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I had a concussion after falling off the hearth of my fireplace onto my wood living room floor. I slept on the floor for two days, and then I must have called a friend who convinced me to go to the ER. I drove myself (I had NO judgement at the time), and the lady at the front desk of the ER rushed me back to a bed. The first person to see me was a lady who wanted my insurance card, THEN the nurse and doctor came in. I remember doing HORRIBLY on a very, very simple neuro exam, and I was rushed in to get a CT scan. While this all sounds wonderful, I was left alone after that for about seven hours and was taken off the meds I need for an autoimmune disease I have. The doctor gave me a sedative because some of the meds I take can't be stopped immediately and some are sometimes used as sedatives themselves! When I asked her what she planned to do if I had a problem withdrawing from my normal medications, she said she would give me more of the sedative SHE wanted to use! I was then left alone behind a curtain until it was time to leave. No one woke me up until it was time to go home. My nurse said that she, ""checked in on me"" while I slept, but she didn't wake me up. The doctor said I was ""fine"" (a direct quote), and was not given any restrictions for the following few days or weeks. I was not asked about my living situation, nor my immediate plans; for all anyone knew, I could have attempted to get on the Interstate and drive to Atlanta! I was just handed some paperwork and was told I could leave.\r
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About three days later, I read the paperwork I was given. Ond of the sheets said, ""YOU HAVE A CONCUSSION. MAKE SURE SOMEONE STAYS WITH YOU FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS, AND HAVE THEM WAKE YOU UP EVERY TWO HOURS."". I don't need an MD degree to know that concussions can be dangerous, and I had spent two days sleeping on my living room floor! I was shocked that the doctor didn't even want to keep me overnight for observation. I live alone and had no one who could/would stay with me, much less wake me up every two hours, but the doctor didn't ask about that simple part of the discharge. If I didn't have a concussion, why was I given such paperwork???\r
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I would love to sue the ER company (the ER is not part of the hospital--it's outsourced and it's merely located inside the hospital building), but, having been in a very bad car accident that left lasting damage, the insurance company that represents the ER will try to blame the concussion I got from falling off my fireplace hearth on an autoimmune disease I have. Lawyers only want to take the cases that will bring in a chunk of a BIG settlement, not a case that failed to cause any further injury to myself or others. Despite the severe blow to my head, I knew I was NOT ""fine"" and I stayed home and rested for about a week. That ER and the doctor are awfully lucky that I know a little bit about brain injuries and could tell that I shouldn't be driving or operating heavy machinery.\r
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Just because people are friendly, it doesn't mean that they know how to do their jobs. After all, the person who graduates at the bottom of their class from medical school is still called ""Doctor"".
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