I finally bit the bullet and went to the E.R. about 23 hours ago. I went because the body-wracking coughs haven’t improved, despite antibiotics that were $19 a pill and breathing treatments, as well as several OTC treatments and home remedies. The pain in my side had worsened again, so I was concerned that the Physician Assistant’s1 kidney stone hypothesis may have been correct.

I went to the OSU Medical Center2 E.R. I hadn’t been there since a few years before the name change. I had forgotten it was now associated with OSU and I was wearing one of my OU t-shirts. Oops.

I arrived around 1am and the waiting room was empty. I had a fleeting desire to turn around and leave, but I stayed because no one was waiting and I knew it wouldn’t take forever to see a real doctor3.

Within 10 minutes I was following a nurse to a room in the E.R. He asked the basic questions while building rapport and then began prepping me for vitals. While he was putting the blood pressure cuff on, three people in white lab coats barged into the room and started bombarding me with questions.

(more…)


  1. from the minor E.R. [↩]
  2. formerly Tulsa Regional Hospital [↩]
  3. not another damn P.A’s from the urgent care clinic [↩]