As you know from my previous post I had a bit of a medical emergency last week. I learned some good lessons from that experience that I want to share with you.
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I’d been experiencing pain for a few weeks and had gone to the doctors to see find out what the problem was. Finally it was determined that I was pregnant and might be having some kind of complications. I was scheduled to get a few tests done, but my doctor told me that if I had any extreme pain I should go to the emergency room.

On Wednesday evening, I experienced pain that was so bad I thought I would surely faint, so I called an ambulance. When I went to the emergency room the paramedics and the nurses were kind of rude to me. They all had a what-are-you-doing-here attitude. I waited at the emergency room for three hours before I was even seen by a doctor. Then they just gave me pain killers and sent me home.

The next day I went to the hospital to get the ultrasound I was scheduled for first thing in the morning. I had gotten another ultrasound two days earlier. When she saw this ultrasound, the doctor immediately said that my fallopian tube appeared to have ruptured at some point between this ultrasound and the last one. Within hours I was being prepped for surgery.

The lesson I learned from this is to always listen to my body. When I went to the emergency room, I knew something was very wrong. I was in servere pain, but I let the “experts” at the hospital convince me that I was being silly and there was nothing really wrong.

What happened to me is partially my fault. When the ambulance came I was trying my best to act cool and collected. I wasn’t wailing in pain or making a big deal of what was happening. I think it’s a form of politeness. I didn’t want to put people out or draw too much attention to myself so I played down my pain and kept apologizing to the paramedics.

There are times when you need to draw attention to yourself, especially when your health is involved.  You know your body and what’s going on with it better than anyone else. If you feel like there is something wrong don’t let others convince you otherwise. Seeking out the help you need and insisting on it is important. Sometimes you’ll only get the care you need if you’re insistent.

Photo by boliston