Hospitalization Experiences

[XRay]

I have friend who did not feel so good during dinner, so her boyfriend and brother drove her to the hospital. That was like two hours ago, and it is now 1:00 am (yeah, we had a really late dinner). I guess I am a little worried and I could not sleep. I paid the bill so I did not go with them, so I hope she is doing okay.

So, do you have any experience with going to the hospital? My only experience besides the occasional flu as a kid was when I broke my wrist when I was a young toddler (I was jumping around the on and off the couch I think).

I do not think this counts as experience since I do not remember it, but when I was born, I had to stay overnight or two at the hospital because I came out yellow. I am Asian and am pretty tan colored, so for my mom to describe me as yellow, I imagined myself to be like yellow yellow, like a banana or Pikachu.

[Shoblongoo]

My mom was an emergency room physician--I had to be legit dying to go to the hospital. (stitches, blood-drawing, topical anesthesia--all that stuff she could just do from home)

[Water Mage]

My body tend to produce kidney stones rather easily, so I’ve been hospitalized a lot, like, ever since my first kidney stone, in 2016, I’ve hospitalized at least 3 times a year. Mostly because the kidney stone removal actually requires 3 different surgeries.

I think it’s because it’s not a life threatening thing, but I started to think being hospitalized as a rather soothing at times. Unless I’m fully awake in the recovery room, it’s incredibly boring when that happens.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Water Mage

[Sarki Soliloquy]

Besides a critical fever episode when I was an infant (to my mother's recollection, I was being treated by Kurt Vonnegut's son) a period of consistent neurological lab work when I was a child, and a minor surgery or two as a child, my physical health has been rather exceptional for most of my life.

A few months ago, I got sectioned into a psychological ward by my own volition. Without revealing too much, I spent the 1st day in a general hospital until they relocated me into the ward. It took almost a week to be discharged, and my recovery was exceptional from the 2nd day on. I just remember having trouble sleeping, crying, & being consistently despaired/scared transitioning into the ward.

If its one lesson you don't forget after leaving the ward, you realize just how precious your time is. Ask yourself, "If I had not been through the hospital, how healthy do I feel now compared to where I was before?" Assessing this is harder than it sounds!

AMA about the experience!

[Karimlan]

The last time I was hospitalized was back in 2014, my first year in Manila, PH. I was diagnosed with dengue—a hemorrhagic fever that left my platelet count dangerously low. My gastrointestinal tract was bleeding profusely, and I had to have transfusions; not just blood, but blood plasma too. Possibly the only upside to that harrowing event was that my weight had plummeted down (something that I'm trying to get to do nowadays).

[Karimlan]

9 minutes ago, Sarki Soliloquy said:

Besides a critical fever episode when I was an infant (to my mother's recollection, I was being treated by Kurt Vonnegut's son) a period of consistent neurological lab work when I was a child, and a minor surgery or two as a child, my physical health has been rather exceptional for most of my life.

Must be an awesome experience to be treated by Vonnegut's son, in hindsight anyway.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Karimlan

[Sarki Soliloquy]

25 minutes ago, Karimlan said:

Must be an awesome experience to be treated by Vonnegut's son, in hindsight anyway.

Yeah, its anecdotal evidence, especially since I was too young & developmentally-delayed to remember it vividly. But its a cool story for what its worth. This is all coming from my mother's account, so I'd trust that much is valid.

My body temperature was critically-high during this fever, somewhere between 105°-120+°F . I was barely concious. Dr. Vonnegut must've been my pediatrician. Sure that record's laying in some crusty manila folder somewhere.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Sarki Soliloquy

[Hawkwing]

July 2 of 2015 was when I had back surgery to fix my scoliosis. 28 screws and 2 rods were put in to straighten my spine, and now I have a permanent, badass, long vertical scar on my back. I don't remember much (which is a sign that the medicine worked) although I do remember that I hard time sleeping over the Fourth of July. I also remember that I started watching The Land before Time, fell asleep, and when I woke up, my mom was watching a movie about Jamaican bobsledders. Since it was still a painful process, I had forgotten that at one time I had asked "is this what Hell is like?" and the pastor of our church used that phrase during a sermon (and then said that Hell is unbelievably worse, and that we need to take our duties seriously so that no one should go there). Still, I recovered so quickly I was released an entire day early, and although it took almost the entire rest of the summer to recover, it has gotten to the point I can forget for weeks on end that I have a piece of metal stuck in my back.

Other than that I've only been to the hospital... I believe 4 different times. Two were staying with my mother after she gave birth to my sister (when I was two years old, and thus more interesting in playing with the hospital chair buttons that the news of being a big brother) and brother (where I learned the hard way that a 3DS with only one game and a few demos is not enough to keep one entertained for staying in a single room the entire day) until they were able to go home. The other two times were visiting my Grandmother when she was recovering from knee surgery, and and visiting my father when he had pancreatitis earlier this year.

[Zanarkin]

I have had a couple of trips to the ER.

One was when I broke my left arm. Had to wait for an ungodly amount of time for my dad to get there because for some reason, they won't do things to you in Colombia without money being present >_> at least that was the case with me in early 2000's.

Another was for appendicitis. Woke up with a mild stomach ache that wouldn't leave. Around 11 at night it got really bad and my parents noticed I looked really terrible. Went to ER, it was appendicitis... Another long wait before surgery because I had eaten previously... lol. At least I wasn't in the waiting room this time.

Most recent one (2013) was for kidney stones. I woke up one day, with a lot of pressure in my bladder (or near my bladder). Didn't think much of it other than discomfort, went and had breakfast. After that, I went to pee, and there was blood. Started puking (apparently a common reaction to kidney stones pain) so I was rushed to the ER. Where I had to wait a long time before they gave me any sort of pain medicine. My mom says I almost crushed her hand. 

[Ycine]

Unfortunately I do have some experiences.

First, broke my chin when I was around 6 by tripping over the stairs. Needed 4 stitches. They actually keep me for almost two days before I could go back home.

Second and third time, pneumothorax on the left lung, both needed a full week to be drained. It was around 2011. Yes, I was struck twice in the same year.

[EricaofRenais]

The last time for me was in August 2007 when I had a really bed stomach bug which ended up causing me to get ketoacidocis because I could not keep anything down and I ended up spending 3 days in ICU just to get everything back on track.  Being type one diabetic is the worst because even a cold can cause me to get really sick to the point I could end up in big trouble.  

[Slumber]

I've been hospitalized a few times. I almost died to chicken pox when I was 2, and was hospitalized for some time. Don't remember it at all.

When I was 8, I(Once again) almost died from the flu. For 3 days building up the sickness, I couldn't keep foods or liquids down, I was severely dehydrated, hadn't eaten in days, and had a temperature of over 104. I had to spend 3 days in a children's hospital. The first two were me screaming in pain, and apparently my parents were told that I was scaring the other children and that I had to stop screaming, though obviously that didn't really work. I felt fine on the third day, but the doctors wouldn't let me out until I proved I could keep food down, so I ate half a bagel, which was awful. Hospital food is awful. I also didn't get any sleep while I was in the hospital, and most of my nights watching Three's Company on the TV I had in my room. I crashed hard when I got home, then ate a family sized bag of Cheetos and walked over to the Burger King 4 blocks away from my house after not eating for about a week.

There were a bunch of other times I was hospitalized between the ages of 7-10 from my migraines when I'd get cluster headaches so bad that I got so nauseous that I'd vomit stomach acid to the point where I'd start dry heaving and had troubles breathing. These stays were much shorter, and I was usually just made it to the ER for quick treatment. Usually I was just put on a morphine drip until the pain subsided(Usually a few hours) and I could go home. One time they wanted to make sure my constant efflux of stomach acid wasn't destroying my gut and my esophagus, so I had to drink two liters of apple juice that had some tracer in it that'd show up in an x-ray. That s u c k e d, and it tasted awful.

My migraines have gotten better and I've been fit as a fiddle since I was 10ish, so I haven't had to go to the hospital in about 16-17 years.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Slumber

[Fleece]

quite a few times yeah, I've had to get stitches before and fractured both of my wrists(two seperate incidents, not at the same time) I only had to stay like a few hours for those

another where I was very ill from having absurdly high blood sugar which is when I got my type 1 diabetes diagnosis which had me there for a week and hooked up to IVs, at least 5 other times from diabetic ketoacidosis which is the /worst/ because i'm often puking up acid along with other fun symptoms like intense stomach pain, absurdly fast heart rate, and difficulty moving any without feeling on the verge of passing out

I'm usually stuck for like 3 days when DKA happens while also being hooked up to IVs and an EKG except the one time where they thought I was getting better they were about to discharge me but shortly after I got back on my pump my blood sugar spiked and I started to vomit again, so they assumed my pump was faulty and I had to get it replaced, they kept me for another two days AND they had me do a stress test which just makes you feel like your heart is about to explode

the staff also tends to barge in when you heart rate goes up even a little so one time when I had to use the bathroom(toilet was in the same room I had, no doors or curtains to cover you) so when I stood up it probably alerted them and the nurse walked in on me mid-shit OTL

[Hecatia]

I had to be hospitalized two times, one for Peritonitis after my appendix went kaboom and the other was immediately after that, because of an obstruction caused by the same procedure being wrapped up incorrectly. It happened on my 7th birthday and we didn't had a car yet, so we had to travel at midnight for an hospital which is basically 3 buses away.

I wonder how's that kid I used to play with... He was nice.

[DarthR0xas]

I've only ever been hospitalized once. That was when I contracted some disease when I was less than a week old that turned my skin yellow. Something wrong with my liver or whatever. Anyways, I was almost airlifted to another hospital but unfortunately (well, fortunate for my parent's bank accounts) that didn't need to happen. I don't remember a thing about it, since I wasn't even a week old at that time, but I was there for like a month and a half.

I'm not sure if I went to the hospital or ER for this, but I slammed my chin while in the shower because I slipped. Left a mark of my teeth and I'm about 90% sure it's the cause of my current overbite. Needed stitches, then, because I was like 4, I pulled said stitches out (the same day I got them in), and we had to go to the ER in order to put them back in. 

Every other time I've just gone to the ER. Like the time I slammed the back of my head into the side of a swimming pool and there was a gash there that went to the bone. Got it stapled back together, which my friends found hilarious. Or like the time that I cut my thumb on a can of soup (it was mushroom soup if I remember correctly). My parents find that time hilarious because I was so in shock of seeing the bone of my finger, that I didn't even scream and just said "Mom! Dad! I cut my finger open." I have a nice scar and some extra skin around that area, which is actually kinda nice for some games. Now that I'm typing these all out, I realize that a lot of the times I injured myself I did something funny in the process. Good job me, I suppose.

[EricaofRenais]

1 hour ago, Fleece said:

quite a few times yeah, I've had to get stitches before and fractured both of my wrists(two seperate incidents, not at the same time) I only had to stay like a few hours for those

another where I was very ill from having absurdly high blood sugar which is when I got my type 1 diabetes diagnosis which had me there for a week and hooked up to IVs, at least 5 other times from diabetic ketoacidosis which is the /worst/ because i'm often puking up acid along with other fun symptoms like intense stomach pain, absurdly fast heart rate, and difficulty moving any without feeling on the verge of passing out

I'm usually stuck for like 3 days when DKA happens while also being hooked up to IVs and an EKG except the one time where they thought I was getting better they were about to discharge me but shortly after I got back on my pump my blood sugar spiked and I started to vomit again, so they assumed my pump was faulty and I had to get it replaced, they kept me for another two days AND they had me do a stress test which just makes you feel like your heart is about to explode

the staff also tends to barge in when you heart rate goes up even a little so one time when I had to use the bathroom(toilet was in the same room I had, no doors or curtains to cover you) so when I stood up it probably alerted them and the nurse walked in on me mid-shit OTL

Being in the hospital for DKA is the worst and I really hate it when my pump acts up.  

[indigoasis]

I actually had to go to the hospital this past Sunday. It was around 8:00 pm, and I went to go take a shower. My dad has a broken soap dish embedded into the wall (which really needs to be removed), and what ended up happening was I tore a really deep cut into my upper right back leg area (or the posterior, whatever you feel like calling it). I didn't feel too much pain from the tear, just the shock of what just happened. I wrapped a towel around my waist, and went downstairs to where my dad was watching TV. He said to me, "What the hell are you doing?" and I showed him the laceration, and then he said, "Oh shit, you gotta go to the hospital." My mom put a bunch of paper towels and a cotex (I still have no idea what it is) on it, and my dad told me to keep pressure on it. So we went to the hospital, and I got stitches. There are currently 16 staples to keep it closed until it heals. In short, it was a real pain in the ass (literally).

Edited November 28, 2018 by indigoceans