My First Visits - A Trip to Urgent Care & Then ER
Thursday, February 27th, 2020
I had this Thursday off and my bloated belly was really making me self-conscious - on top of all the other weird things I was feeling. I woke up that morning and decided to just go to Urgent Care and see what they had to say.
The doctor there did a full medical history which is always very short with me. I've always been very healthy with no medical problems. The most excitement I had ever had was an appendectomy in high school and two c-sections. She pushed on my stomach and agreed that it was a little odd how my belly looked and that it could possibly be gas or fluid but it was hard to say. She said she would take a urine sample and blood sample to run some labs. The urine sample did show white blood cells and blood in my urine which points to a UTI, but I didn't have any other symptoms so I refused any meds for that. She said she would call with results in the next couple of days from the blood test.
Friday, February 28th, 2020
The next morning I had to work at the dental office. I have a 2019 Kia Optima that tells you when you are swerving and recommends when to "consider taking a break" and has a little symbol of a coffee cup. I wasn't feeling that well already and remember feeling not... right. I was driving on the freeway and my car told me twice to consider pulling over. I simply could not drive in a straight line. I was focusing with all my energy and had both hands firmly gripped on the wheel and I still felt like I couldn't keep the wheel straight. Luckily, I made it to work safely.
That was the first time that my Doctor I work for mentioned that I did not look well - even though I had told my coworkers for the past few weeks that I didn't feel well. Now it was visible on my face - in my eyes. I made it through the day and right as I was walking out the door to go home, I got a call from someone at Urgent Care. All they said was I had very high liver enzymes and needed to go to the ER. I wasn't really sure what to say or what questions to ask but I called my husband and said I needed to go to the ER and was going to stop by and grab him on the way.
By that time I felt totally normal as we walked into the ER. I talked to the lady at the reception desk and told her that Urgent Care should be sending over labs that they drew the day before. She said she found them and eventually I got checked in. The doctor in the ER knew nothing about my labs or anything so again, I went over my symptoms, gave a full medical history, he asked for the same two tests - urine and blood test. He looked over the lab results and recommended he do an ultrasound. After looking around he said my gallbladder was full of gallstones and I would need an emergency gallbladder removal surgery. I had no insurance and was panicking. He said I couldn't even go home to think about it or come back. I had to do it right then and there.
To confirm the diagnosis, they sent me to another room to get a more extensive ultrasound. I was there for 20 minutes for imaging and then taken back to the room. The gal came back in and said the radiologist who was viewing my ultrasound wanted more imaging of my liver and took me back to her room. Another 15 minutes of imaging and she was done. The ER doctor said it wasn't my gallbladder after all. There were no stones. It was my liver he was seeing. Again, they said I had high liver enzymes, there was blood and white blood cells in my urine and sent me out the door with a prescription for an antibiotic for a UTI and was told to set an appointment up with my primary care physician (which I told them I didn't have one).
I went home very discourage and confused as to what just happened. I now had a huge ER bill with no answers and no doctor. I called around to look into Medicaid (made too much money), Christian Health Services (high deductibles and won't pay for pre-existing conditions), and finally decided to call Terry Reilly (sliding scale medical treatment). I made an appointment with Terry Reilly for March 13th... the soonest they could get me in.
With little else that I could do besides wait, I manage to work all the next week - the first week of March. That's when everything started to go downhill..... and fast.
I had this Thursday off and my bloated belly was really making me self-conscious - on top of all the other weird things I was feeling. I woke up that morning and decided to just go to Urgent Care and see what they had to say.The doctor there did a full medical history which is always very short with me. I've always been very healthy with no medical problems. The most excitement I had ever had was an appendectomy in high school and two c-sections. She pushed on my stomach and agreed that it was a little odd how my belly looked and that it could possibly be gas or fluid but it was hard to say. She said she would take a urine sample and blood sample to run some labs. The urine sample did show white blood cells and blood in my urine which points to a UTI, but I didn't have any other symptoms so I refused any meds for that. She said she would call with results in the next couple of days from the blood test.
Friday, February 28th, 2020
The next morning I had to work at the dental office. I have a 2019 Kia Optima that tells you when you are swerving and recommends when to "consider taking a break" and has a little symbol of a coffee cup. I wasn't feeling that well already and remember feeling not... right. I was driving on the freeway and my car told me twice to consider pulling over. I simply could not drive in a straight line. I was focusing with all my energy and had both hands firmly gripped on the wheel and I still felt like I couldn't keep the wheel straight. Luckily, I made it to work safely.
That was the first time that my Doctor I work for mentioned that I did not look well - even though I had told my coworkers for the past few weeks that I didn't feel well. Now it was visible on my face - in my eyes. I made it through the day and right as I was walking out the door to go home, I got a call from someone at Urgent Care. All they said was I had very high liver enzymes and needed to go to the ER. I wasn't really sure what to say or what questions to ask but I called my husband and said I needed to go to the ER and was going to stop by and grab him on the way.
By that time I felt totally normal as we walked into the ER. I talked to the lady at the reception desk and told her that Urgent Care should be sending over labs that they drew the day before. She said she found them and eventually I got checked in. The doctor in the ER knew nothing about my labs or anything so again, I went over my symptoms, gave a full medical history, he asked for the same two tests - urine and blood test. He looked over the lab results and recommended he do an ultrasound. After looking around he said my gallbladder was full of gallstones and I would need an emergency gallbladder removal surgery. I had no insurance and was panicking. He said I couldn't even go home to think about it or come back. I had to do it right then and there.
To confirm the diagnosis, they sent me to another room to get a more extensive ultrasound. I was there for 20 minutes for imaging and then taken back to the room. The gal came back in and said the radiologist who was viewing my ultrasound wanted more imaging of my liver and took me back to her room. Another 15 minutes of imaging and she was done. The ER doctor said it wasn't my gallbladder after all. There were no stones. It was my liver he was seeing. Again, they said I had high liver enzymes, there was blood and white blood cells in my urine and sent me out the door with a prescription for an antibiotic for a UTI and was told to set an appointment up with my primary care physician (which I told them I didn't have one).
I went home very discourage and confused as to what just happened. I now had a huge ER bill with no answers and no doctor. I called around to look into Medicaid (made too much money), Christian Health Services (high deductibles and won't pay for pre-existing conditions), and finally decided to call Terry Reilly (sliding scale medical treatment). I made an appointment with Terry Reilly for March 13th... the soonest they could get me in.
With little else that I could do besides wait, I manage to work all the next week - the first week of March. That's when everything started to go downhill..... and fast.
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