"911 what's your emergency?"

First I'll do the best I can to describe to you what I was feeling even though I know it is tough if not impossible to grasp.  Certainly the medical staff had no idea what I was talking about

Immediately after taking my sleep medicine on Friday night, I became extremely dizzy.  The room started spinning.  It is terrifying to live alone when you're chronically ill but even worse when you are sick upon sic.

I don't know what to do but to keep the cell phone close.  I text 2 friends to let them know I'm very sick and I'm not sure what's wrong.

Then I called the on call doctor at my doctor's office but the call didn't go through.

I tried to walk to the living room chair very slowly.

The body wide pain is even more excruciating then usual and I'm having the sensation that if I fall asleep I either will die in my sleep (that part is o.k.) or the thing that really worries me is that I will fall asleep but wake up paralyzed.  I have had similar sensations as a side effect from Elavil, however with the Elavil I felt and heard a metal sound in my head and my heart raced so fast I thought it would kill me.

I think the saddest part of this story is how I was treated by both the paramedics and the hospital staff.  I told the 911 dispatcher to make absolutely sure that my "purse" goes with me to the hospital.  I can say one or two words but I really can't speak in sentences.  I am so sedated that I can't keep my eyes open.

When the paramedics arrived (I couldn't tell you what they looked like) I pointed to the "purse"  My main concern was that if I were going to die in a damn hospital my journals need to be in the purse, not home because I have not considered myself to have a safe place to live in many years.

The paramedic picks up my purse then puts it back down and decides to leave it at the house even though I insisted.

The paramedics are rude and seems to be mad.  They keep yeling at me to keep my eyes open which I can't.  They keep insisting I tell them the exact date I was last transported in an ambo. which I could not do.

They said "IF YOU DON'T WALK DOWN THESE STEPS YOU ARE GOING TO GET HURT!"

(3 flights of steps that a stretcher can't be carried on)  When they insisted I walk, I grabbed the banister and they said DON'T DO THAT

When I got into the ambulance I was crying from the pain of the electric bp cuff.  The paramedic (a bastard really) kept pinching my arm and holding the pinch as hard as he could.   He said:

"STOP COMPLAINING IT'S JUST A BLOOD PRESSURE CUFF" (yEAH and he doesn't have lyme and fibromyalgia)   Anytime I did not provide an articulate answer he held a pinch to my left arm.  I said please that'x excruciating please don't pinch me. 

He said "Well, then you need to cooperate"

He wondered why I was "crying" and I told him the bp cuffe was excruciating.  I kept complaining about what felt like convulsions and electricity in my body.  He said that my bp is very high.  (well I don't know what you want me to do about that it is normally low/normal)

When we got to the hospital, I was put in what appeared to be some sort of overflow room.  I rarely saw any hospital staff.  I told the nurse I needed to go to the bathroom but I can't walk their by myself.

She said "WALK BY YOURSELF OR DON'T GO"

She also said "You either go by yourself or I'm not going to triage you
"
I "collapsed" in a chair and never made it to the toilet.  She kept good on her threat and "punished" me by not triaging me for at least another 2 hours.  I was in the overflow room until 4 a.m.  When the doc saw me he said he has no idea what the matter is, gave me a med.

Sends nurse into the room.  She hands me a stack of papers while I am supine.  I asked her if she could put it with my coat, and she initially refused looking at me like: "How dare you tell me what to do with the paperwork"

I was asked if I had money for a cab.  I said well for one thing I insisted they bring my purse but they elected to ignore me so no I do not have money.  She looked at me like:

She was going to keep me in the hospital indefinitely since I have no ride home.  After 2 hours they called me an ambulance and I was home by 7:30 a.m.  I have a significant bruise on my arm from the guy who kept pinching me.

The hospital here in mountain town have a horrible reputation and I have been told repeatedly whatever you do don't EVER HAVE SURGERY AT MOUNTAIN TOWN HOSPITAL YOU WILL REGRET IT.