Four

Last week marked my fourth hospital visit this year. I noticed changes in my urine, and felt out of it, and had an abnormal temp. Called my doctor early Monday morning in hopes of getting an office visit with him, but instead was politely told by the nurse to go to the ED, which is in the same healthcare system as my doc. My doc and the colleagues from his practice do daily rounds at that hospital, so with any visit, if need be, they can consult almost immediately.

Lucky for me, it's new resident season, and I had the joys of having a brand new shiny doctor, who confused autoimmune hepatitis with hepatitis C more than once. Don't get me wrong, I have many friends and colleagues that are physician, and typically have the utmost respect, but if you want to work in an ED, be sure to know the difference between viral and autoimmune diseases.

She ordered an ultrasound, for gallstones, even though I told her numerous times I had my gallbladder removed, and imaging done to ensure I had no stones in bile ducts previously. The ultrasound, showed an enlarged heterozygous liver, indicative of liver disease. No surprise there. She ordered only a basic hepatic panel and CBC and let me go after filling me 2000ml of fluid.

Unfortunately, I had missed the rounds of the liver team at this point, and was told that I was merely dehydrated and to follow up with my liver doc as scheduled, and get blood work again this week. My LFTs are still climbing back up, even with the increase of azathioprine. I'm anxious to see the results this week. I also was frustrated at her telling me that I need to drink more water. I have Crohn's disease. I can drink a gallon of water a day and still be dehydrated and it's so incredibly difficult to stay hydrated. I left upset, and frustrated and just done.

This incident is why I hate going to the ED/ the hospital. I spent over 8 hours in a gown in an uncomfortable bed, only to be told, follow up with your main doc. Back in March, while in severe pain, when my gallbladder wasn't functioning- I was told to follow up with my primary doc. I feel that having such a rare combo of diseases, or hell having either one, is typically way more complicated than what a typical ED doc can handle. It's why we see specialists in the first place. The ED is one of the worst places to get care for chronic diseases, yet any times we are forced to go there when our docs are not available. My friends and family sometimes insist for me to go when I don't feel well, or symptoms are amiss. I wish it was as simple as walking into the ED and having a medical problem solved, but unfortunately, it's rarely the case. It's frustrating, painful and wasteful in my opinion, and it really reiterates my dislike of rushing to the ED to get checked out.