Have I shared the story of how I took the Miniorc to the ER for the worst diaper rash case in history? He had just been born. My mother and I were exhausted (Damm was in AIT) and perhaps not thinking entirely rationally. He had been uncomfortable, crying and not sleeping. When my mom changed his diaper she saw blood, so of course we were in full emergency mode. I had no idea who to call so we went to the ER, where we found out it was a diaper rash. While we were there, though, we got to experience the antics of someone completely drunk or high (not sure which) who was bursting through room doors all over the ER. I had gone to the bathroom so it was just my mom and her newborn grandson when he came through our door. I don't think she's viewed that ER in the same benevolent way again.
Anyway, back to the present time. Damm has been having excruciating headaches. He described it as a 10 on that 1-10 scale (hah. Sorry love, I've been through labor, and they told me my pain couldn't be a 10). Then yesterday he began to get dizzy, numb and also nauseous so he scheduled a doctor's appointment. She told him to go to the ER so we dutifully went and prepared to wait. And wait. And wait. I decided I had been quite spoiled by the many times I had brought the Orclette or Miniorc here, as they had been given a room immediately. When we finally were brought back, we got to share the room with a rather dubious looking character and his police escort. By the end of the hour I could tell his story better than he could, since he seemed to be on something and got various words confused (and he kept repeating the same things). He also broke down crying every five minutes or so. Fun, yes? And he wasn't the only one being escorted. The ER we frequent (and I do mean frequent; I recognized many of the personnel) seems to be where the police bring the ones needing medical attention.
At this point Damm finally was sent to various rooms to be tested. They did pretty much everything, and then we waited anxiously, since his symptoms could describe any number of things, many of them scary. When our PA came in and said he knew exactly what was wrong he almost looked jolly. I wondered if maybe he didn't get to give good news very often? Turns out all Damm had was sinusitis. His right sinus cavity is completely blocked/and infected. He's been put on steroids and antibiotics and we're hoping that maybe we've discovered the root cause of the fatigue he's been feeling, since he's not been able to breath out of his nose for years and sinus troubles can cause that.
So that was our fun and entertaining night in the ER. Not quite how I had envisioned spending my afternoon/evening, but now that Damm knows what's wrong he's relaxed (he had, as I'm sure many of us do when we have strange symptoms, convinced himself that something was seriously wrong) and we have good insurance to pay for the many expensive tests he underwent. And I have an amusing anecdote about the man who kept telling the police officer his life's story over and over for more than three hours.
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