Wednesday, January 23, 2008

No. I will not be nice to her.

Meth head signs in for dental pain. Apparently her pretty little black nubbins are causing her some discomfort.

1. She's totally stoned out of her gourd.

I'm mildly annoyed.

2. She's 6 months pregnant.

I'm really annoyed.

3. She's causing a scene (loud, obnoxious, and cussing) because she wants narcotics.

I'm getting angry.

4. She's hollering that we won't give her any drugs because of this "stupid thing" in her belly. "Just take it out. I don't want it anyway. My teeth hurt!"

I want to punch her.

5. Around the corner and three doors down is a 36 year old woman and her husband that have been trying to have a baby for 8 years. She's miscarrying at 8 weeks. Again.

I'm now furious.

6. Discharge instructions, security, buh-bye.

Some "patients" do not deserve anything. She is one of them.

17 comments:

EE said...

Sad shit.

AtYourCervix said...

I see things like this far too often. What's even harder is that there are several RN's on L&D right now that cannot conceive their own child, and have to take care of ungrateful, self-abusing, destructive women like this (the addict, etc).

JD said...

It's sad when you look at a mess like that and think "if she OD'd it would be a good thng. . . "

Full-On-Forward said...

Thanks,

Now I'm pissed and I don't have to work until tomorrow!!!!

If my first pt has dental pain I will haunt your butt for a week! LOL.

John

Hey- what does a Meth Baby and her Mom have in common? NO TEETH!!!

Thank you, Thank you- I'll be here all week!

Anonymous said...

I'm PMSing BAD right now - give me her name and I'll come punch her myself.

mielikki said...

I can't. even. comment.
nope. got nothin'.

Jess said...

I tried to think of something to say, but just keep wanting to scream.

Anonymous said...

08armydoc -- a little more empathy, please. As an ER doc, one should at least have offered pain control by eliminating the source of the pain -- "Please wait in room #3, maintenance will be along shortly with the plumber wrench."

Felix.

Anonymous said...

Oh and you can be sure when baby (poor poor little thing) comes, she will fight tooth(less) and nail to keep it... gotta rake in that welfare check. Fucking heathens.

Shari Ann

Anonymous said...

P.S. and OT as Hell...

I love you Monkey... cause you rock, AND you link to ICanHasCheezburger. It takes the edge off my day fo' sho'

Shari Ann

MLO said...

Women who want children can't and then drug addicts condemn their unwanted children to horrid lives because our society is too cowardly to hold them accountable. All in the name of civil rights.

I'm sorry, but I think her butt should be in jail and she should be on forced bcps until she can prove she can stay clean.

CrankyProf said...

You could use a crowbar to put her into a "therapeutic coma" until the baby is born...

Anonymous said...

Monkey Girl, I must confess...I again, because of my getting behind on bills and not having my dental surgery done yet, have had to traverse to my local ER for tooth pain.

I have what could be considered "Meth Mouth" even though I was a cokehead. I didn't ask for pain pills, I asked for a nerve block. I told them "I know what this looks like, but I'm not here for a prescription. Just kill the nerve and I'll be happy." I waited, and didn't cause a scene. I didn't whine, I didn't complain, I didn't ask for food. I was sober, just hurting very badly. I just want them ripped out...

They still gave me a lortab script, 16 lortab 5mg, and an antibiotic. I got a heavy nerve block as well.

I didn't care about the script as much as I did the block, and the pullings should begin in a few weeks provided I've met my deductible for my dental insurance by then.

If only more people were nice and not hateful, and didn't expect things when they went to the er for tooth pain, we wouldn't all be accused of seeking.

RagingServer.com

Stephanie said...

I'm new to reading all the medblogs, but for the most part, I've been enjoying it. There are times I get a little frustrated and sad - I've been dx'ed with fibromyalgia, for instance (though it's secondary to a "real" syndrome that can be verified with a skin biopsy, etc.) I've never been to the ED for pain in my life, but sometimes seeing the anger and disbelief is a little disheartening.

Then I see posts like this, and I understand the reaction to anyone seeming like a drug seeker. I was raped and got pregnant from it. I carried the baby to term and gave birth without any medication whatsoever. It was neither easy nor fun to be in constant, excruciating pain AND pregnant, but I wasn't living just for myself anymore.

But when people won't even take responsibility for their own lives, I guess acting responsible for someone else's life is right out the window.

Anonymous said...

Stephanie:

I don't think any of that was directed at my comment, but I know what got me into the mess I'm in.

I screwed myself with a cocaine addiction for 11 years, and am paying for it now.

Stephanie said...

Ribeye:

Nothing at all to do with your comment, and everything to do with the original post.

With respect to your situation, sounds like you're fixing the mess you were in. We all do things we're not proud of, and fixing them is hard and can be scary. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

That would make me angry too. We had our struggles with infertility and ultimately had a child with donor eggs. What I never could figure out was why all the crack whores and other idiots were so easily able to stumble into what I wanted most. I laud your restraint.