First off, the nurse who was working that day needs to be slapped upside the head with a frypan for being such a cu*t. I say this because when you are in pain you just want to get things over with and not have to explain yourself more then once -are you with me- right, so I sign in at emergency as I always do, giving them right off my stats.
- I have O.I. type one
- I've had 2 previous back injuries
- I've already been into the clinic in the last few days and the doctor thinks it's fractures
- My back keeps making crunching noises when I stand or sit
- Something keeps shifting in and out of alignment when I turn towards my right causing what feels like a bone spur in my hip
The nurse at the desk was nice enough. She informed me that for lower back issues they have to rule out kidney or bladder infections and usually have you give a urine sample. She then told me since I have a history of spinal issues, I could refuse the sample.
I refused.
Then the waiting. I waited for almost an half hour, which is short for x-rays, before I got in to the exam rooms. Then came the nurse from hell.
First thing out of her mouth was "What is O.I. that does not exist." I told her it was short for Osteogenesis Imperfecta. "Well I don't believe you. I think you made that up as I've never heard of it." Then she asked me where the urine sample was. I said I was told I could refuse. "Why would you refuse? What are you hiding?"
Now, by this time, I had been sitting down in the same spot for almost an hour. Sitting is the issue. I'm fine walking and standing for short times, but just sitting is torture right now. I told her I wasn't hiding a damned thing I was just cranky from being in pain and was not going to piss in a jar. Then she said "Well are you going to get undressed"
Fine, I put on one of those little blue hospital gowns that you can never close proper and waited for the doctor. That took another twenty minutes of sitting in pain. Doctor comes in with the nurse from hell behind him and he takes one look at my chart and says "O.I. Type I, that's the brittle bones isn't it? Let me look at your eyes. Oh yeah they're blue alright. I'll get an order of pain meds and send you to x-rays." then he tapped on my spine a few times and hand me screaming in pain from my back being tender.
So the dude with the needle comes in next. He asked if anyone was with me, I said no. He said, this will make you relaxed to the point that you would want someone to help you walk. I'm like, what's in it? He said Demerol and something else. I asked if it would knock me out, he said that it could and I could refuse. I refused the pain meds. Yes I am a hoser. And by the end of the day I really really really wished I had not said no to the needle.
Then a hot porter came in with a wheelchair and took me to x-rays. But first he dressed me. Trust me, it sounds sexier then it was. My hospital gown that you can never close proper came undone and I couldn't get the stupid thing tied up again. He had to fix it for me. Oh and did I mention that I had not shaved my legs in the last two weeks since my back has been bothering me. If not guess what, I had not shaved my legs in the last two weeks since my back has been bothering me, freal it, I've been lucky enough to be able to bend for the thirty seconds it takes to put on jeans and shoes; shaving my legs would have killed me for the amount of time it would take.
So there's a picture for ya, my white as chalk vampire looking legs all looking slightly on the werewolf side. And yes I'm a natural redhead so that's more like a collie or something.
Finally x-rays! Where upon they pushed my legs one direction, my torso the opposite and had me turn my neck. Then expected me to hold that position for the next 15 minutes. I could not do it. The lady was getting frustrated because she had to keep repositioning me between the x-rays.
Finally, back to the exam room... er hallway. As the place was so busy that there were no rooms left. And there I sat for yet another 2 hours! Not joking. I was out of x-rays at 12:30pm and the doctor did not get back to me until after 2:30pm. This was the part where I wished I had said yes to the nice man with the drugs. NOTE to self, the next time a nice man with a needle offers -take it!.
My eyes were red and swollen from crying by the time the doctor got to me. And he tells me that after all that waiting in pain, the last vertebrae is chipped. The vertebrae right above my tailbone. There is nothing to be done for it, and I will be in great amounts of pain for the next few months. And given the O.I., that could be up to nearly 6 months.
Wow, when I do damage to myself, I do it good don't I? And I have no idea what I did to chip it.
A tiny chunk of bone no bigger then a bread crumb is the cause of all this.
