FRIDAY JULY 3 4:08 A.M.- JUST BACK FROM THE ER

Well, yesterday was sure one of those days.

I woke up in the morning with my whole spine aching like crazy and a feeling like I had been punched in the solar plexus.

I took some Tylenol and went back to bed and in a couple of hours felt somewhat better.

This didn't last, though-- the pains kept coming back in waves and I tried various self-medicating things such as Pepto Bismol (which helped the stomach pain a lot)

Worried I was going to miss my three p.m. appointment more than anything

Called the clinic and was told someone would call back....\Finally got the doctor's nurse whose main concern was that I had taken Pepto Bismol which she said was very bad for you ( I wasnt going to argue that but I know it is the one thing that puts and end to a severe stomach ache FAST).

She said she would try to have the doctor call me back but he was all booked up and there was no back up at the clinic for him.


Then I got to the subway station and felt sick as a dog and went home and called and cancelled out the meeting.

Then I went back to a bed of extreme pain..until my doctor called. This was about 5 p.m. He said he thought the best thing to do was to go to Weill Cornell Urgent Care and seek emergency treatment.

The first part of this went fine, then they decided I had to have all these tests.. the doctor was worried something had happened to my heart.

I was left waiting in a room with an unfortunate Chinese man and his wife ( he has a real heart problem) and then was left ignored for almost three hours..(I fell asleep waiting)

I was freezing and wanted a blanket and went out to find out what was going on. All I met was blank and stares and this one woman head nurse type who just kept shouting at me to go back to my room.

In turn I demanded to know the name of the doctor ( I had never noticed and she had never told me) and I kind of lost my temper a little.

A nurse I had spoken to earlier , Suzanne, came to the room and apologized and got me some ice water and then stuck another needle in my arm like a spigot for more blood work..

Eventually I saw the doctor again, who said she was releasing me.

Relations with the staff became more cordial and I chatted with them before I left.  The nurse I had had trouble with got more friendly and told me the first time she ever had been to an ER was on the Fourth of July.,..

Home now but exhausted. Nobody knows why my back was killing me the way it was. I must have done something to it/

Just want to rest now and hope I have no relapse.

LK