I was at Bible study when I got the text from Princess Hotcakes. I grabbed the phone out of my pocket and took a gander, though I usually don’t do so, especially when I’m with the boys. Of course now I’m glad I did.
It read.
“We’re going to urgent care off wilshire and 23rd my face and arm keep going numb”
Umm….huh?
Well that was scary. I gave PHC a call and she was the opposite of happy and carefree. I knew that she had a headache most of the day, but then she described to me that she lost vision in one eye for a bit and wasn’t able to comprehend words, nor speak intelligibly for a bit.
When I got to the urgent care her and L (her roommate) were waiting outside, it seems that the Urgent care had a hour wait and suggested we go to the emergency room. Little did I know that “emergency” rooms are not known for their expediency.
We rolled into the ER and my annoyance factor shot up to about 1,000 on a 1 to 10 scale. In my way of thinking when you go to the “ER” it’s because…well…IT’S AN EMERGENCY! So when they had her sit down and fill out a bevy of forms (which included such enormous time wasting information gathering like “what’s your religion”) while I’m wondering if my darling is going to have a brain aneurism while they ask her job title, and photocopy her license. UGH
There was a moment that I began to think that socialized medicine would be better (then I realized that would have probably doubled the time).
After about an hour we got in to see the nurse who took her blood pressure, asked her some history and was generally about as pleasant as Stalin.
Once that was done we moved to “fast track”. Yes FAST TRACK. Oh hooray, after two hours we are going to another waiting room ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
We waited there for a couple of minutes and then put into a little room where we waited for the doctor. She came in and I feel like a castaway that finally saw a boat after several years deserted on an island. She seemed to be the only human within miles and was kind and reassuring.
The Doc did some stuff and told us she needed to go get a Neural consult but it should all be good.
next thing you know flunky number 4 came in to take us up to get Amy a CAT scan. He said such reassuring things as
“Have you hit your head recently?”
Because you know, when you are suddenly whisked away to a CAT scan, not knowing you would be, you think “oh all is well” and then have the added “Oh you might have heart your brain on the inside”, well that’ll make you as peaceful as a Little House on the Prairie re run.
grRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrr.
That was done rather quickly and we went back to the little room from whence we came. Soon the Doc came in and said that she was just waiting for the CAT scan films and she KNEW that it would be negative and we’d be out of here.
About a half hour later she came in and told us that her CAT scan came back normal and that Princess Hotcakes had a complicated Migraine (probably compounding every minute stuck in that hole).
So a few drugs ingested later, we left to grab a midnight snack at IN N OUT before depositing the lovely girl off at home.
Wow I’m tired, but thankful prayers were answered and she is okay. It’s always interesting going through EMERGENCIES with someone you care so deeply for. A thousand thoughts race through your mind, some good, some bad. But I’m thankful for God and friends that care, and well, that I could be there to go through it with her.
So she is fine, at this moment resting at home tired and groggy.
I think I’m going to go drink a redbull.
