# I'm in the hosspital. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 30, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325 "2012-09-30T18:51:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/21 "2012-10-01T17:38:28Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > … > … > This morning, when it came time for another dose of morphine, and I was in terrible pain. it took two hours for the pharmacy to figure out how to get the computer to allow me to have a dose. > … Ouch!! Feel better soon!!! But I had to chime in with the 2 hours for pain relief: that’s nothing new. I had similar delays for pain relief back in the late 80s / early 90s, at two different hospitals - both due to human fuckups and in one case a shift change in the pharmacy. So the computerized system is just a different excuse for same old shit. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/22 "2012-10-01T18:54:23Z")
I think everyone is nervous about giving out pain relief. I here that the DEA can be a liitle heavy handed with hospitals and doctors. I don’t think I’d ever get hooked on morphine, it makes me nauseus. I just had some Ativan because I’m going downstairs for an MRI and I get claustrophobic. After the MRI, I get dinner! The first food or drink for two days. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/23 "2012-10-01T19:03:15Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > “hosspital”. Heh. I guess that’s not to bad considering how doped up I was. This browser has no spellcheck. I know drunk people slur their words, but I didn’t realize that morphine did that to your typing skills. 😉 Yes, by your location & that I knew they had an open house last week (pretty cool if you ever get the chance - you get to see the normally-off-limits areas, like OR & trauma rooms before they are sterilized.) & that they were supposed to open before monthend. It’s less than 10 miles from my house. I wouldn’t go to the old Montgomery Hospital. Glad your on the mend. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/24 "2012-10-01T19:44:57Z")
Sounds like your pancreas could use a little lovin. [Weird Al: My Pancreas](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cBcSok7K5Y) ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/25 "2012-10-01T22:04:37Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Sounds like your pancreas could use a little lovin. > > [Weird Al: My Pancreas](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cBcSok7K5Y) thanks. I love Weird Al. It’s not one of his best efforts, but it’s situationally appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/26 "2012-10-01T22:09:09Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Hope you feel better. But I have to say, “hosspital” makes it sounds like you’re at a large animal vet. I hear the tranqs are awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/27 "2012-10-01T23:26:45Z")
Glad to hear you’re running low on pain. Hope the MRI finds something easy to fix. Finding nothing would be good, too, assuming it goes away and doesn’t come back. I read up on pancreatitis when my middle son, now living in Minnesota, was hospitalized with it. Apparently the most common cause is a gallstone caught in the common bile duct. That’s common as in both the gall bladder and the pancreas use it. The most common non-gallstone cause is alchoholism. You may be asked questions if they don’t find a stone. The boy had pancreatitis because he’s a mutant.\* They were able to fix his problem with a stent. That’s easier than taking out the gall bladder, if it goes smoothly. No clue whether they can fix stones without removing the gall bladder. Hope your pain stays away and that there’s an easy fix so you’re not left waiting for a shoe to drop again. Hope dinner agrees with your pancreas, and tastes wonderful. Feel free to ignore the explanation of mutanthood below. It probably won’t apply. - Normal people have one duct running from the pancreas to the common bile duct. When a fetus is developing, it makes two half-pancreases, each with their own duct. Before the baby is born, the two join together into one big pancreas with one big duct except in 10-15% of people, where the pancreas joins, but the ducts stay separate. When you’re young, the front of the pancreas produces most of the enzymes and when you get older, the back does. When you switch to the back, your rear duct may not be wide enough to handle the increased flow. Digestive enzymes backing up into your pancreas = bad news. (I say mutant. Son says obviously a hostile uterine environment. We’ve agreed to differ.) ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/28 "2012-10-01T23:54:35Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > **Spiderman** , how do you know what hospital? I guess from my location and the opening date? It’s the new Einstein Montgomery on Germantown Pike, where Wood’s golf course used to be. Was that your guess? > [@Spiderman](#): > > Yes, by your location & that I knew they had an open house last week (pretty cool if you ever get the chance - you get to see the normally-off-limits areas, like OR & trauma rooms before they are sterilized.) & that they were supposed to open before monthend. It’s less than 10 miles from my house. Geez, guys. You’re both within 20 miles of me (Pottstown). Why do we never have Dopefests out here in the 'burbs? **davidm** , I’m glad to hear you’re on the mend. Here’s hoping your stay is short and the cause is permanently cured. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/29 "2012-10-02T02:40:30Z")
**Yllaria** , I haven’t had a gallblader in years, but you can still get stones in that duct. I also haven’t had a drink in years. Even when I did drink, it wasn’t very often so no, no alchoholism. **Morgyn** , yes we are near each other. I know that **Twickster** is also in this area, and there are some others. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/30 "2012-10-02T11:37:05Z")
Dinner last night and breakfast this morning and no return of the pain, I guess that’s a good sign. They may have to do an ERCP. That may or may not mean sending me into Philly. Nobody seems to know whether or not it can be done here. You’d think that a new state of the art teaching hospital could do anything any of the city hospitals could. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/31 "2012-10-02T13:58:43Z")
I’d be a little self-conscious being admitted to a brand new hospital. I’d worry that if I uncontrollably puked on the floor, the staff would all be thinking, “Aw man, here we go. We just opened and someone’s spewing on our nice new ER already?” For the rest of my stay, they’d be after me passive-aggressively: “Oh sure, go ahead and bleed. Bleed as much as you want to, Mr. Messy. No, no, don’t let me stop you.” ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/32 "2012-10-02T15:54:26Z")
Congratulations on a quick recovery. That’s promising. Hope it continues. Do you know when your MRI results will be available? I only ask out of nosiness. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/33 "2012-10-02T16:03:15Z")
MRI results were normal, or at least consistent with whats normal for me. I’m being discharged today. I should be back to work tomorrow. I hate to see what my copay is going to be. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/34 "2012-10-02T17:06:49Z")
Well, this is uncomfortable. I’m the IT guy for a company that does hospital housekeeping. They have the contract for this new hospital. This morning, a coworker who is a manager who is responsible for this hospital was in my room visiting me. They came to clean my room while he was here. They recognized him and it came out that I work for the company. I suddenly have the cleanest room in the whole hospital. They came back to do the afternoon cleaning with big nervous smiles and making a show of very carefully cleaning every inch of the room and acting like I’m royalty or something. You’d think that kind of treatment would be nice, but it just makes me uncomfortable. It’s like they’re afraid of me. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/35 "2012-10-02T20:29:04Z")
So how was the food before VIP treatment started; any good or typical hospital lacking flavor & color (other than grey)? ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/36 "2012-10-02T20:38:42Z")
Glad you’re on the mend and on your way home! > [@Yllaria](#): > > (I say mutant. Son says obviously a hostile uterine environment. We’ve agreed to differ.) This is hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/37 "2012-10-02T21:56:48Z")
Hey, if you can’t get a little chuckle out of two multi-week hospital stays . . . ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/38 "2012-10-02T22:25:21Z")
Good luck to you, davidm. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/39 "2012-10-02T23:59:15Z")
I’m home. I’ll rest tomorrow then back to work on Thursday. I’m going to have to schedule an ERCP as an outpatient. Unfortunately, they don’t do them at this hospital yet so I’ll have to go into the city. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325/40 "2012-10-03T00:35:19Z")
I’ve been the x-ray guy for a number of ERCP’s. Once I get the C-arm in place, there’s really not much for me to do but watch. They’re kinda cool. And after watching them, I’ve come to the conclusion that the students starting med school these days will probably be pretty good at performing this type of procedure. It’s kind of like a video game. You gotcher blood, you gotcher gore (bile), you gotcher ‘weapons’ (electric cautery and the basket device), you gotcher prizes (stones)…it’s all there. So, here’s hoping your doctor is as good as a level 85 Elf Thief with extra healing potions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-in-the-hosspital/636325.md?page=3)