Here some like to call it Cape Cadaver. It is indeed Cape Canaveral. I sat in the ER for 3 hours, longest wait I've ever had.

I just spent the last two days in Cape Canaveral Hospital.

It's a relatively small hospital with an awesome view of the Banana River on three sides. Apparently they have been slammed for the last two weeks and I think I know why. I've known too many people around the country who have fallen ill to the same thing.

By the time I got into the ER, not expecting to be admitted, they had no beds available whatsoever.

However, they did want to admit me, surprise surprise because in Charlotte I would have never been admitted.

I was actually in less pain when I went there than I was the two days before. Fearing I had an obstruction, I went anyway.

Seems they found this blip on my CT scan. The ER doc thought it was a spec of new Crohn's (I've been Crohn's free for at least 3 years)

The only bed available was on the pediatric floor. When I arrived on the floor both nurses (all two of them) were sooooo excited to see me. Seems they had no other patients but me.

I was placed in a beautiful room with three plantation shuttered windows, red wood built ins reaching up to the ceiling and flat red wood pillars separating each window. It was the most gorgeous room I've ever been in. They had a state of the art TV system, complete with their own movie channel (I watched 3 movies) as well as a healthy dose of cable channels.

Imagine, a private room with two private nurses? Yes, there I was.

They followed nursing protocol like nursing protocol was supposed to be followed. Be still my heart. It had been so long.

The nurses were thrilled because without the extra traffic they could truly do their craft as it was meant to be. I connected with each and every one of them, and (sigh) they respected me not only as someone who had lived with Crohn's for 31 years, but also had worked as a nurse and had an understanding of procedures. I'm telling you, heaven.

And then, the three Indian doctors came in and spoiled the dream.

Oh the first one was kind, he came in, asked me questions, understood.

The GI one came in, was kind of abrupt, but still asked the right questions, suggested I have another colonoscopy, and took solace in the fact that preventative medicine should be taken to keep my Crohn's from reccuring was a good thing.

The last one was another GP. He contradicted not only the other two doctors, but some of the best GIs I've known in three states. Example: Imodium is a dangerous drug. Levsin and Lammotil will do me no good. I should just resign myself to the fact that I will always have to live with my constant diarrhea.

Nevermind the fact that every other GI doc has let me take the drugs to great results (without any problems)

He assured me that I had no active disease, but an intestinal infection. Ok, I buy that. As two of my friends got sick with kind of the same symptoms at the same time as I. One of my friend's friend came back from Ohio with the same thing. And my friend's husband in TX had the same thing. Not to mention they closed down a school in the area with the same symptoms. In other words, we all had infected intestines with the same symptoms. The hospital had been slammed for two weeks with an extra ordinary amount of patients.

On top of the intestinal infection, I had a bladder infection. They've been feeding me antibiotics for two days. He's let me have Dilaudid and a new kind of anti-nausea med for two days, IV. Not to mention two antibiotics and a steroid for two days. As he released me, he continued only two antibiotics, one pepcid and the anti-nausea med, yet refused me pain med and didn't continue the steroid.

His reasoning? I only have "gas" pain (which I'm pretty sure I know the difference in...my gut is still tender to the touch) and it's addictive. Really? Cause IV pain med is sooooo much more addictive than oral pain med.

And God help him if I wake up with a slamming headache because he didn't see fit to wean me off the steroid.

Really? I asked yesterday to be switched to an oral pain med, yet he refused. Additionally, Kim, the nurse, told him I hadn't slept more than 3 hours since I've been there and asked if maybe he could give me a sleeping pill for ONE night. He refused.

So last night I stayed up all night. No sleep.

I had a total of 5-6 hours sleep in the two days I've been there.

Additionally, he didn't redo a CAT scan to see where my intestinal infection was at. And he didn't repeat a urinary test to see where my bladder infection was at. And yet, he will refuse me not only sleep aid, but pain meds.

Then he has the nerve to ask me do I smoke. Well, yes I do. He says he saw a nodule on my breast (NO history of breast cancer EVER in my family) I tell him I had a cyst, I think, several years ago and it was biopsied. NO, IT'S A NODULE.

Ok, maybe it was a nodule they called it. All I know, is I had something biopsied. He screams at me, "you have a nodule and it could be cancer!"

So now I have to track down those films so they can be compared with new films, basically to prove him wrong. Even the nurse was like "that was harsh"

I will be lodging a formal complaint against him. He doesn't
know enough about Crohn's to be an expert. An intestinal infection nor a bladder infection can be solved in two days, so to deny pain med when you extend every other treatment, is not right. He doesn't know my pain is "gas" pain. And to deny me on the grounds of "addictive" is punishing me for those who became addictive. I haven't touched a pain med in 6 years.

When a nurse tells him I'm not sleeping, he refuses to give me a sleep aid (I didn't ask him for it. A nurse saw the need and yet he refused)

Likewise, although I will find a primary physician (and thank God they have DO's down here) I will refuse to have Dr. Sanvani on my case EVER AGAIN!

Thank God I'm home! I missed my puppy and my son. I had three good friends who took care of Z, and Asche and I while I was in the hospital. I told Tracy she could stay with me last night and found out today that someone I don't know at the hospital told her she couldn't.

I'll get to the bottom of this.

The nursing staff was the best I've ever seen. The room and amenities were awesome (I actually got to take a nice, hot bath!) They called the courtesy van to take me home and when it got backed up, they paid for a cab ride home for me. Awesome!

The hospital doctors (and I will note, they don't have patients, they work for the hospital) leave a lot to be desired. Other than the ER doc, Dr. Bozz; he was awesome! However, I got stuck six times for three IV sites of which two of them infiltrated. In two days, even though I have lousy veins, that ain't really that good of a ratio.