My Trip to the ER

So, I went home Friday from the hospital after I was sleeved last Wednesday.  Everything went very well and since I made sure to walk at least every two hours and sip fluids all day, I was in pretty good shape to go home.  I noticed one of the incision sites was warm to the touch on Friday night.  It was the same on Saturday and so my mom, who is an RN, urged me to call the hospital to let them know because it could be an infection.  

Well...we made the 1.5 hour trip to the ER after they refused to prescribe an antibiotic over the phone.  My Dr. was not available and the on call Dr. was less than thrilled to be called in on a Saturday and made it known to me that this was an inconvenience for him.  They took blood work, did an ultrasound, and then...a CT scan.  The nurse brought in a 16-20 ounce (I'm guessing by size) barium smoothie that I was required to drink in 30 minutes.  I let them know that something of this size takes me hours to drink because of my recent sleeve procedure.  They did not care.  While in the CT scan the Dr. was not happy with the pics and the tech proceeded to feed me more of the smoothie lying down by straw!  I asked to get up and they didn't want to alter my body's position so the answer was no.  I let them know I was instructed not to use a straw and the tech replied "I know."  

Four hours later I was told that some blood was trapped under the skin from the surgery and was getting infected, so they prescribed me.....wait for it.....an antibiotic!!!!  Not only did this waste 3 hours of driving time and 4 hours of time in the ER, but I feel like they were very excessive in the services provided, which will cost me a LOT of money.  Also, I am worried about the amount of liquid I was required to drink in such a short period so soon after surgery.  

I would contact the Director of the Emergency Room at that hospital and let them know how you were treated. The patient has a right to say how he or she is being cared for. I work in an ER and sometimes this happens and they speak to the director and problems like this may be solved. Glad to hear it was not anything major. 

Thanks for the advice.  I wasn't sure if I was making something out of nothing, I don't like to be "that person."  I will try to contact the ER director to give them some feedback.

Look for a "hospital ombudsman," they're the person who can get your comments/complaints to the right place.

I've yet to meet a doctor who will prescribe ANYTHING over the phone without seeing you in person. Particularly true for antibiotics, which are generally over-prescribed and lead to superbugs.

Glad they worked it out at least! Hope you get right on the mend.