A survival guide for being admitted to the hospital

[Brittany Foster]

I would highly stress having the doctor call beforehand. If you can’t get in touch with your own doctor directly before going into the hospital, even having someone like your primary care doctor make a call makes a huge difference. I was in the hospital just last week with a bacterial infection and having my primary doctor call beforehand with a brief history and a “heads up” about my condition ended up getting me in a lot sooner than I expected. It’s comforting to know that they are looking out for us. And it eases the anxiety we face wondering “will these doctors have any idea about our conditions if we are admitted in the ER?”

I’ve had doctors try to take my oxygen off of me because my sats were “okay” in the ER. I had to explain to them that just because my sats were in the normal range doesn’t mean it won’t stress my body when it’s off. I’ve always panicked about them taking it away from me ever since then. When my own doctors talk to them beforehand I don’t worry as much!

Thanks for sharing this article ! It’s so important !

[Beverly Repouille]

Brittany, first of all, you are a fabulous writer! Thank you for all the articles and replies you’ve written.

I love the article about being admitted to the hospital. It is spot on except for one thing – medication!

I had always assumed that whatever medication I needed would be provided by the hospital. They should have everything I need in their pharmacy. Right? Not so much! I was really surprised when I was first hospitalized after being on Adempas that the hospital did not carry it! Thank goodness, we only live about 20 minutes from the hospital so my dear husband retrieved my medication for me. He brings me the bottle and the nurses want to know how they know it’s mine. So my poor dear husband had to go back to the house and try to find the package that it came in which proves it’s mine along with how much I’m supposed to take.

So I would also add to your wonderful list to bring any “specialized” medications along with any prescribing instructions (if they are not on the bottle).

[Brittany Foster]

Beverly,
Thank you so much for the kind words! Also, you are so right about bringing specialized medications! I have also had this problem when being admitted to the hospital. I take laxatives every day for a congenital condition that happened to my spine when I was a baby and when I was admitted into the hospital the max dosage for them was 3 laxatives (I take 6 or I will NOT GO!) So they were shocked to hear this and I had to take extra in because it was hard for me to get 6 approved !

So you are so right when you say to be cautious about this and bring the meds with you!

Always wishing you the best!

🙂