Our (Terrible) Experience at Cartersville Medical Center ER

Saturday evening, after complaining about his tummy all day, Will started vomiting.   Not a huge deal.  Anyone on Facebook will tell you that it's going around like crazy right now.  We gathered the tummy bug essentials - trash can, wash cloths, pillow and blanket and camped on the couch.  We watched the new Winnie the Pooh movie (which I thought was weird) and hunkered down. Will vomited every 15 mins for several hours.  

By late Saturday night, the smoke had cleared and Will drifted off to sleep.  He woke up several times, asking to use the bathroom (pee) and for a drink.  He kept down his fluids all night.  By Sunday morning, Will was thirsty, a little hungry and tired.  He drank gatorade, ate saltines and played pretty normally.  The only clue of his ailment was the 3 hour nap he took.  Monday, I went to work and sent the kids to grandma's.  Will did fine.  He ate a small blueberry muffin, a few bites of a banana and lots of gatorade again.  For dinner, all Will wanted was blueberries for supper.  I made him a piece of toast and gave him about 7 blueberries.  He left the toast and ate the blueberries.  

Brandon and I stayed up to watch the BCS Championship game and finally got in the bed around midnight Monday night.  At 1:30AM, Will wakes up and goes straight to the potty.  He pees and on his way back to the bed, he starts holding his belly, folds into the fetal position and SCREAMING like someone is ripping off his toenails.  We try everything - maybe he needs to poop?  Nope.  We give sips of water.  I had read that a heating pad may help stomach pains, so we dig out the ol' heating pad.  Will won't even let me lay it on his stomach.  He says it hurts too bad.  I ask him to jump up and down (for appendicitis) and he refuses to try.  He literally starts running through the house screaming.  I start crying and changing clothes.  He needs to be seen by the doctor.  (For the record - no, I didn't take him or even call his pediatrician Sat.  In my experience, stomach bugs are not very treatable, and not a huge concern, so I didn't feel the need to report his symptoms.)  At this point, Will starts gagging and dry heaving.  I put a jacket on him and load him into the car with the trash can in his lap.  Brandon can't go, he has to stay with Brooks (who somehow slept through all of this).  

The weather was foggy and rainy and it was 2:20AM.  I had to do this alone, so I chose Cartersville Medical Center because of it's proximity and the fact that my parents live 2 minutes from there.  My dad agreed to meet me there.  I literally drove the 20 miles at 80 mph with one hand on the wheel and one hand holding the trash can for my now vomiting child in the backseat.  Will continued to scream "It hurts soooo bad!" All the way there.  By the time we reach the hospital, he has stopped vomiting and I get him cleaned up and in the ER.  We check in to an EMPTY waiting room and wait about 20 mins before getting called back.  

When we get called back, they put me, Will and my dad in a storage closet.  I'm not exaggerating.  The room had a rolling loading dock door like this one -

The room is so gross and dirty.  Every exam room is dark with the door shut except the one next to us, where a rough looking crowd is hovered around one girl with a puke pan.  The only good thing about where they stashed us is that it gave me a direct view of the nurses station.  I held Will and watched as the only doctor at the ER sat at a computer without so much as even getting up for 50 mins.  

By 4:30, NO ONE had been in our room.  I picked up Will and my purse and started out the door.  We can see his pediatrician in 3 hours.  I told the nurse how ridiculous this was.  He's freaking THREE YEARS OLD, it's the middle of the night and he's scared.  She gave me the third degree about how there are critical patients to look after first and a vomiting child is not critical.  I sarcastically looked around at the quiet ER and looked back at her.  By this point, the supervising nurse comes over.  She asks me to get back in the room and she will see after Will herself.  She comes in and examines Will.  She looks at his belly.  He tells her it hurts all over.  She pushes and he says it hurts, but doesn't scream out.  He's still complaining about his tummy and she offers him a Zofran to stop the stomachache.  He takes the Zofran and immediately starts acting better.  She offers him a popsicle.  All of this to keep me from taking my kid and leaving.

At 5:45, the doctor FINALLY gets off her tail and comes in.  In our time there, she sat in the chair at the computer 95% of her time and visited Will's room and the crack heads next door ONCE for about 5-10mins each.  She says she doesn't think its appendicitis because he didn't scream when the nurse pushed on his belly.  She wants to do a strep test and an abdominal X-ray to check for a blockage.  The hold him down to do the strep test and 30 mins later, they come in to do the X-ray.  I, of course, have to leave for that so I was thankful to have my dad there with me to stay with Will.  An hour later, I have to walk out to the doctor, who is still sitting at the computer, and ask for the results of the strep culture.  She says the lab hasn't given her the results yet.  We've had enough strep tests for me to know that the results take 5 mins.  That's why they call it the rapid strep culture.  10 minutes later, she comes in and tells me that the strep test was negative, the X-ray was fine and he needs to go home and I need to call the pediatrician.  He has a stomach bug.  

Well, needless to say, I was MORE than thankful to leave that hellhole.  As we were walking out, the dumb doctor asks another doctor (who had just arrived for shift change) a question and he replies "I don't know.  I usually just google it."  So there you have it.  Cville ER doctor was SITTING at that computer GOOGLING her patients symptoms for 40-50 mins before visiting with them for 10 minutes.  I know that doctors have a hard job.  I know that the ER is unpredictable and I shouldn't expect fast results.  But I do expect respect for my time, respect for my little child who is crying the whole time you have us stationed in the storage room, and a thorough examination.  

We got home around 7:30AM - just in time for Brandon's alarm clock to go off for his work day.  Will has acted okay today.  He only complained about his tummy around lunch time - when the zofran wore off.  He got another Zofran and then he cried because he was hungry.  The poor child hasn't had anything real to eat since Saturday at lunch.  He's a picky eater.  He won't do toast.  He won't do soup.  He won't do a sandwich.  He wanted a corn dog.  I thought "what the heck, worst case scenario he throws it up."  He kept it down, and never complained about his tummy again.  Unfortunately his doctor called right after I gave him the zofran and told me not to give it to him any more.  He wants to see where this is going to go - more vomiting, more pain or gradual improvement.  So there you have it - we're waiting.  The zofran should be wearing off at any moment.  

It's worth noting that he is constipated now, which is a side effect of the zofran.  I'm sure that isn't helping the stomachache, but I'm not sure if it would cause more vomiting.  I'm so tired.  I'm so confused.  If this really is just a stomach bug, it's the craziest thing I've seen and so far none of the other members of the household have had any symptoms.  (We will probably all be up puking tonight since I said that).

Anyway - just pray we get better or we get answers.  This is exhausting and unfortunately, we both have jobs with limited time off :/