a night in the er

We're home after an extruciating night in the emergency room. Our time there was both tense and frustrating as more than one doctor tried to figure out what was going on and what to do to address HotMomma's extremely painful condition.

Before describing it, here's a little history. On New Year's Day in 2006, HotMomma was about 26 weeks pregnant with Z-Dub. Just before midnight she woke up and couldn't breathe because there was a tremendous pain radiating from her lower chest. It was so bad that she couldn't move and could only take short shallow breaths. At the time we were living in the Phoenix area, so I rushed her to Banner Desert Hospital in Mesa where, despite the busy waiting room, she was quickly rushed in and a series of tests were performed. The doctor told us that it could be one of two things: a blood clot in her lungs or pleurisy, which is an inflammation of the lining of the rib cage. They ruled out the blood clot and she was administered IV fluids and morphine for the pain. Yes, morphine. It was that painful.

Fast forward to last night. HotMomma, who coincidently is 26 weeks pregnant with The Fetus, woke up with the same painful symptoms. We debated for a moment, and because there was little that could be done to quell the pain at home, we decided the best course of action was a visit to the emergency room.

While our visit to the emergency room at Banner Desert Hospital was professional and quick, our visit to the emergency room at a hospital here in Henderson was met with confusion, frustration and disappointment. I understand the docs were trying their best, but they really didn't listen to us as we explained the symptoms and past experience. Instead, over a long eight hours they performed a battery of tests to rule out a blood clot, gall stones, and heart problems. What compounded the situation was the fact that when we arrived in the ER, the folks at the desk refused to see us and made us walk to the Labor and Delivery department in a different area of the hospital. Once we arrived there, they refused to see us and sent us back down to the ER. All the while, HotMomma couldn't breathe. Also, our original nurse was not very nice and the room we were given was DIRTY and freezing ass cold. I shivered the whole time. Despite the seriousness of the situation, I joked that I'll probably need a bed myself by morning as I'll probably contract pnuemonia.

I can understand the need the blood tests, x-rays, ultrasounds of the legs, ultrasound of the gall bladder, EKG, etc. We definitely need to rule out potentially life threatening conditions. A blood clot is the leading cause of death during pregnancy. Only about one percent of pregnant women develop the condition though, so it's rare as well. The tests performed did not rule it out, so the doctors scheduled a CAT scan, but actually going through with it was a concern. The high dose of radiation and the dye injected into the body both pose a risk to The Fetus. However, in a life and death situation, you take that risk.

After consulting with several doctors, including HotMomma's OB doctor, the CAT scan was ultimately cancelled. With the symptoms subsiding and the other tests coming up negative for a blood clot, they decided that the risk outweigh the potential negative results. Instead we left with no diagnosis or treatment. Not even pleurisy, which I still believe is the proper diagnosis. They said it could probably be just indigestion. WTF? It was definitely not indigestion.

The docs did however find something abnormal, but probably not too serious, with HotMomma's heart. She will be visiting a cardiologist later this week for an Echocardiogram to determine if it's anything that needs attention. Her OB said that what the x-ray shows is actually fairly common during pregnancy and it's probably nothing to worry about, but it's worth a check.

So there you have it. A night in the emergency room with no conclusive diagnosis. Luckily HotMomma is feeling better this morning. We arrived home at around 10 a.m. and with Z-Dub at his grandma's house, we were able to get some much needed sleep. Hopefully HotMomma's condition will continue to improve so we don't have a repeat of the horrible pain tonight.

Thank you to everyone who left comments of concern and prayers on my previous post. We appreciate it greatly.