult and didn't want to wait my turn. BS. Waiting all that time was being detrimental to my health. Finally I said,"That is enough, we are going home." I could almost see my boyfriend jump for joy, for although he is as concerned about my health as I am, WAITING for 18 hours to never even having been seen by an MD is just ridiculous. So my foot is probably infected and I may have to return to the ER...but I can't wait anymore. I need to sleep. I need to elevate my feet. I need quiet and a massage on my lower back. What a date. Next time, I'll let him choose our destination.
