The second rant

I had to take my son to the emergency room the other night.  He had fallen on his head during the school day, and even though he was basically fine, his neck was very sore.  I thought I would just take him to our family doctor to be evaluated, but when I called the office, the nurse told me, in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS to call 911 and get him immobilized IMMEDIATELY!!!

Even though  I, who have a modicum of common sense and medical training, thought this was overkill, I did agree that an x-ray would make sense... and thus I entered the world of emergency medicine for nonemergency purposes.  The most rational course of action would have been for us to go see the doctor and then get a referral for an x-ray -- but what happened instead was that the nurse alarmed me so much that I was frightened into calling 911.

The paramedics showed up promptly, and were very kind, but they also all agreed that yes, you cannot take a chance with head or neck injuries.  So they immobilized my basically unhurt 12 year old son with a neck brace, head restraints, and a spine board -- which is that stiff plastic board that they strap people down to, very tightly.  One of the EMTs told us that during his training, when they practiced on each other, they learned to tie people down so tight that if you drop the board, or it rolls over, or whatever, that the person strapped down does not move even a little bit.  So you can imagine how uncomfortable this is.

He rode in the ambulance with me following behind in the car.  And then, the long wait began.  Since he was not bleeding, did not have a concussion, and it was not really an emergency, I was already feeling pretty guilty about using the emergency room. despite the fact that I had been urgently instructed to get him there.  And the ER doctor also looked at us like we were wasting his time, which made me feel even worse (to the point of apologizing for being there!)  In any case, he gave the order for a CAT scan (whatever happened to the good old fashioned x-ray?) so then we sat and waited for the test, and then waited a long time for the results.  Roughly 5 hours later, my son was discharged with a diagnosis of a sprained neck and given an ice bag and a cervical collar to wear.

While I understand that there was a possibility of a compression fracture in the neck, I was really dismayed that our family doctor wouldn't even see my son, so we could start conservatively before invoking all the bells and whistles and trauma of the hospital visit.  What happened to us was that I was bullied into accepting all the intervention.  One of my friends told me that really, I did have the right, as the parent, to refuse to go that route:  that I could have insisted on an x-ray instead of a CAT scan, or that I could have just insisted on going to the doctor's office instead of the emergency room.  But when I called, and described the situation -- basically, my son hurt his neck at school around lunch time, can you look at it tonight? -- the nurse went immediately into full-blown alarmist mode.  Despite my telling her, no, really, I don't think it's that bad, there was no allowance for my own judgment.  The doctors and ER staff do not give you the feeling that you have any right to dictate what happens regarding your own care or that of your family members.  The whole atmosphere is about disempowerment.

I quickly start to doubt myself and forget what my rights are.  (On the other hand, I can be very insistent when I think that the doctors are ignoring or misdiagnosing what I feel is a serious problem with one of my children, and insist on emergency care.  Ask me about my daughter's head injury some time.)

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When I see my clients, and they tell me about all the medical interventions they have gone through, I am very sympathetic, because medical doctors seem to be trained to frighten people into getting treated.  Not too many doctors are willing to take the slow and patient route, although to give her credit, our family doctor usually is quite conservative and level-headed.

Part of my practice is about empowering my clients to take charge of their own health and health care.  Because I fell into the same trap of alarmist medical intervention, it just gives me even more motivation to be kind with my clients, really listen to them, and keep gentleness and compassion in the forefront of my mind and spirit.