Going to the hospital

No, I'm not going to the hospital, but sometimes I do. I normally take the measures listed below first to see if they help. I will try lying on my stomach with a pillow against it or lying in the fetal position with the pillow. If that doesn't help, I will move on to a heating pad. I don't know if there is any medical evidence that this helps, but it seems to ease the pain a bit for me sometimes. If that doesn't help make the pain where I can tolerate it, or the pain gets to a level where I might consider going to the hospital, I will usually take one or two of my lortab pills. I normally just take two. The prescription says to take one, but I have found out that one doesn't usually cut it and I don't want to wait around for the pain to stop when I know it isn't going to. Then I assume the position (see previous sentences) to wait for the meds to kick in. If that doesn't work, I will often take percocet. I don't know if this is stronger, but it seems to do the trick a little better. I think it is stronger because it does not have a refill and the lortab will have one refill. Maybe it just works better because by the time I take it, I have already taken the lortab as well. Who knows? I do know that people get addicted to pain meds fairly easily. You read about it all the time. So I have a certain fear/respect for pain meds. I do not want to become one of those people, so I will not take them unless I know I will be going to the hospital otherwise.

As I mentioned, sometimes the meds don't help enough and I actually do go to the hospital. I hate going there because I sometimes feel like the doctors and nurses think I am "faking" the pain so I can get drugs. They seem skeptical about it when I tell them it's my pancreas...like I'm some idiot that doesn't know what I am talking about. I also feel like they think I am lying when I tell them I haven't had anything to drink and that I don't drink. One time after going to the ER and telling them all of this, they told me I needed to stop drinking. When they do believe that I don't drink, they will suggest that it is my gall bladder...which I do not have. When I inform them of this, they will suggest that maybe a stone is "still" lodged in there from when they took it out. I will then tell them there is no stone; there never were any stones. The stupid thing just wasn't functioning the way it was supposed to. At some point, they will finally draw some blood to check my enzyme levels. Elevated lipase and amylase levels are a sign that you have pancreatitis. Quite frequently, my levels are not high. This fact reinforces the medical personnel's belief that I am trying to get drugs. The funny thing is that the first time I was admitted to the hospital with pancreatitis, my levels were not very high either. The next day they were higher and I was moved to the ICU from my room. My levels are not usually high at the onset of the pain. If the levels rise, it is several hours after the initial pain. It's frustrating! The ironic thing about this is that I DON'T LIKE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL. I always try pain management things at home first. The hospital is the last resort for me. I hate it when these people who don't even know me act as if I am over-reacting. When I went to the hospital and was subsequently admitted for a week in March, the ER doctor was going to send me home. I heard her talking about it to the nurses. (It's funny that the medical people seem to think that you can't hear what they are saying if they are standing on the other side of the curtain. Come on, people! It's a curtain, not a door!) I started crying because I knew I was ill and needed help. Fortunately for me a nurse stepped behind the curtain at that point, saw me, and went right out to the doctor and told her she REALLY thought I should be admitted. The ER doctor reluctantly admitted me. I have not had good experiences with the ER and that is why I really do not go to the hospital unless I feel there is no other alternative.