Posted by Todd Owen (205.188.201.198) on December 13, 2001 at 10:06:05:
In Reply to: Need to vent really bad right now... posted by Linda Howell on December 13, 2001 at 04:02:20:
Been in a similar position with this before. Unfortunately it was with the triage nurse at the local ER as I was getting nailed with a 10 spike that I couldn't control. The conversation between my wife and her went something like this:
Wife: "Are you going to see my husband soon? He's in excruciating pain out here."
Nurse:"What does he need to be seen for?"
W: "He has cluster headaches, he has one that is a 10 on his pain scale, it is out of control."
N: "He has a migraine, ok."
W: "No, he has cluster headaches."
N: "Is that a type of migraine?"
W: "It is similar to a migraine in the basic physiology of each attack, but they occur regularly, several times a day, often at regular intervals. He is chronic, has been having these for over two years solid."
N: (Confused look on her face) "uhhhhh, I'll get to him in a few minutes, I've got other people in line first"
W: "Well, you should be able to find him easy enough, he's the one out here screaming while trying to push his eye through the back of his head."
I won't even go into the conversations when being triaged or with the doctor. My wife has wished silently for years that the doctor or nurse would experience clusters firsthand, just once, so they could understand my life. She got her wish a few weeks ago when the ER she took me to had a nurse who was also a clusterhead. Best damn treatment I ever received.
Todd Owen