Disappointing experience AGAIN with an ER

[Jennasis]

Had a crazy day today. Needed to take DH to the ER for something I believed to be serious, and they once again pooh-poohed us and under diagnosed the problem. Not happy with what the ER did (they didn't really do ANYTHING...no tests...nadda. Just a script for pain meds and an antibiotic). I was not satisfied with their lax exam/attitude so made an appointment with our own doc later in the day, where our doc freaked out that the ER didn't do anything or seem to take the issue seriously. He Ordered bloodwork which confirmed the severity of the issue and we were sent immediately this afternoon to a surgeon, and then DH was admitted to the hospital (a better one than the one we initially went to) where he'll be staying for a few days for treatment.

This is now the 3rd time in recent memory where this ER has mis/under-diagnosed me or a family member. And other ER's have given us problems too (one missed two separate broken bones and another missed my cousin's pneumonia telling her she had a pulled muscle in her back!). What gives?? I kept trying to impress upon the ER doc how serious this was and how bad DH's symptoms were....even asked about bloodwork and tests and basically got told "if he's still bad in 24-48 hours we will refer you out..." Well if we'd let him go 24 hours he'd be in a whole world of trouble.

Grrr...I should send our doctor a gift basket! The surgeon who got us in so quickly too... I'm grateful I followed that nagging feeling in my gut and pushed to see our doc and not accept the ER's word as gospel. I guess I'm just venting, but the moral is to advocate for yourself and your loved ones. If something doesn't seem right then trust your gut!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I guess it is a really tough job working in the ER, but from what I have seen, they have not been very accurate. I have seen severe kidney infection diagnosed as the flu, MRSA diagnosed as a UTI ...a relative was having a heart attack and the ER doc thought it was probably kidney stones.


I don't want to make light of what they do. I know they are under a lot of pressure but wow. I swear I saw one google-ing stuff before.

 

[Tigerlulu]

Yep. Took a friend to the ER to have a doc tell her she had sore back muscles. When her urinalysis came back he said it was normal. Her dr office looked at the results the next day and said it was actually a severe UTI!! He had given her muscle relaxers!

I was in that same ER a few weeks later and that dr was there. I was counting my blessings when the door opened and our wonderful dr walked in. He has slipped up to the hospital to check on us. A big huge WHEW! Because we were there with the threat of appendicitis and surgery on my 7 yr old. And no way that man was touching my child!

 

[wilkeliza]

Took a friend to the ER and he sat there for hours and they kept saying he probably had kidney stones and it wasn't so bad he would pass them then could go home. My future mother-in-law came by to give us food and stuff and instantl knew our friend wasn't being treated right. We were in our early 20s and even though it wasn't her son she went into mama bear mode since his parents werr in California. By the time she got a doctor to use an ultrasound to confirm the kidney stone they found our he had a rapidly expanding apendix. He was admitted and scheduled for surgery the next day. Ater surgery he went into the ICU and was big watched for supsuce because he had a liter of puss inside his abdomen. It was a terrible experience.

My cousin also kept going to urgent care because she was tired all the time . They diagnosed her wth anemia since that is what the blood work showed. She kept coming back because nothing was working. After she passed out at work and they realized she had a lump on her neck they did a full body CT. Found out she had Stage 4 cancer.

Both stories make me sirously doubt ER/Urgent Care doctors.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Sorry for your experience.. that's awful. In my experience at the ER, they tended to over-test. I did have an incredibly rude nurse who basically accused me of lying, but at least they checked for everything.

I went to a walk-in urgent care a while back after having chest pain and shortness of breath. Because I'm in my 20's and have asthma he just figured it was that and gave me a breathing treatment and a Z-pack. Went to my cardiologist a few days later and he immediately admitted me to the hospital where I stayed for 3 nights as I had fluid around my heart and my lungs (fatal if left untreated). I'll never go to a walk-in clinic again.

 

[Lintasare]

I went to the ER once because a screen door had caught the back of my foot and left me with a 2.5 inch laceration. Luckily it wasn't busy so I was seen quickly but it went downhill after that. They never cleaned the wound properly just splashed some sterile saline on it. I should have gotten a tetanus shot but was denied when I asked and they did a very poor job of stitching it up. So poorly I have problems with the scar to this day, 9 and a half years later. Found out some of the scar tissue adhered to my Achilles tendon which causes me problems when I walk long distances. Unfortunately my doc does not want to do anything to revise the scar as it could damage my Achilles. Also on cold days the scar tissue contracts which pulls the surrounding skin, that is very painful.

My foot hurt so bad the next day I went to Urgent Care and they found it was getting infected. You could smell it and I was told by the ER nurse not to remove the bandage for 48 hours. Good thing I ignored the ER's instructions or it could have been bad. Got myself some heavy duty antibiotics and new dressings.

Then the ER tried to send me to collections 2 weeks later because they said my insurance never paid. Come to find out they never billed my insurance and when they did they billed for all kinds of things like labs I never got and drugs the docs never administered. Fought those claims for months.

I got to admit, I have gotten better service at the ER in the local VA hospital than I did from the local medical group. That is saying something.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

This is a terrible sad story but it is true. My friend was visiting her mother with her new (five week old) baby when the baby got sick: fever, lethargy, weak suck. My friend took her to the ER and the doctor there gave her a very cursory examination and asked her how she was feeding the baby. She said she was breastfeeding, and the doctor said that was the problem - baby was hungry and needed formula. My friend said no, that wasn't it, the baby was sick. He got quite annoyed, said he'd told her what to do and he was VERY BUSY. She left the ER in tears and decided to drive back to her home town (3 hours away) to see her family doctor. That doctor immediately admitted the baby to hospital - she had meningitis - but she died soon after. Just terrible. I don't known 100% that the baby could have been saved with earlier treatment but at least she might have had a chance.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience though That always stinks.

The thing with ERs is that they know very little history, other than what you tell them. They are supposed to triage you and treat your immediate needs. That's why they tell you to follow up with your regular doctor.

 

[DisneyOma]

OP, why didn't you take your husband to the doctor, or at least call the doctor first? Unless it is a life/death emergency (or very late at night when the offices are closed) we have always been encouraged to call the doctor first. That way, if he does send us to the ER, we tell him which ER, and he calls ahead.

 

[mjkacmom]

I've had good luck with ER's but only go if it's a real emergency, or something that absolutely can't wait until my doctors office opens in the morning. I'll use urgent care if I pretty much know what the problem is (ear infection). The dicots there done know you, or your medical history. I also have s cardiologist, pulmonigist, gastroentoligist, dematoligist... They are even better at finding out what the problem is. The last ER visit was with my son with a broken leg, and the pediatric trauma team was excellent (the paramedics knew he needed a hospital with a trauma center).

Sometimes situations pop up at the worst time, but a lot could be prevented if we went to the doctor more regularly (not directing this to the OP, probably more towards myself). My sister and I made a promise to each other to do better in this area, and she just found out she needs surgery - who knew?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Had a crazy day today. Needed to take DH to the ER for something I believed to be serious, and they once again pooh-poohed us and under diagnosed the problem. Not happy with what the ER did (they didn't really do ANYTHING...no tests...nadda. Just a script for pain meds and an antibiotic). I was not satisfied with their lax exam/attitude so made an appointment with our own doc later in the day, where our doc freaked out that the ER didn't do anything or seem to take the issue seriously. He Ordered bloodwork which confirmed the severity of the issue and we were sent immediately this afternoon to a surgeon, and then DH was admitted to the hospital (a better one than the one we initially went to) where he'll be staying for a few days for treatment.

This is now the 3rd time in recent memory where this ER has mis/under-diagnosed me or a family member. And other ER's have given us problems too (one missed two separate broken bones and another missed my cousin's pneumonia telling her she had a pulled muscle in her back!). What gives?? I kept trying to impress upon the ER doc how serious this was and how bad DH's symptoms were....even asked about bloodwork and tests and basically got told "if he's still bad in 24-48 hours we will refer you out..." Well if we'd let him go 24 hours he'd be in a whole world of trouble.

Grrr...I should send our doctor a gift basket! The surgeon who got us in so quickly too... I'm grateful I followed that nagging feeling in my gut and pushed to see our doc and not accept the ER's word as gospel. I guess I'm just venting, but the moral is to advocate for yourself and your loved ones. If something doesn't seem right then trust your gut!

That is so scary.

My dh went to urgent care in 2012 for illness and was diagnosed with "stomach flu", given IV fluids and sent home.

After a few days of not getting better he went to the ER and was diagnosed with a heart attack and quadruple blockage. He had a triple bypass the next day.

 

[Meriweather]

We've had only good ER experience.
The latest being last weekend with DD having a kidney stone. Her first words when we got there were "they are very nice".
However, Urgent Care the 2 times she has been has been a horrible experience.

 

[Jennasis]

OP, why didn't you take your husband to the doctor, or at least call the doctor first? Unless it is a life/death emergency (or very late at night when the offices are closed) we have always been encouraged to call the doctor first. That way, if he does send us to the ER, we tell him which ER, and he calls ahead.

It was 5am when he fainted in the bathroom and we headed to ER...I didn't want to wait until the Docs office opened at 9am as DH has a family health history that makes me very cognizant of potential emergency health issues. His issue in this case WAS an emergency. ..just one the "emergency " room failed to catch.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience though That always stinks.

The thing with ERs is that they know very little history, other than what you tell them. They are supposed to triage you and treat your immediate needs. That's why they tell you to follow up with your regular doctor.

Exactly. They are NOT primary care doctors. They will only "stabilize" you and tell you to follow up with your own physician (who should know more about your physical issues).

 

[Jennasis]

I'm sorry you had a bad experience though That always stinks.

The thing with ERs is that they know very little history, other than what you tell them. They are supposed to triage you and treat your immediate needs. That's why they tell you to follow up with your regular doctor.

I gave the ER the same exact history on the issue as I gave our doctor later that day ("our" doctor was one of the ones in the same practice as his regular doctor but a new physician who had never seen my husband before.). And the ER didn't tell me to follow up with our doctor. They told me if it was still bad in a couple of days to come back and they would refer us to somebody else.

 

[Jennasis]

On the plus side, he is doing so much better today after surgery and with the meds on board!

 

[DisneyOma]

It was 5am when he fainted in the bathroom and we headed to ER...I didn't want to wait until the Docs office opened at 9am as DH has a family health history that makes me very cognizant of potential emergency health issues. His issue in this case WAS an emergency. ..just one the "emergency " room failed to catch.

Fainting in the bathroom - sounds like a 911 call to me. Ambulances get served first at our local ER, and get you the best service. Also, it's safer to have someone else drive in that situation. What would happen if he passed out in the car? You can't drive, call 911, and do CPR all by yourself.

I gave the ER the same exact history on the issue as I gave our doctor later that day ("our" doctor was one of the ones in the same practice as his regular doctor but a new physician who had never seen my husband before.). And the ER didn't tell me to follow up with our doctor. They told me if it was still bad in a couple of days to come back and they would refer us to somebody else.

Did you give them your doctor's info? I've been to the ER twice, and both times they took my medical info, and informed my doctor what they found, and told me to follow up with them. I think you need to find another ER?

 

[RitaE]

I'm glad he's doing better today Jennasis.

The frustration around here is it's an awful fight to get into see a Primary Care Doctor in under 2 weeks. So everybody shuffles off to the Immediate Care, Urgent Care, Emergency Room, and those Nurse Practitioner places at the Pharmacies for everything other than an annual physical. And then you go to those places and they're like "Well you need to see your Primary Care Doctor for this….." and we're all like: Yeah, wish I COULD see our Primary Care doctor but by the time my appointment comes up at the end of next month, I'll probably be either dead or cured anyway.

We do try to stay under the same health system umbrella though for all of them because then theoretically they should be able to look at our electronic records for a medical history. But actually getting them to do that is another problem.

 

[Jennasis]

Fainting in the bathroom - sounds like a 911 call to me. Ambulances get served first at our local ER, and get you the best service. Also, it's safer to have someone else drive in that situation. What would happen if he passed out in the car? You can't drive, call 911, and do CPR all by yourself.



Did you give them your doctor's info? I've been to the ER twice, and both times they took my medical info, and informed my doctor what they found, and told me to follow up with them. I think you need to find another ER?

While I appreciate your Monday morning quarterbacking...no wait, I don't. I did what I did. And now he's on the mend thanks to our doctor, and no thanks to the useless ER.

 

[ilovepcot]

I was misdiagnosed in the local ER and I told the doctor I wasn't comfortable with his diagnosis and asked about a transfer to a heart hospital. He assured me I was fine and no need for a transfer. I was admitted for 4 days and on that 4th day, THEY transferred me via ambulance to the heart hospital I had first requested. Not being overly dramatic, I came within hours of dying. Wish I had listened to my gut.