Page 2 | Was I an annoying patient at a&e??

GoKartMozart · 02/03/2023 22:38

Nimbostratus100 · 02/03/2023 22:32

you are over thinking it

I was on morphine in hospital at Christmas, and thought father Christmas was real, and trying to recruit me into his pyramid scheme

The emotions are just part of the results of the accident and medication, and the staff deal with them all the time

I walked in the ward to see my Dad some years ago to find the guy from the bed opposite shouting and yelling that the nurse and the doctor had conspired and stole his camcorder. “Don’t worry” says my dad laughing, “he’s on morphine and I stole it!” There was no camcorder I add and my dear old dad was a very respectable gent.

Meanwhile my Father In Law was adamant he had full access to Google maps on the ceiling above his bed, he’d plotted his route home but apparently there was traffic on the M6.

Honestly, I have no idea how the staff don’t spend their days in tears of laughter at the morphine effects.

808Kate1 · 02/03/2023 22:42

GreenFingersWouldBeHandy · 02/03/2023 22:23

Why are you even worrying about this now?

stop trying to create a drama out of something in the past that you can’t change anyway…

Who shat in your handbag? You seem to spend a lot of time on MN being a nasty wee prick to folk just for the sheer sake of it. Are you bored? Unhappy? What do you get out of it? Genuinely interested. What does it bring to your evening?

Rosebud21 · 02/03/2023 22:43

I've chosen YABU because I think you had a completely natural reaction to a event that was very frightening, you were in a lot of pain & likely felt the situation was out of your control. I'm glad the staff were kind & reassuring & that you are okay

EmmaEmerald · 02/03/2023 22:49

Please don't worry
About a year after my spinal injury, I recalled that one day a nurse asked if I needed help dressing and I said "of course not, don't be silly".

I then took about an hour to do it and apologised when she came back round. She just patted my hand, bless her.

the morphine might have flipped a switch in your brain. I lost a lot of hair from the stress of the accident. It's a weird situation. I'm glad you're okay.

xprincessxjanetx · 02/03/2023 22:50

Definitely sounds like shock to me, don't give it any more thought, it was a rare, sudden occurrence that you weren't expecting and the nature of it all probably caught up with you in that moment and made you panic. They will be used to it and not thought you annoying at all.

EmmaEmerald · 02/03/2023 22:50

PS I mean, I remembered it a year later because the weeks after the injury were a blur.

Motorina · 02/03/2023 22:53

I echo everyone else's comments. Morphine is pretty disinhibiting stuff for some people. Add in the shock/distress/fear, pain, and that some bugger's taking your clothes off, and it's no surprise you had a wobble.

If you'd been in with a stubbed toe and reacted like that then, yes, there would have been eyerolling. But in this situation? No way. Well within the normal range of reactions.

WeakAsIAm · 02/03/2023 22:55

Nurse here, I've seen many many patients who are scared and upset. I don't think they are annoying neither do my colleagues.
We understand people are at their most vulnerable when in hospital and scared and anxious is to be expected.
Rude, entitled or aggressive relatives (not even patients) are annoying, there is just no need for it.
Honestly do not even think on it, it was lovely do you to praise the nurse afterwards, we get very very little feedback it would have made her year to receive your message.

Verbena17 · 02/03/2023 23:04

purplellama3 · 02/03/2023 22:11

I recently saw a thread on here with a similar situation and the replies to it made me question if my response to my situation was normal or not!

I was in a horrible accident recently and had to be taken to hospital on a board and neckbrace. I had hurt my hip and they were concerned it was broken. I was really upset, in a lot of pain, frightened as I wasn’t allowed anyone with me (Covid times) and on morphine so probably slightly overly emotional on top of it all!

I had been really quiet as I was honestly so frightened, and I remember at one point there was several doctors and nurses around me doing checks and the doctor said to the nurse something about getting my trousers off and putting a hospital gown on round me. The nurse started to help me and I have no idea what happened to me but I suddenly freaked out and was hysterical about it. I was SO paranoid about anyone seeing my body (even though I know they’re not actually looking at me!) but I suddenly starting panicking and crying out and was completely inconsolable. I honestly don’t know if it was just the emotions of the situation or the morphine but I was completely hysterical about it and I felt so scared and embarrassed. The nurse was absolutely lovely and helped me so much and eventually I calmed down and everything was fine. I actually wrote in praising her for how kind and compassionate she was throughout my night there

thankfully everything was fine and my hip was badly bruised not broken, but I was so embarrassed about my reaction. I don’t know what came over me- I usually wouldn’t say boo to a ghost and I’m really shy but I completely freaked out and my reaction surprised me because I didn’t expect it at all and I don’t know why I was suddenly so upset. I could hear the beeping like crazy and my heart was over 140 from panicking!

after I went home I put it out of my head and tried to forget it as I completely made a fool out of myself and the whole thing was a horrible memory. But I saw a post on here of someone who was embarrassed about showing their legs at hospital and some of the comments said it was ridiculous etc. I suppose it got me wondering- I know my reaction wasn’t normal as such, but will I have been that difficult person that everyone thought was really annoying or dramatic? I’m a stresshead and I hate the thought of being difficult or annoying especially to healthcare staff who were only trying to help me. Was my reaction that bad and unusual? Thanks in advance!

You did and said absolutely nothing wrong!

In those situations, you’re naturally feeling out of control and nature takes over - often vocalising what we wouldn’t normally say.

When I was in labour with my first baby, I was being whipped into surgery for an emergency c-section and I was out of it on meds and I told the surgeon I would quite like to see him naked 🤭 oops! He just laughed!

Bassetlover · 02/03/2023 23:05

I'm a nurse and have worked in A&E. Please don't worry. This is a completely normal reaction to shock, trauma and morphine. None of the staff would have thought you were a PITA.

Jooliusreezer · 02/03/2023 23:09

You should see trauma patients when they’re given ketamine. Some people go off their rockers on it.

Boogismyname · 02/03/2023 23:10

You are being really harsh to yourself.

SheSaidHummingbird · 02/03/2023 23:14

YANU

But it's 'goose' not 'ghost'. The ghosts usually do the boo-ing.

ThereIbledit · 02/03/2023 23:16

Morphene is an absolute bugger for causing irrational thought and reactions. Plus you would be trying to process trauma too.

I remember being stoned off my face on morphene, and laughing along with friends who were visiting me and had made a joke but having ZERO idea of wtf was so funny. I also remember looking blithely on as a massive rotary saw approached my bed to chop my legs off, and thinking calmy "Oh that's interesting, I bet that's going to hurt" without making any effort at all to stop my legs from being chopped off🙄

FortofPud · 02/03/2023 23:22

Ugh, this has given me flashbacks to being in an accident abroad as a teen. Worse than the pain was having my clothes removed by a bunch of no nonsense doctors and nurses who were getting cross at me in a language I didn't understand while I freaked right out. I was on my period too so absolutely didn't want my trousers off, and was so body conscious as they took off my bra etc. Sends shivers down my spine remembering the horror of it! There's a huge element of fight or flight (think trapped injured animal) that takes over.

HoppingPavlova · 02/03/2023 23:25

I have absolutely no doubt that A&E staff can tell the difference between someone genuinely freaking out due to the horrible situation they are in and someone who's just being a pain in the arse.

Spot on, and they have lots of experience with both groups.

Seriously OP, don’t give it a second thought as no one at the time would have batted an eyelid. I worked A&E for decades and this wouldn’t have even raised an internal eyebrow in the slightest.

WeAreTheHeroes · 02/03/2023 23:34

Gogglebox last week showed some of an episode of 24 Hours in A&E. There was a woman who had a really disgusting compound fracture of an ankle. When they started trying to remove her clothes she punched one of the nurses. I'm pretty sure this was a fear reaction from the patient - she wasn't drunk, just had been transferred by the ambulance crew and was then surrounded by people, immobile and scared.

onlylarkin · 02/03/2023 23:41

I am glad you weren't more seriously injured.

Your fight or flight response was triggered. When that happens, your survival instinct kicks in and you will do things that regular you would consider strange or embarrassing.

Nurses and doctors see this all the time. You concentrate on healing quickly!

hellsnos · 02/03/2023 23:42

I think that it’s a given that patients are in one of the most stressful, upsetting positions they’ll ever be in their lives, and part of the care they receive is being made to feel as at ease and understood as possible. Nobody there would have wanted you to feel self-conscious or embarrassed on top of all the stuff you already had to deal with. Not least because they know they could easily be in the same position one day. So put it right out your mind, and focus instead on how brave you were, and how much they will have appreciated your kindness in saying thank you to them, despite being the one in distress.

sadeyedladyofthelowlandsea · 02/03/2023 23:42

OP, I treasure a voicemail from a friend of mine who was off his tits on morphine after a heart attack. I had no idea what had happened, I just got this weird, slurring, giggly message from someone alternately laughing & then shouting at the nurses. There's a very long pause in it and then he says 'sorry, think I dozed off there, hope I haven't shamed myself.'
I met up with his wife a few weeks later. Her 'ohhhh... yes. That was when he'd insisted he was fine, and tried to walk out of critical care whilst still wired up to every machine on the ward. The staff were great, they were expecting it.'

Newtrix · 02/03/2023 23:48

Anyone who voted that YABU wants to hope they're never in your position. It sounds like you were in pain, scared and vulnerable and reacted how almost anyone else would. I hope you're recovered fully and please don't dwell on it.

TabbyBeast · 02/03/2023 23:49

My best friend is a nurse and she would have just been pleased she was able to help reassure you.

I had a steroid injection into my hip and suddenly just became overwhelmed, started crying and asked the nurse if she could hold my hand. She did, bless her, and had a wonderful line of small talk.

Hope the thread has put your mind at ease x

Everyonesinvited · 02/03/2023 23:51

Completely normal. They won't have thought twice about you.

IDontWantToBeAPie · 02/03/2023 23:56

I don't think so. You were terrified, injured, drugged up. It's probably a pretty normal response.

When I was a teen I broke several bones and was given morphine. I don't remember much after but my mother says I was screaming asking for the people to leave my room - nobody but mum was in my room.

Morphine and shock is a hell of a drug.

User1438489 · 02/03/2023 23:58

minou123 · 02/03/2023 22:23

It's completely normal reaction to the stress and shock you were under.

Be a bit kinder to yourself

I hope my story makes you feel a bit better.
A little bit different, but I had an operation on my knee. After the op, they were waking me up from the anaesthetic.
I remember crying and wanting my "mummy".

There I am, a 40 year old women, boo hooing and asking for my mummy 😁 it seemed perfectly rational at the time.

Haha, I was just thinking about when I was woken up after surgery, and I was really annoyed because I was so tired and they kept moving me around on the bed and I just wanted to stay asleep.
Nurse: We're going to go back to the ward now, ok?
Me: (whispers) No.
Nurse: Did she just say no?! We're going back to the ward now...
Me: (whispers) No thank you...
Nurse: (sounding amused) You can't stay here in recovery, why don't you want to go back to the ward?
Me: I can't keep my eyes open.
Nurse: (bursts out laughing) we wheel you on the trolley, you can go back to sleep.

I thought they were going to make me walk 😂. Why do they wake you anyway? Can't they wait for you to wake up on the ward?