# How many times have you been to the emergency room? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831 "2010-12-20T13:52:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/82 "2010-12-21T01:01:14Z")
> [@C3](#): > > (I just paid that nearly-$800 bill). Do you miss Australia now? šŸ˜ƒ Too many to count, because I have been through bouts of poorly controlled asthma and no health insurance (once a week for a couple of months was the highlight.) Other than asthma: 1. Sliced open the side of my eye when I was younger than five 2. Allergic reaction with facial swelling when I was a teenager 3. Pneumonia and couldnā€™t breathe, also a teenager, off the back of influenza 4. Pneumonia and couldnā€™t breath, as an adult 5. Back out so severely I couldnā€™t get off the floor, also my first and only ambulance ride 6. Pulmonary embolism from a DVT I didnā€™t know I had. Nearly died that time, three days in ICU, two weeks in hospital. 7. Twice for gallstones/gallbladder issues - still havenā€™t had it removed Wow, Iā€™m hard work! ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/83 "2010-12-21T01:09:19Z")
Hmmm- keep thinking of new cases as I go. Age: Reason 2 ODā€™d on orange-flavored baby aspirin, there are child proof caps on medicine now for a reason. 4 2 stitches in the lip, fell on the corner of a table 11 13 stitches, bit on the leg by Lassie, my stepmotherā€™s collie 12 tetanus shot; struck by a dart 19 mononucleosis; really was the ā€œkissing diseaseā€- was staying out way too late with my girlfriend & going to work way to early- even for a 19 year-old 19 food poisoning evidently at Thanksgiving, several others in my family were also puking like dogs 23 acute pain in left leg that healed itself in a couple days 30 x-rays for possible broken thumb, fortunately just severely sprained 32 barfing guts out again for some unknown reason 33 severe poison ivy, was all over my arms, chest & stomach and heading southward 50 hit by a car while riding bicycle on midnight bike ride; once again nothing broken, I bounce pretty well Proud of the fact that I never had to go to the Emergency Room in my 18 years employment at Red Lobster dumbest reason to be in the emergency ward: 4 year old sister stuck a bead in her nostril ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/84 "2010-12-21T01:21:03Z")
Itā€™s odd you should ask, as I was just there Saturday night. I slipped on some ice and bounced my head hard enough to lose my glasses and scrape up my scalp. Before that, I went in a handful of times for various things. Car wreck, stitches in my hand, heart palpitations, vagaling out in a roomful of paramedics, sprained ankle, passing out and hitting my headā€¦I think that about covers it. No, come to think of it, I was in twice for a dog biteā€“once for initial treatment, since the doc in a box wasnā€™t open when I got off work at 3 am, and again a few days later when I thought the joint had gone septic. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/85 "2010-12-21T01:30:57Z")
> [@Gleena](#): > > Do you miss Australia now? šŸ˜ƒ Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes. His hospitalizations for bronchiolitis were in Australia - 3 times, 4-5 days each time, fantastic care: $0. One slip off the bed, a **seven** hour ER wait in the U.S., and five stitches: $780. The PA did do a very neat job, so maybe my son will be able to pay us back once his future modeling career takes off. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/86 "2010-12-21T01:45:39Z")
Iā€™ve never been to an actual ER. I was in a nasty bike accident as an undergrad, though, but it was on campus and the health center did a rush to see me. It was just before they were closing, and if I had been just a little bit later, I would have had to go to the ER. And in grad school I had to do a rush thing at the health center to get what turned out to be an ear infection checked out, or I would have torn my fucking ear out of my head. So those were two times where I just lucked out - if Iā€™d been far away or the health centers had been closed, I would have had to go to the ER, as I was in pretty severe need of immediate medical attention both times. ---
**Author:** ![CreaseMunky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@CreaseMunky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CreaseMunky)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/87 "2010-12-21T08:34:00Z")
Age 11: Dirt bike wreck. 21 stitches in leg. Age 15: Broken thumb from playing football. 6-8 weeks in a cast. Age 15: Broke same thumb in same place playing dodgeball. Another 6-8 weeks in a cast.\* Age 19: Thought I broke my wrist in a bar fight. Was only severely sprained, ACE bandage for a few days. Age 40: Kidney stone. Not counted: 2 trips to the Student Health Center while I was in college, one for some pretty good road rash after I dumped the motorcycle I was riding on some gravel and the other for a sprained ankle from jumping off a stage. \*Cool story, bro: The day I was to get this cast off, Bob and Doug McKenzie were doing an in-store appearance at a record store in the mall. I talked my dad into getting me out of school an hour early so I could get autographs. While standing in line with my dinky pieces of paper, the guy in front of me said, ā€œWhy donā€™t you get them to sign your cast?ā€ They did. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/88 "2010-12-21T09:02:50Z")
Only once when I was 19. I split my forehead open down to the bone (saw my own skull-ick) and had to get 60 stitches. Based upon our workload here lately though I think everyone in the county has been to our ER. Twice. ---
**Author:** ![ecseas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ecseas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecseas)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/89 "2010-12-21T10:46:32Z")
1. Broken left elbow (jumping on the bed with another kid, kid pushed me, landed on my elbow) 8.Broken left wrist (pushed in the play ground.) 2. dislocated right pinkie (i caught a netball wrong) 3. broken left wrist (playing a soccer version of piggy in the middle, stuck my arm out to get the ball, and some how ended up breaking my arm.) 4. broke my nose (tripped, and hit my nose on a water trough) 5. smashed left wrist (i was getting a chair for me and my friend, while running, after finishing my performance in a school based song/dance comp (I canā€™t remember whether it was wakakirri or junior rock thingo ma jiggy. we did the same performance) 6. ear infection 7. ear infection 8. ear infection 9. ear infection. those last 4 were within 48 hours, two of them involving ambulances. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/90 "2010-12-21T11:14:44Z")
Three times, that I know of (Iā€™m including Urgent Care in these, since theyā€™re similar enough) 1. Suicide attempt when I was 20 2. Went in with abdominal cramps - the doctors initially thought was PID, but it wound up being a tumor on my ovary (!!!) 3. Miscarriage earlier this year that didnā€™t resolve on its own and may have been ectopic. My girly bits hate me. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/91 "2010-12-21T12:10:58Z")
-Lung x-ray (WTC relatedā€¦ on girlfriend/DRā€™s advice) -104 degree temperature (also WTC time) -Shattered elbow -Broken nose -Broken noseā€¦ hell 2-3 more broken noses -Dislocated shoulder -Broken finger -Broken finger -Bike accident resulting in pissing bloodā€¦ ehhhā€¦ donā€™t like thinking about it -Half-severed Achilles tendon (stupid bicycle accident) -Croup when I was a kid x3 Thank Og for insuranceā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![ecseas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ecseas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecseas)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/92 "2010-12-21T13:44:06Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Discounting childhood, I think 5 times. > > 1. Industrial accident. I was opening up a large steam fired tuna oven and was supposed to use a long bar to hit it with if it got stuck. Well I just pushed it up by hand and got 2nd degree steam scalding burns under the tender parts of both arms. > > 2. Took my 650 Yamaha to the store only a mile away in the summer time so I didnā€™t wear any gloves or other protection. Hit a spot of pea gravel and the bike went down. I was going so slow that I could have just dropped the bike and stepped away but I wanted to save the scratches on the bike so I tried to keep it up and instead ground my knuckles into the pavement and gravel. Nasty! > > 3. Another industrial accident. I was cooking a digest tank full of chicken parts to make pet food flavors. You added phosphoric acid to adjust the pH and Papain to separate the meat from the bone. Papain is a meat tenderizer made from papayas and I opened a little envelope of the dry powder and it went "poofā€™ right into my eyes. Meat tenderizer in the eyes is not a good thing, ate all the slime off my eyeballs and I had to put some vaseline type stuff in them for a couple days. > > \*\*4. This year, woke up in bed spinning like I was drunk, sat up and started to puke. Tried to walk and could hardly stand. And half my face was numb. CT scan, MIR, and it wasnā€™t a stroke it was labyrinthitis, or inner ear infection. Weirdest thing I have ever had. \*\* > > 1. Day before bow hunting season I was shooting a target and the arrow went all the way through, so I thought I would unscrew the broadhead. You really should use a tool to do this but I used my fingers and put a nice gash in my thumb that would not stop bleeding, so I had to have stitches. I had the exact same thing. it caused 4 hospital visits, 2 ambulance rides and three drips. ---
**Author:** ![LateComer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5ac83/32.png) [@LateComer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LateComer)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/93 "2010-12-21T13:51:39Z")
1985-hit by car, broken leg In recent years Iā€™ve gone because of: unexplained and sudden allergic reaction (still unexplained and un-duplicated) Once because of a cough that wasnā€™t getting any better around Christmas so my doctorā€™s office wasnā€™t open. Once for Ventricular fibrillation (about 130 resting heartrate). Noteable for the ambulance ride from my local hospital to Pittsburgh (AGH) and then a helicopter ride from AGH to Cleveland Clinic for surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/94 "2010-12-21T14:22:57Z")
For myself, once to get what was diagnosed as ā€œpositional dizzinessā€ checked. I was 15 and it has mostly disappeared since (among other things, I move more slowly now). Going to visit patients, enough times to have lost count. Bringing people in, twice. The first time I was 7: we had left 2mo Littlebro with friends and driven up to Pamplona to get the Christmas presents. On the drive back, I noticed that Middlebro was waaaay too quiet, and looking flushed. I touched him and could feel the heat even through his clothes, before checking his brow. We were driving through Tafalla and, as we went right under this arch which forms a passage between two old palaces, I said in as calm a voice as I could muster ā€œDad, please stop the car. Mom, Middlebro _burns_.ā€ We turned the car around and headed back to the big hospital in Pamplona as fast as Dad dared drive. When we got there, someone said to call Dr M, the head of Pediatrics, and someone else pointed out it wasnā€™t him who was on duty. ā€œItā€™s Dr Jā€™s grandnephew.ā€ They called Dr M, bet cher ass (Uncle J is still a legend in local medical circles, both for his amazing diagnostic ability and because whenever he found himself in the presence of fools his tongue turned into a cross between a mechanical saw and a rapier). Heā€™s fine and the Proud Daddy of two kids, but we were told that if weā€™d noticed later (say, the 45ā€™ more we still had left to drive, which would have meant one and a half hour more before he got to the hospital) he would have died. The second time, I was in graduate school, woke up about 5am, went to get a glass of water and heard noises coming from my landladyā€™s bedroom. Being the noisy Spaniard that I am, I checked and found her lying in a pool of her own blood: sheā€™d been bleeding internally since thereabouts of 10pm and ā€œhadnā€™t wanted to bother usā€. Among other things, by the time I found her she was dehydrated and her blood sugar was trying to follow dodos. Her daughter happened to be visiting; she was a nurse, but logically seeing her mother like that put her in quite a state, so I got her to stay behind to calm down and look for the paperwork while I rode in the ambulance with Mama (the landlady). She was ok, or as ok as someone with her medica history can be. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/95 "2010-12-21T16:17:12Z")
Not been to ER since I was about 9ā€¦ Managed three trips before I was 3 though, all for head injuriesā€¦ Slipped on tiles while running full speed; someone showed my big bro that magic trick where you pull out the tablecloth really fast, and nothing falls over- turns out it doesnā€™t work so well on little sisters; third was actually my first baby memory, age 2.5- same bro (accidently!) hitting me in the face with a hammer. Parents thought Iā€™d lost an eye. Also managed to totally crush my end finger joint in a door hinge at age 9- good for freaking out small kids, 'cos it still looks horrible. šŸ˜ƒ I did have to have stitches last year after stabbing my arm on an iron railing, but found a minor injuries unit that was easier to get toā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/96 "2010-12-21T16:17:50Z")
Never in all my 50 years. When I had my appendix emergency, I went to the regular doctorā€™s office and they sent me down to the hospital for imaging. Imaging sent me straight to the OR. My husband has been in the ER at least twice. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/97 "2010-12-21T16:39:41Z")
Three times: 1. Went on birth control for the first time and it was my first scheduled period. It fucked with my hormones so bad that they gave me some sort of pill they give hemophiliacs to stop bleeding. 2 & 3. Same weekend. Horrible panic attacks. I had just moved to a new city so I didnā€™t have a primary care doc or psychiatrist to go to. However, I had been down the anxiety road before. All I needed was them to call the psychiatrist on duty, listen to me when I said Iā€™ve been through this before and my doctor back home prescribed certain pills (I had weaned off them once I got stable before). But no, they wouldnā€™t get anyone that could treat me on a weekend. I strongly considered checking into the psych ward, but knew there was a 3-day hold. I ended up working out a way to make it the 4 hours back home where Monday morning I was promptly treated by my regular GP and psychiatrist. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/98 "2010-12-21T17:43:07Z")
I only remember two, both in college: 1. Severe food poisoning (or possibly norovirus). Unable to keep anything down/in, severe dehydration, agonizing muscle cramps. 2. Skydiving accident. Landed a spinning, partially malfunctioning round reserve canopy. As a kid I had plenty of bumps, bruises, strange injuries (I recall stitches in my scalp, getting whacked with a corkscrew, stepping on a nail, getting chili oil in my eyes, having a nail hit me in the eye and having a whole mess of redwood slivers jammed under my thumbnail) and the like but I donā€™t think any of these actually required a trip to the ER. Iā€™ve also broken several fingers, toes and both ankles (all at different times). ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/99 "2010-12-21T18:01:11Z")
11: Yard Jart through foot, a few stitches. Whenever itā€™s brought up around Mom, she turns pale and twitches. What? The eruption of blood when I pulled the Jart out was kinda cool! 13: Face plant on a railroad track, due to the chain falling off my bike. Two stitches right between the eyes. Two days later I had a dance recital, where I received a trophy. My face was so swollen, I didnā€™t have a bridge of my nose and both eyes were blackened. Lovely. 19: Kidney infection. Mom said the words that will haunt her forever: ā€œYou canā€™t have stress, you donā€™t have a mortgage!ā€ (despite the fact I was going to school FT, working FT, and planning a wedding). In retropect, this is when the PKD started effing me up. 25: Fell in a boat, holding TheKid. I went one way, my left knee decided to go a different way. Was patted on the head, sent home with an ACE bandage and crutches. Two years later, after numerous ā€˜sprainsā€™, went to an Orthopedist who scheduled me for ACL reconstruction a week later (I had about 25% of my ACL and 33% of the meniscus left - he wondered how I managed to deal with it for so long) 29: Broken pinky toe, dropped a full jar of mayo on it. Felt stupid for quite a long time. For ME, thatā€™s been it. TheKid, OTOH, was a frequent flier for quite a while (although the hospital put us in Urgent Care, not the actual ER). She broke a finger, scratched her cornea, dislocated her thumb, had a serious allergic reaction (that trip was fun - 40 miles to the ER in a blizzard), broke two toes, a few serious fevers, and then her appendectomy this summer. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/100 "2010-12-22T01:43:49Z")
Just once, in 2009, when I thought I was having a heart attack. It was biliary colic from gallstones. The offending gallbladder was subsequently removed. Oh, and when I was ten and had broken my arm while playing in the back yard. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831/101 "2010-12-22T02:17:52Z")
Twice that I can remember; As a kid for pinkeye, I thought I had something in my eye. And later as an adult for a dog bite but that was covered by workmanā€™s comp. Iā€™ve been to urgent care many times for other things, mostly because I never want to go to an ER again unless I am unable to speak for myself and say ā€œI donā€™t want to go to the ER!ā€ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-times-have-you-been-to-the-emergency-room/564831.md?page=6)