Hospitalization and Anger (TMI if you don't like brief poop talk)

As most all of you know, I was in the hospital this last weekend for intestinal and stomach pain. Turns out, I had a non-mechanical blockage of the intestine--a paralytic ileus. Which is a pretty serious thing. I thought I was just gassy or something, but no, I was in a bad way with an infection that can be life threatening (but usually isn't).

Here's the thing. I wouldn't have gone to the right ER (the one where they actually gave a shit) if my mom (a nurse) hadn't pushed me to tell them it was probably an ileus. When I decided (at 4am) to go to the hospital because the pain was too much and I was worried I wasn't going to get any sleep and that I might be sicker than I thought, I sent my mom a text describing my symptoms and she sent back a frantic push that I needed to get an ultrasound or CT. When I stumbled downstairs and (doubled over in pain) made my way to a taxi to ask them to take me to a hospital, the driver laughed at me. Laughed at a crying, doubled over woman. He said something about Seoul, I'm assuming he was a taxi driver from Seoul and trying to tell me he didn't know where anything is, but that's no excuse for not helping someone in obvious pain. He could have called 119 or used his stupid GPS to find an ER. I could have called 119, but I wasn't convinced it was that serious. I got out of the cab, slammed the door and cussed while crying and clutching my stomach.

There's a small hospital across the street from my apartments, but I don't like it--I went there for an ob/gyn check up since that's the only English on the sign and I didn't like the doctor. It also looked closed. I jay-walked across the street, praying I wasn't struck by a crazy Korean driver that would come zooming out of no where. I was lucky, there was an attendant sleeping at the desk and the door was unlocked. I hobbled up to the desk and pulled out the Lonely Planet phrase book and pointed to the words "pain, constipation, diarrhea" which confused the attendant and I tried to explain "One year constipation. One day diarrhea." in broken Korean. He called the nurse and doctor and they hooked me up to an IV and gave me some antibiotics and were confused by my crying and whimpering when the needles came out (I tried to explain since the doctor spoke some English, but it just hurt the argument that I knew what real pain was) and then freaking out a bit more when the nurse hit a nerve and my thumb went tingly. ***Update: My thumb feels pretty weird and when I bump the place the nurse poked me the thumb goes numb*** I was put in a room and left there until I walked out an hour and a half later since the IV bag was empty and my blood was backing up into the tube. The pain was the same. There was no call button that I could see in the room.

The attendant (same guy as before) told me the IV makes the problem disappear and there was nothing to do now and to come back at 9am for outpatient consult with the doctor. I tried to tell him the pain was the same, the IV didn't make the problem disappear (this was all through a phone dictionary, his limited knowledge of English and my very limited knowledge of Korean). So, I hobbled out of the hospital, stopped at the steps and doubled over again because the pain was still strong and I was worried I wouldn't make it across the street. He just repeated to come back at 9am. It was 6:30am, I had to go home and wait it out. WTF Korea?

I Skyped my mom, since she's my mom and was the reason I decided I should go to the hospital in the first place. She told me that the hospital was crazy, I had all the classic symptoms of intestinal blockage, that it was a serious thing, and that I had to push for the tests to see what was wrong. I did, at 9am, I went back to talk to the doctor. He told me it was just inflamed intestines and that I had to take some pills and go home. I called my mom again to let her know what he said. She asked if they did any tests to look inside, I said no and she repeated that I needed to get them if only to rule it out because I had all the symptoms.

I brought my computer with a list of symptoms of intestinal blockage and a list of symptoms for the gastritis--pointing out that I had all the symptoms on the blockage list and only two on the other. The doctor said that those were "common symptoms" and I said, "Yes, of intestinal blockage." He said that I couldn't get a CT at that hospital (even though there was a room for CT and a room for xrays) and that there was an insurance issue. I said I'd pay out of pocket and flashed my American insurance at him. He finally wrote the order for a CT and said I would have to go to the ER at Sang Mo Hospital. I had to press him to write the constipation under the "symptoms" section of the order, and he said, "but that's not your current issue, you have diarrhea" and I had to explain again that this was only in the last 24 hours and that for a year I had been constipated on and off. He finally wrote it down.

I went to the desk and asked the nurse to write the name of the hospital in Korean so I could show the taxi driver. They just spoke the name and told me to get a taxi. *facepalm* I said "ssuda juseyo" (write please) like I do with my students (the geniuses are only 5-11 years old and understand the "writing" gesture and the instruction to write). The nurse wrote it down and wanted to the flag down a cab for me--pretty much acting like I was an idiot because I wanted her to write down the name.

I got to the ER feeling like an idiot because I was under the impression (from all the Koreans) that I was over-reacting. My co-worker had to come and sign me in because I guess I'm not allowed to do that myself? I was downplaying the situation with him because I was still under the impression that I was not in any danger. I continued to feel this way until 6 hours into my hospitalization when a new doctor finally showed me the images from my CT and xray and explained how my colon was 2-3 times normal size and both it and my stomach were filled with air. That it might mean surgery. That they should never have removed the tube from my nose. That I would have to stay for 2-3 days.


I still don't know if it was my fussy nature that made them release me. My mom said that she wouldn't have let me out until my first successful BM. The morning shift doctor said I could go though and that my xray from that morning looked "good." Whatever that means.

I'm still freaked out. Every burp feels like a warning sign, but they don't stink like they did. I'm having slight indigestion right now, so I'm trying to keep track of that to talk to the doctor about tomorrow. I am angry that I had to push to be taken seriously. That I was pretty much ignored by doctors and nurses while in both ERs, and that I just don't know what the heck was going on. I was trying to think of the closest English speaking country with good hospitals in the event that I just wanted to fly there. The American doctor (someone my dad knows) and nurse (my mom) who were consulted both said it was a serious condition, but the Koreans acted like it was a nose bleed.

So there's one more thing I won't miss about Korea-- crap communication with doctors and nurses. I don't understand why Koreans don't draw maps or use visual aids when talking to non-Korean speakers. Pictures help! Seriously, if I need to know where something is, draw a flippin' map! Don't just repeat your Korean directions. Ugh. If I need to know when to take pills, write the time or draw a clock. To the nurse's credit, she did eventually write the time on the pill pouches.

I am grateful to all the nurses and doctors who did help me out, and to the ones who tried to talk to me despite communication barriers. And my awesome roommate (who was in for a thyroidectomy due to stage 3 cancer--which made me feel stupid for whimpering over needles) who walked me to the place I needed to go to pay for the stay and explained when I needed to take my meds in her broken English.


Anyway, I'm feeling better but freaked out.