I got registered and then was taken to triage. It was 3:30 PM. They took my vitals and asked me how much pain. (Scale of 1 to 10.) I answered honestly that it was the worst pain I'd ever felt, so 10. I was put in the lobby, where I laid down on a couch and eventually passed out and slept. I didn't know that two hours had passed. A lot of the pain passed during that time but I was still in a lot of pain, my body was exhausted and I was starting to get muscle aches from the pain making me tense up. I was going in and out of semi-consciousness.
I stayed in the lobby for five and a half hours. I didn't see a doctor, or a nurse. I just curled up in a ball and cried. I got fed up and told them I was leaving. I was going home to sleep off the rest of the pain and they told me I was next to get a room. Fifteen minutes later, I got into a room. A nurse threw a stained gown and sheet at me and told me to wait. That was the last person I saw. No doctor, no nurse...nothing. For an hour. At 9:30 PM, I got tired of waiting around. I wasn't in nearly bad pain, couldn't tell them where it hurt so it was pretty much useless to stick around.
Six hours without seeing a doctor or a nurse other than the triage nurse. Six hours without food or drink. Six hours of pain. Pain so bad that I was crying and curled up. (I usually try to hide my pain.)
My mother's writing a letter to the editor of our local paper and my boss says to tell the higher ups. I probably will.
