That Nurse... >:(

I hate her. Dad said she has "bad bedside manners". I say she is terrible (actually, I believe very bad curse words came out of my mouth).

So the other day I looked at my dressing because it was itching so bad. For the first time, even the skin around it was itching. It was red. Mom said she wanted to look at it when I did my next change. I was gonna do it that night, but mom was sleepy! So I tried my best to wait till mom got home (yesterday... so Tuesday). I couldn't, I ended up doing it in the afternoon. I called mom and told her that I needed her to look at it when she got home. So she did. She said it looked like when I went to the doctor in November. I thought it looked bad. (but I cleaned it before mom got to see it) The drainage is a yellowish, slightly green, with a touch of red, color. i am nervous about the red. And the site itself, well that was alright, but it looks like there is a piece of the "foam" coming out. :( So I call my nurse and leave a message for her to call me asap. She calls today.

I tell her all of the above. She doesn't listen, interrupts me, and starts telling me that if I have a fever I have to go to the emergency room right away. I AM NOT CONCERNED WITH INFECTION RIGHT THIS MOMENT!!!! I wait until she stops talking, which takes forever, and tell her that I am really concerned with the "foam". She tells me there is no foam, and to go to the ER if I have a fever. GRRRRR!! I tell her again that I am not concerned with infection. She interrupts me to tell me that a fever of 100.3 or higher and I have to go to the ER, not my doctor, and after repeating that AGAIN and telling me all of the symptoms of infection (not any of the problems I am having at this time) she says that there may be foam, but that she isn't sure.

Why does she exist? I have no clue. She always gets me confused with another patient, who is on a different drug and a different dose, ALWAYS!!!! I give her my name every time I call. She is too busy doing something else at the same time (said that she does) to look me up, and just assumes. And I have to remind her every time that I have lupus, and that my lupus regularly causes me fevers (generally at night) of 100.3 or higher and that I cannot use that as a determination of infection.

So I called my new primary and asked if she could please look at it within the next few days. She said of course and I get in at 215p. After talking to the nurse in Denver I was so upset I was shaking and crying. I hate her. I will NOT talk to her again. Dan has suggested that I write a letter to my doctor, and I am going to do that. There is another nurse I can talk to and I am calling her in the future.