Emergency Room Visit – oh no!

On Thursday evening, Dwayne mentioned that his left big toe was hurting. By Friday evening, when we got back to the motorhome, it was quite swollen and inflamed. He was not able to even stand the touch of the bed covers on his toe, so he could not sleep. By about 2am, we decided this needed attention, so we looked up the nearest emergency room and headed to TriStar Skyline Medical Center. On the way done the interstate, I noticed one of those signs that advertise how fast you get seen in the emergency room; it said 10 minutes.

When we arrived, the room appeared to be 1/3-1/2 full. I thought, “10 minutes, not likely”. But, as soon as the intake nurse finished with the person she was dealing with, she called us in. I don’t know whether the other people waiting had come with folks who were back in the emergency room being treated, or whether they were there looking for a warm place to stay out of the cold night.

At any rate, we got taken back quickly, and the doctor took a look at Dwayne’s toe. He diagnosed it as a bacterial infection, put some deadening shots in, explored a little to see if there was any fluid to be released, and then had it bandaged up and sent us on our way. Since the toe was now numb from the shots, Dwayne was able to sleep the remainder of the night (we got back to the motorhome about 4am). They also gave him a prescription for a painkiller and an antibiotic.

On Saturday, Dwayne’s toe was still swollen and painful, but the pain killers were taking care of most of the pain. By Sunday morning, when the ER doctor had asked us to return for a recheck, Dwayne was feeling much better.

Just FYI, when we went to the ER on Sunday morning, the waiting room was totally empty.

This has been an interesting experience; we discussed what we would have done if we’d been home; we probably would not have waited as long to seek care, and we probably would not have gone to the ER. I’m wondering how his insurance will address this cost; I remember reading something about a charge that would apply unless an ER visit resulted in admission to the hospital. I guess we’ll find out.