Urgent Care in the ER
anatomy lessons
I couldn’t write about this till now, because it freaked me out so much when it happened. Even now I think about it every time I sit down to eat.
It starts out like a typical ER Saturday Afternoon Shift
- nightmare waiting room
- all beds are filled
- labs are piling up
In Trauma, Bed 8, this pretty New York Model (you know I can’t say who) is really having a tough time of it. She’s been there for 14 hours with what she thinks is Acid Reflux (because she can’t keep anything down, not even a sip of water). She’s all nervous, because she’s got a wardrobe fitting scheduled in a few hours for a huge commercial, due to shoot Monday.
By the time I get there, Dr. A is realizing:
It’s NOT gonna be a quick fix after all.
The medicine won’t stay down and the morphine drip is doing nothing for the pain.
Apparently Dr. A really tried to get her “in and out” so she wouldn’t miss her fitting, but now hours later, things aren’t looking good. I tell her I’ll call the Wardrobe Department and explain that she’s in the ER. But she’s all worried it’ll sound like she’s Lindsay or Paris (which I totally get). So I tell her I’ll be her “Mom” and say she’s in some tests that are taking longer than expected.
When I get back from making the call, Dr. A tells me she’s getting a GI scan because even though it’s really rare that someone wouldn’t know she has food stuck, there’s a small chance that she does. So he ordered the test, just to be safe. I tell him I’ll go keep her company and he says–
That’s really sweet.
(ahhhh, he’s noticing…)
I walk in just as the young COCKY Radiologist is telling her it’s ridiculous that she’s going through this test, that Dr. A’s overreacting and that the test will be really uncomfortable. Nice right? Like she really needs to hear that. So I go out in the hallway when they do the radiation part and when I come back in, the Radiologist is caught with his tale between his legs —
OMG! Right there on the X-Ray screen is an obstruction in the Model’s esophagus, blocking the opening to the stomach.
The Model and I totally bond at this moment. After all we’re both crushing on the Awesome Dr. A. Plus we both agree that the Radiologist is an Asshole!
By now, my shift is over, but no way am I leaving her to go to her Emergency Endoscopy alone. She needs me! She’s here alone on business and her family is three thousand miles away!
So I go hang with her in pre-op and I wait for her to get through the procedure and I stay with her in Recovery till I know she’s going to be fine.
Listen to this — the obstruction in her esophagus was a:
BIG BITE OF STEAK that got stuck on the way down!
Freaky right? It could happen to any of us. Yikes!
Luckily she got to go to the rescheduled fitting on Sunday (thanks to my excellent acting) and she got to shoot the commercial Monday as planned. After she got back to New York, she sent me flowers with the sweetest note.
If either of us is ever brave enough to go into a Steak House, I’m pretty positive we’ll think of each other when when we do.
No matter what, I’m sure we’ll be chewing our food, really well. Obvi.
Ever had anything like this happen to you? Know anyone who has? Share in the comments.
6 responses to “Urgent Care in the ER”
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I think I’ll starve from now on…it’s always a concern of mine and i freak when ever i’m watching my kids eat….i’m very aware of the dangers…it’s scary…maybe it should have been made bigger…(our openings that is)! Glad she’s alright and flowers were sweet:)
.-= Check out Vic´s latest: What Do You Think =-.
Since you’re a mom it must be super scary with all there is to worry about. I think in this case, she was rushing and at a party (it was an appetizer -apparently the only thing she ate that night). So many accidents happen when we’re rushing and we all do it because life can be OVERWHELMING at times, right?
What the– and this while time she didn’t choke? Amazing.
Chewing is definitely in my eating regimen from here on in.
.-= Check out Nicopolitan´s latest: Hello Is This Thing On =-.
It was really strange. She could talk, but she was in pain. Still, she didn’t know she had anything stuck there. She just couldn’t drink or eat. It’s good to have a smart doc around when you need one. That’s for sure!
I did that once with a piece of meat and it took a while for it to go down. It was kinda scary not being able to breathe.
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The weird part was that she could actually talk and breathe, but she couldn’t keep anything down. You must’ve been really scared when it happened to you. We’re all kind of fragile, which is scary when you think about it.