What can you accomplish in 11 hours?

Yesterday God's grace and mercy was apparent all day!



I finally was fed up with waiting for Medicare so i went into the ER. Yes, it's true. My relationship with Arnie is getting stale.
Apparently one who has Medi-cal (such as myself) can get a referral to see a specialist who will take Medi-cal if one goes through the ER.

If you have ever been to the ER you know the process: you go in, register with the disgruntled nurse, wait 4 to 6 hours before you see a disgruntled doctor, wait another 1 to 2 hours for labs only to get a referral to another doctor that doesn't have an appointment available for 4 to 6 months.



After a little breath prayer, this was my day:



7:15 am Arrive at the ER. Sign in. Register with disgruntled nurse. Sit in waiting room.

I sat down with my iPod, books, and a snack completely resigned to the fact that i wouldn't hear my named called for some time.



7:25am Name is called. Disgruntled nurse (who is now very pleasant and sympathetic) sends me to have my vitals checked.

The nurse that checked my vitals was so sweet and totally won me over when she said, "Holy Potatoes!" after seeing the list of my symptoms. She told me it would be pointless for me to stay in the ER (waiting forever) when all i needed was a referral. She made me an appointment in Urgent Care at 8:30am.



7:50am Register in Urgent Care.


8:30am Check in with disgruntled Urgent Care nurse.

8:45 am Name called to see the doctor.

I was called into an exam room with an internal medicine doctor. He talked to me for a moment, left the room, came back to do an examination, left the room again to talk to his supervisor and then came back to send me to have blood drawn.

9:45am Have 8 viles of blood drawn.

The nurse (Annette) that took my blood was so sweet! She must have kids because she was talking to me like i was 5 years old. She was very careful and gentle (needles are #1 on my ewww list) and talked to me the whole time.

10:00am Back to the waiting room.

10:15am Name called again. Back to the exam room.

The doctor did a few more tests on me, going in and out of the room for 45 minutes. He came back in and explained how the referral process worked but then surprised me. He said the neurologists come in at 1pm. He had spoken to his supervisor and was able to get me an appointment at 1pm! "I could get you in today but you'd have to wait 2 hours until they come in. We can always schedule you an appointment but it will be in 3 to 6 months."
Hmmm, lets see... wait 2 hours or 6 months... i'll take 2 hours please!

11:00am Sent to the waiting room, again.

11:15pm Snuck out for a snack and a couple phone calls.

12:00pm Checked back in with the now pleasant nurse. Waiting...

1:15pm Waiting...

2:15pm Waiting...

3:15pm Waiting...

3:30pm Called into exam room. Saw Neurologist #1. Full exam and questioning.

I had forgotten that when a doctor says 2 hours it actually means 4 hours... ah well, i got some crazy reading done!

4:10pm Back to waiting room.

4:35pm Doctor checks past testing.

Ya, she actually came out to the waiting room to tell me she was going to look at my past MRIs and blood work in another office and would be right back!

5:20pm Called back to exam room.

(Again, 'right back' means 45minutes) This time there were two neurologists! The new guy did the same examinations the previous two doctors did, then began questioning. At one point he asked me if i see or hear things that aren't there. Naive as i am i said, "i do get a ringing in my ears and spotted or blurred vision."
He then asked, "Do you hear voices that tell you to do things?"
"Oh! (laughs to self) No." I didn't realize he wanted to know if i was schizophrenic!

5:45pm Sent to Lab for 4 more viles of blood work.

The one and only person that was rough with me was this lady. She stuck me, drew but then yanked that needle out like she was tugging off a loose string from the hem of her shirt! My left arm has but a small red dot; right arm has a puffy purple mound the size of a dime.

6:30pm Discharged. Hallelujah!

So i spent 11 hours in the hospital, everyone was so nice and gentle with me (if not right off the bat, within minutes of talking with the individual). I seriously received the royal treatment (for the ER anyway). I have been waiting 4 months to see a specialist and yesterday i saw two! And to think i almost didn't go.
What normally would take 6 months, took 11 hours! What can you accomplish in 11 hours? Absolutely nothing! But God can accomplish miracles! Ya that's right, my Father the Creator of the universe. Take that Arnie!