[normajean]

I SO HATE our health care system. Rural health care absolutely sucks.<br><br>
So yesterday when I was taking off my makeup, I noticed my eyes were puffy...I asked Paul about it, and he couldn't tell. Well I said, "if its worse in the morning, I will need to be seen" because edema is a sign of preeclampsia a major pregnancy complication. Its listed on my paper from the doctors office as a "symptom to report immediately."<br><br>
So in the middle of the night I got up to pee, and look in the mirror and the top of my face is swollen to an unrecognizable marshmallow shape!<br><br>
So I called the hopsital, listed on the paper as the people to call after hours.<br><br>
The nurse was so incredibly rude to me. She acted like it was no big deal, and when I specifically mentioned the connectoin to hypertension she said, "Oh no...facial swelling has NOTHING to do with high blood pressure." RIGHT....why is it listed as a symptom in EVERY pregnancy book, and why does my doctor check my face, hands and feet at EVERY visit for it then? Retard. So I said, "I'm just wondering if I need to be seen tonight (3 am) or if it can wait until morning. She said, "its probably an allergic reaction....so if you can't breathe, go to the ER. It has nothing whatever to do with your pregnancy."<br><br>
I called my Dr. Office this morning to report it, even though its been better today, and the receptionist said, "doctor is out for a week, so what do you want me to do?" I asked if I could talk to the nurse to find out if I needed to be seen by another doctor, and she said, "She's not in, and I don't know if she's coming in." She has yet to call back with any information.<br><br>
OK people WTH am I supposed to do, start having eclamptic seizures before anyone gives a****about my or my baby's health? Now its back to normal, and looks like a sunburn, so most likely it WAS just a reaction...but the doctors office hasn't even called me back to tell me if I can TAKE something for it if I am reacting....<br><br>
I'm not trying to be a hypochondriac or anything, but I feel like health care ppl here are annoyed if they are supposed to do their job or something. Hello, I didn't call in the middle of your shift to annoy you, I don't just wake up at 3 am and think, "let me prank call the hospital...."<br><br>
And are these the type of ppl who will be taking care of me while I'm in LABOR? Geez louise, if this is how I'm treated in labor someone just might see their head rolling down the hall...<br><br>
I know that in Reno they would have wanted to see me for this.<br><br>
It was the same thing with my first m/c. I was bleeding and they called, the nurse said, "I bet you lose the baby" in a very cold tone, and then said, "call when you are soaking a pad an hour so we can do a D&C."<br><br>
My friend was spotting in REno, and at first report of spotting they did a vaginal US to check on the baby--if they baby was still alive there would be action they could take. Here they just wait for the baby to die....<br><br>
So last night with a symptom that was probably nothing (and now I know was nothing, but thats not the point) they didn't even want to CHECK on it. Something that potentially could have killed me and the baby.<br><br>
What is WRONG with these people? Last week when Paul cut his eye, the ER report said he needed to be seen in 48 hours, and again in 7 days. I called to schedule the appointments, and they owuldn't make them without seeing the ER report. Said they would call me back after they saw it. They never called. After 4 days of waiting, I called them, and she was like, "huh...I must have forgotten to order the ER report.....let me get the report, I can't do anything without it. She scheduled for the NURSE to take out the stitches, but then when the doctor FINALLY saw the report, he insisted on doing it himself because of the nature of the injury.<br><br>
I swear I am about ready to go to nursing if not medical school myself b/c I already know more than these morons and at least then I would be able to tell if myself or my family is in real danger or what.

 

[applejuice]

I hope you are planning on a home birth because these people do not seem to know their *** from a hole in the ground.<br><br>
A midwife worth her salt would take such a symptom seriously and be sure you were seen - ASAP- by a medical professional.<br><br>
I guess also that these HCP also see and hear so much of the same all of the time that they take all of the calls as seriouly as they really should. They are alittle too blaise' about YOUR real emergency call when it comes in.<br><br>
I agree that these people seem not to care. When my DH was on hospice care and could not breathe; I called a number for after hours at 1:00 a.m., and the person who answered the phone could really not have cared less. She acted as though I was bothering her. Why then was she the one to call at this hour? Is that not her job? Truly unbelieveable!

 

[Kiki Runs]

I feel your pain. There are so many incompetent "gatekeepers" out there that you have to go through before you can be seen by someone who knows what they're doing!<br><br><br>
I experienced similar things during my pregnancy. I would call with a specific question and the nurse would totally blow me off, acting like I was being a hypochondriac. Oh, sorry, I guess we're NOT supposed to be active participants in our health care. Which is pretty much the case, I'm finding. A LOT of health care "professionals" don't want you to research/have opinions/question them in any way.<br><br><br>
Of course, during my pregnancy, it didn't help that I was young and on Medicaid. Of COURSE, I must be uneducated, right? Oh, and of COURSE, I must have every word longer than two syllables c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y explained to me (incorrectly! :rofl).<br><br><br>
Yeah, that was pretty ignorant of the nurse to blow you off like that. I'm actually surprised - you'd think they'd want to do everything possible to CYA when dealing with a pregnant lady. But then again, she probably didnt' want to fill out any paperwork OR wake up the sleeping on-call doc.<br><br><br>
Glad to hear you're alright, though.<br>
Kinsey

 

[obnurse]

I am soo sorry for that terrible night you had!! A few questions... how many weeks are you? is the swelling better now? How are your hands and ankles? More importantly.. Any headache? Any visual disturbances (spots floating before your eyes?) pain in your belly where your true stomach is (upper left side if you look down at your own belly) sharp pain, not cramps. any dizziness? Do you have ANYONE that can take your blood pressure for you? what brought on the swelling.. do YOU think you had a reaction to something? Is this common for you? Is the baby active? Absolutely you should have been seen by your health care provider. The nurse should have grilled you with questions until she was either sure this swelling was not PIH (high blood pressure) or had you come in to be evaluated. Your doctors office is a disgrace. Someone should always be covering for them and available for emergencies. The secretary is not qualified to triage phone calls.<br>
On another note your miscarriage story was also sad. The nurse should have been much more sympathetic. Unfortunatly, it is not true that something could be done if the baby is still alive to save him/her. A vag u/s just reassures you that the baby is okay. However, there is no magic medicine to make a baby stay in there. (they tried that along time ago and BAD things happened) Care at that point is supportive only, unless you are having very, very heavy bleeding and severe pain. At that point you and/or your doctor may suggest a D&C for your safety. We get calls ALL the time from women that are spotting and bleeding in early pregnancy. I try to reassure them, but let them know unfortunately, that there is not alot we can do for them unless the bleeding becomes a problem. BUT I let them know that we are there for them, even if they just need to talk. We have them follow up with there OB first thing in the AM, or come in to us at night if the situation warrants it.<br>
I wish you had a better system there, you deserve it!

 

[Faith]

<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/oops.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="oops">T<br><br>
FWIW, for bleeding in pregnancy, a lot of woman have had success with using progesterone cream. I don't know the exact way to do it, but you can get it almost anywhere and just rub it on your arm or where ever. It is something to look into if you are bleeding.

 

[obnurse]

Progestone cream is not 'magic' either, unfortunately. If it were, every pg woman would be smearing it on their bodies! Progesterone supplementation via ceam, or usually vaginal suppositories.. can be effective if mom's progesterone levels are low. BUT, to my knowledge, (and I could be wrong) supplementing with NORMAL levels of progersterone won't help. And actually, can do some harm I believe. (but I am not sure)

 

[Foobar]

I would keep an eye on your BP. Yes, swelling in the hands,feet and face are symptoms of Pre-e. In addition, your BP may rise and your urine will start having protiens in it.<br><br>
Is there any other practice you can use in the area? My office is great and have been very helpful with everything this pregnancy.....

 

[Greaseball]

You can show up at the ER anytime. Refuse to leave until you get some real answers. Tell them all about "your brother, the medical malpractice lawyer."

 

[Faith]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">
<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Greaseball</strong></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Tell them all about "your brother, the medical malpractice lawyer."</div>
</td>
</tr></table></div>
:LOL<br>
I'm going to remember that incase I ever need it!

 

[normajean]

OK to answer questions--<br><br>
No headache. HAnds and ankles were fine--normal swelling--like I couldn't wear my wedding ring, but they weren't looking abnormal or even puffy. The hopsital nurse didn't even ask any of this stuff by the way. Visual disturbance--I don't know. I have been having a harder time seeing lately, no spots other than a few floaters that I always have--these have been checked before and they are there even when I'm not pg. But my vision has been blurry which I have attributed to just being due to pregnancy eyesight going bad which happened while I was pregnant with my son and went back to normal after delivery. I did have a sharp pain up through right shoulder--I get them occasionally, the doctor said its likely a gas bubble trapped under my diaprahm musle. Baby is definately active...and while I do have sensitive skin, my "normal" reaction to things is hives, not swelling so that also took me by surprise.<br><br>
The nurse at the hospital did not ask me a single question...and I even heard another nurse in the background ask what was going on, and she said, "oh nothing" and then assured me there could be absolutely no correllation between facial swelling and High blood pressure.<br><br>
At this point, I do believe the swelling was a reaction. It was better as the day went on yesterday, and I have a sunburny like rash around my eyes. I had used acne gel on my chin...didn't wash my hands in between that and my eye cream like usual, I think that must be what did it. But the night I called, all I knew was that my face was turning into a marshmallow before my eyes! There was no rash or anything then, and the itchy feeling I had was not "allergy eyes" but itchy skin from the swelling.<br><br>
I normally have very low blood pressure...so the swelling took me by surprise to begin with. I would have hightailed it to walmart and checked on their machine, but at 3 am they aren't open and neither is raleys who has a machine also.<br><br>
Anyhow i've talked with my doctor about the m/c thing...he said progesterone will help if the baby is fine, but the mothers body is contracting...signals a progesterone defiency and they give you cream/suppositories to use. They then monitor your HCG levels and if they go down instead of up, then they know its notjust your body, and there is no chance for the baby either. If the baby is going to die, progesterone will just postpone the inevitable expulsion. He also said that extra progesterone has not been shown to cause adverse effects on the mother or baby, so it can be used as a precaution in a woman with history to m/c if HCG is monitored.<br><br>
I can understand that most likely my baby would have been lost either way. However, no one even checked into it, and progesterone could have been a possibility. Another possibility is a coagulation problem, which could have been found with a simple blood test and a blood thinner could have saved the pregnancy *if* that had been the problem. This came up in my first prenatal with this pregnancy. Having had 2 m/c consecutively you can understand I'm a basket case so we explored "preventative options" a bit, or what the action plan would be in case of another threatened m/c.<br><br>
I guess my point was that even though the pregnancy loss was probably fated, there were options they could have considered, but didn't even explore.<br><br>
My next appointment is Monday morning...doctor will be out until then.

 

[3bees~1flower]

i'm sorry you rhave to deal with uncaring HCPs. how frustrating. i'm in a very rural community as well. my dr, on the other hand, is almost anal about ANY possible PIH/pre-e symptom where i am concerned as i had severe pre-e with my first. this is my 4th pregnancy and he is still watches me very close...i'm so thankful for this.<br><br>
again, i'm sorry you had to deal with all that...i hope you can get better care in the future.