Emergency Visit

My favorite quote from one of the lab supervisors at work today:  "Ed, you overly anal young man.  That's why I love him."  Yes folks, that's a compliment.  Young Ed (He's probably in his 20's) works the second shift, and we were trying to determine what testing he had done on his shift.  Ed's copious notes were very helpful for doing that.  Do you think his parents doomed him to being anal by naming him Ed?  Are his parents anal themselves?  Or did they have a premonition about what his personality would be?

Yesterday I spent about 2.5 hours in the ER for my dislocated finger - and I was on the fast track.  I achieved dislocation playing softball while sliding into third base.  To add insult to injury (literally), I was called out despite my impressive slide.  But, back to the ER.  I was treated by a nurse practitioner.  I wonder if those will become more or less common as Obamacare takes effect.  I was surprised at the number of people I interacted with.  It's been a while since I had to go to an ER.  The last time was in college when I was stupidly playing with knives.

Anyway, there was a lady at the triage sign-in desk.  They put a bracelet on, and then you go wait.  They eventually call you in and take your vital signs (and put me on the fast track).  I think her name was Sandy.  Return to the room designated for waiting.  Then they call you back to your exam room.  Wait a little, and a nurse comes to get a few more details and your story.  Her name was Allison I think.  The NP (his name was Windsor) may have stopped by then just to look so he could order an X-ray.  After a while a lady X-ray tech comes to take me to the X-ray department.  They do their thing, and then Dave (a different tech) shows me back to my room.  During this waiting lull, a registration lady comes in and gets my insurance, address and telephone info, etc.  After a while the NP comes in.  He says it's dislocated and explains the relocation procedure.  He shoots me up, then leaves while he waits for the numbness to set in.  Windsor eventually comes back and pops it in.  It sounded like someone doing a big, satisfying knuckle crack.  Then it's more waiting and back to the X-ray room, but it's a different tech and a different room.  More waiting until Windsor comes in, says the X-ray looks good, and he's referring me to the hand specialist for follow-up.  After a bit Allison comes in, "buddy wraps" the finger, puts a splint on, and gives me some paper info and stuff to sign.  Then I'm free to go after I stop by the discharge desk and pay my $150 co-pay for visiting the emergency room, and they cut the bracelet off.

I shudder to think how much worse this will be once you add even more bureaucracy because the government is trying to control more of the healthcare industry.  Yikes.  Choose wisely in November please.

Myself and the guy from work who gave me a ride to the hospital had an interesting conversation with the hospital cleaning guy about civil war era cannon balls.  The cleaning guy happened to be cleaning in the waiting room while we were discussing civil war era medical techniques (inspired by my recent visit to Fort Mackinac).  Some cannonballs were filled with gunpowder, some with buckshot, and sometimes they would even shoot a chain out with the cannonball.

That's about it for now folks.  This splint somewhat hampers my typing, so I'm probably at half speed with that.  I really hope the hand specialist says I can play volleyball and softball as long as the finger stays "buddy wrapped" without a splint.  I'm debating whether to post pictures.  I don't have any gruesome looking ones from before the swelling started, so it might be kind of boring.  Peace out, man.