Re: adhesion pain in the ER: a nurse's opinion

From: Jim (jlynch@udel.edu)
Mon Jun 25 13:07:17 2001


At Tue, 19 Jun 2001, anonymous wrote:

After just reading this email, I cannot tell you how much I would like to see this "medical professional" deal with the terrible pain that adhesions cause for even just ONE day. Something tells me he/she would be singing an entirely different song. This nurse is the embodiment of misinformation about our affliction.

I agree that while adhesions in of themselves do not hurt, it is what they do to the surrounding tissues and organs that cripples us. If your organs/bowels are now misshapened due to adhesions and the slightest movement feels like you are ripping inside, then yes, you DO need pain medication. I now refuse to go to ERs due to just the attitude conveyed in this person's email. Believe me, the last thing I would do is go willingly to the ER just to sit there for 10 hours, have tests show nothing, and then be treated like a leper.

I was going to respond personally to this indivdual with a very pointed, documented response, but he/she doesn't even have the balls to put his/her email address.

While I think a bout of adhesions would surely change this nurse's opinions, I wouldn't wish them on ANYONE.

>
>I found this site by accident and have read so many stories of
>"mistreatment" by nurses and doctors in ERs when you come to us in pain.
>I want you to think of it in our terms.
>
>You wander in day and night, most of you walking on your own, in no
>apparent acute distress.
>You register and wait, telling everyone in the busy waiting area that
>you MUST be seen immediately, "because you hurt so badly."
>You take up valuable space in busy trauma and emergency medicine
>departments complaining of terrible pain in your abdomen, and you tell
>us you must get pain meds for the pain.
>
>One a pain assessment scale of 1-10, virtually all of you cite between
>an 8 and a ten. But you aren't perspiring, crying, vomiting, bloated,
>or acting like you are acutely ill.
>
>Many of you refuse to have x-rays, scans and other diagnostic studies
>because you say "all those tests have been done a million times and they
>are always negative" but you demand pain medication!!
>You tell us you have adhesions but adhesions are nothing more than
>layers of scarring that have no nerve endings. How can this cause pain?
>
>I am told "I need 100 mg of Demerol, IM " by someone who refuses to
>allow us to examine them, and when we refuse to give you narcotics you
>become upset.
>
>What do you want from us? If every drug addict walked into my ER and did
>what many of you do, they'd be booted out by Security but for some
>reason, you feel we are treating you unfairly??
>
>Maybe instead of asking for pain medication, you might benefit from
>talking to a therapist who can help you deal with your "pain"?
>
>If we do an MRI or flat plate and see something suspicious., of course
>you'll be treated aggressively, and receive sympathy and medication.
>Otherwise, please understand, we are not a narcotic dispensing
>department for everyone with indigestion or cramps.


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