Unfiltered Story #278210

I have a medical condition that makes colds and the flu very dangerous for me. I could die from either. Last year I caught the flu despite having gotten vaccinated (the shot doesn’t always work 100%). I was prescribed antiviral medication and actually started feeling better. But then I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I was trying to breathe through jello. The virus had triggered bronchitis, so I packed a bag and went to the ER.

The doctor there wasn’t taking it seriously at all but I knew I was in no shape to go home with oral antibiotics. The ER doc had been on the phone with my specialist.

ER doc: “Dr. Specialist said to send you home with oral antibiotics.”

Me: “Absolutely not. This is probably the sickest I’ve ever been. You never even listened to my lungs so how can you give my doctor an accurate picture of what’s going on? I’ve had doctors listen to my lungs when I come in for a sprained ankle!”

ER doc: “Well, the hospital is pretty full right now so we’re not going to admit you.”

Me: “Yes you are! Figure it out because I’m not going home!”

ER doc “Uh, well…. I’ll see what I can do.”

He had a nurse come in and put a pulso ox monitor on me to measure my pulse and oxygen level then had me walk. I didn’t make it 20 feet before my oxygen tanked. The doctor was shocked. He thought that everything would be fine and it would prove to me that I was healthy enough to go home. But I obviously wasn’t fine so they admitted me. I had a room upstairs about an hour later. He never did listen to my lungs which infuriated my specialist. I spent a week in the hospital and another month recovering at home. I also filed a grievance against that ER doc.