The “I don't want you to be an addict” and “...they’re hard to deal with” lines though!
That is why education is key.
-->I’m crying and moving around because I’ve been in pain for the past hour and a half while I wait in the waiting room. You have a hard time getting an IV because I have scar tissue from previous IVs, my veins are small, and you probably haven’t been trained properly.
I was well known in the ER. Most nurses knew me, or at least my face, I hated getting someone new.
I’ve been told that they would only give me one dose of pain medication. When I asked to be admitted, because I was still in pain, they said no. I then had my mom drive me to the next nearest hospital (about 40 minutes away but still in the same network) where I was immediately admitted and hospitalized for a week.
ALL medical professionals, especially those that work in the ER, should be educated on sickle cell, not just hematologists.
Oh, and the “what kind of pain is it? sharp, dull, nagging, throbbing....” question should stop too. It’s a sickle cell attack. You don't ask someone who is having an asthma attack “when you try to breathe do you gasp, cough, wheeze, or gag....?”
