FosterMomForKittens
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Edit: Thank you so much my fellow Imjurians for such super kind messages of support!! Had to do this myself because of fear that my husband would get sick and we both would be down. I finally got in the door of the ED at 10 pm and spent the night in the hallway. Received IV antibiotics and more blood taken for labs. No food is available so no breakfast until husband comes. Am actually leaving against doctors orders. Staff is pleading for me to stay but what for? They have data and I’ve been treated. I peed all over myself, no regular meds ordered, am in pain, am exhausted beyond comprehension and need to take care of myself. Staff here are great but what can be done? And COVID patients are everywhere in every possible place to put a bed. I am vaxxed and boosted but need to flee. I’m sick and afraid. And I live in a very well off area. But I am convinced that the state of medical care here in the U.S. has collapsed. I came down with a serious cellulitis infection in my arm due to lymphedema from breast cancer treatment many years ago and was told to hurry to the emergency department. Fever, chill, body aches, and feeling really sick. Got here at noon, checked in pronto but was suggested I sit outside and wait because a sea oh humanity has engulfed this place; many with COVID. Saw the doctor, went back to lay down on the bench, was called in for blood tests, back to my bench. Had IV antibiotic infusions, back on bench. Pizza for dinner on my bench because no food available. It’s 8:30
pm and still on a bench outside. This situation is just awful and the ambulances and more people arrive. I can’t go home *against doctor’s advice* or I will be billed by the hospital. This makes me so sad…and I remain so sick. At 68 yrs old I’m spent. Hospital is in Murrieta California. I’m trapped and can’t get in. There is no “Mellon” for me.
usrnamesRhard
leaving against medical advice does not affect billing/insurance.
hansclitzenbanger69
"Merika, best health care system in the wurld.
JackieTreehornProductions
Olympics travel the super spreader event 2024.
SnakesInBowties
Hoping for a quick recovery. I hope you feel better soon.
slinkiisu
But I thought long wait times only happened in places with universal healthcare, isn't your glorious for-profit system supposed to eliminate wait times? /s
selej
Only 8 hours? Canadian, kidney disease. In the last month i bruised my left kidney twice by sitting. *Cyst probably poped. If i went to the hospital i would wait around 2-3 days. Cant even see a nephrologist as mine retired and my doctor didnt do the job of getting me a new one and she hasnt been available to see for a month. Did you guys know if you bruise your kidney your foot swells up? irritating.
semperknight
I was pre-approved for spine surgery that I fought years for. Cost without insurance: $480k. Covid pushed the surgery date to next year. Insurance plan was the same (name, copay, max out of pocket, cost per paycheck, etc.). But they did add a "HPN". So got surgery and everything was denied. Turns out "high performance network" means nobody except Obamacare clinics, take it. The only reason I don't owe half a million is because I don't have it and the hospital knows it so they fought insurance.
semperknight
You all need to wake up to the fact America is a 3rd world country. Be happy you're eventually going to be seen. This is what you get in a civil oligarchy. I don't know what to tell you. In your next life, be a multi-millionaire. You'll be seen immediately because society values you more.
animatronicChristmasChickens
One big issue with covid has always been overwhelming hospitals
2fligh2high
What a terrible situation to be in. I hope you get the help you need soon
hamulusrex
I hope you get the care you need. the state of ERs is terrifying.
avatar525
Leaving AMA doesnt mean that the insurance won't cover your stay. This is a myth
Aliubi
It's one most nurses honestly believe, but IRL It's BS.
Ikwilstroopwaffels
bUt sOsHUlYzEd HeAlThCaRE leAdS tO lOng wAyT TiEmS
drmuelr
This was my immediate thought... been hearing it from my parents my whole life.
Wapusk
That really does suck... but think about how fortunate you are not to be fucked up as badly as the people who get in ahead of you.
StoopKidAfraidToLeaveHisStoop
We’re having the same issue. There was an elderly women who had fallen and was essentially holding her eye in the socket with her hand and she went back four hours after had arrived, I have no idea how long she had already been waiting. That night I waited with my wife almost 8 hours before she could go back.
GravyEducation
As a former pizza guy you could expect a hospital run a couple times a week. Usually its people in an actual room though and someone comes down to get it. Good luck, hope the pizza soothed you a little
spookyactionatadistance
Only 8 hours. I cry in Canadian. Current wait time here can be over 30h
https://erinfo.ca/en/qc/cities/29
Thormaehlin
@op I was born in Murrieta, CA. That looks like the Kaiser off the 215.
FosterMomForKittens
It’s Loma Linda off the 215.
Cpeeds727
This sounds awful. Im sorry you are going through it. Have you been able to get a room yet? How hot is it out there? If I lived anywhere near that I’d come and chill.
FosterMomForKittens
Thank you so much for your kind offer! But got in the door at 10pm and received treatment. I’ve updated my post. ❤️
sayessathe1st
It was upper 90s in the IE yesterday, which is slightly cooler than the past week.
SmilinSloth
Here in Canada last year I spent 10 hours on a stretcher with a double left femur fracture and was told it's a sprain. It sucks I hope you get the care you need
Totallyscrewedinaustin
That sucks, I hope they get you inside sooner rather than later!
livingonagiantfireball
In montreal atm, wait time in waiting room is 9h a d wait time on a stretcher is 19h...
https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-system-and-services/service-organization/quebec-health-system-and-its-services/situation-in-emergency-rooms-in-quebec
admiralawesome4213
Quick question, why is this happening? like aren't they usually pretty good? is it an influx of American women looking to suddenly go 'camping'? or like, a 3000 car pile up on the Trans Canada Highway?
czechoslovakia
Understaffed & large populations that only get emergency care due to the expensive nature of things.
livingonagiantfireball
Pretty much, population go up due to immigration but money to service doesnt because the taxe are low for large corporation, business and banks make tons of money but the government doesnt want to touch their money, they rather have more private companies pop to offer care to the rich and let the general population suck it up because we cant do anything to change that, no political party propose to raise corporate tax to a level where they stop making billions in profit.
AgnostosQue
At least you have been getting some treatment. Sure a bed would be more comfortable, but I don't know what they could be doing more than blood testing and IV antibiotics which you have been given already
EchoDelta141
Murica. We need your healthcare money for bombs and political slush fund
LitchLitch
The good news is a long wait means you are not likely to die. They will get around to you eventually.
Spend your time writing to your state health agency in charge of hospitals and complain. The companies that own hospitals don't care about you, they do care about the government.
CoinedWatcher
Not always true. Sometimes, they don't understand the seriousness until tests are done. Now that is usually very low, and usually also includes some type of negligence, and is a usually a fairly rare freak coincidence... but what % of people that go to the hospital are posters on imgur?
Odds are (and finger crossed) OP is fine, and just stuck in a bad situation that only could be much worse... but?
JiffyGee
Shit I’m sorry sweetie. I hope for a speedy recovery. I had to go to the ER Saturday morning…in the wee hours. Was sick, felt weird. Chills, couldn’t get warm, thermometer said I didn’t have a fever. Felt odd, not right, and kinda like I was going to pass out. Roomies had gotten Covid, but I’d taken three tests and all came back negative. Went in, waited for like 20 minutes to check in. Temp was 103. I finally got into a room (lucky 13) after an hour…hour and a half. Covid. All my at home tests…
JiffyGee
we’re not expired, some were just bought a few days prior. I’m just flabbergasted at everything that went wrong to land me there. So on behalf of all the idiots that clogged up the ER, I apologize. I hope you have a speedy recovery.
DangerBaer
I work in a hospital er that has been "managed" by Adventist Health since covid times. I could tell you some stories. I'd advise steering well clear of anything they touch if at all possible.
KittensForDays
My god @OP. This is awful. I am so sorry you are going through this. You’re such a kind and loving soul, you don’t deserve this. I’m not a big pray-er but you best believe I am sending you good vibes and hopes for your speedy recovery
FosterMomForKittens
Thank you so much for your kind comments and support! Love following you and your cuddle bug kittens ❤️
QuietAntagonist
There's got to be another hospital within eight hours of there.
holidaysandcats
Praying for a quick recovery! (idk if you believe in something but I just hope you will recover soon 🩷) And I hope they will let you inside as soon as possible. It's been getting cold for the past few days here in my country, I think it's the same in your areas too. Take care, random person from imgur!
Escapist83
Is this a metropolitan area?
BanadecCamberbootch
I live in this area and I know the specific hospital OP is referring to. It's a decently sized hospital with a mixed reputation, although I understand it is much better than it was a few years ago. Covid is indeed on the rise, although it's not really impacting hospital admissions very much (and certainly not critical care like the first few waves). Still, many people utilize the ER as their primary care and that's not what the system was built for, but we're a broken country, so here we are.
Zainadin
Not a major city like LA or San Diego but it is for sure not the boonies.
RenaissanceFaireMan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murrieta,_California
BipedalHumanoidWithSlightlyDifferentNoseRidge
Sounds like the US STILL overwhelmed by the covid...?!
davemymindisgoingicanfeelit
I have it now for the first time, so the latest variant must be extra contagious.
0570
There's no news coverage of it but there's still covid going around. My neighbour was thought to have an airway infection, turned out to be covid. No masks, no screens, open visiting hours, no isolation. It's treated lik a heavy common cold
BarnegatLight
Almost 2% of *all* deaths in California last week were from covid. For MN, MS, FL, TX and NJ it's over 2% of all deaths. PR is about 5%.
Pace171921
Yea covids back. It's so hot folks are crowding indoors in places. Increasing transmissions rates. I've had 2 boosters, plus original 2. Came in as a mild cold. Stay safe everyone!
nanunanumorkmorkmork0
Many people fell off the radar for healthcare during the early Covid era, mostly due to fear. People holed themselves up in their homes and isolated for years. This would be fine if you don't have significant health problems, but many of these people had reason to fear. With health problems like COPD, heart failure, immune diseases, cancers, baseline PTSD, depression etc., this was a huge trigger for a large populous, and these baseline conditions went unchecked, and in many cases, untreated...
nanunanumorkmorkmork0
As medications ran out and people were too scared to go out to get them refilled or even reach out for help in fear that someone could bring a sickness in on the medication. There is also a huge financial component to consider here, as many lost their income and had to make sacrifices. Medication is expensive. Diabetics have to ration their insulin, heart failure patients ration their diuretics, etc. This applies to every type of disease you can think of. This is what's still going on in the US.
Acyss
Not still, ride the new wave boys
AtomicCarp
Not exactly. Long waits for admissions are very common.
ArcaneM37
This person said they were told not to even be in the waiting room because of the amount of covid patients.
Schlovia
Long waits are normally because of staffing problems, and/or doctors making decisions. Will they get admitted? Do we have a clean room and enough nurses to care for them? Do they need more specialized care, and need transferred? Does that transfer hospital have enough beds and staff at the moment? (At least that's what I see, i work in a medium ish sized hospital)
DeercSnissassa
COVID episode IV: A New Virus released in 2020
COVID episode V: The Variant Strikes Back 2022
Now in theaters! Episode VI: Return of the Virus
Don't worry, once it loses popularity, Disney will buy the rights and release many more unwanted sequels
CyberWizard252
"...somehow Corona returned"
Adsma2002
Ok, I giggled.
DidgeryDrew
Two of my elderly neighbors just passed due to Covid. People are STILL being dumb about it.
Zestykitten
I worked in healthcare before Covid, during Covid, and after Covid. Left in 2023. This has always been the case. People are just sicker now and get to see how our healthcare industry is, indeed, an " industry" that only cares about your money. OP isn't dealing with anything out of the ordinary. Many ER waiting times last for days
DangerBaer
Same, since 2002. It has been a steady slide, and things weren't great to start with.
Zestykitten
Only thing Covid did was shine light on it all
DangerBaer
And the people most affected blame the workers. 0 progress achieved.
Zestykitten
I switched from healthcare back to retail. Management paid me 20k more than I made as a technician. That said, the same problem exists here. We're kept on an extremely impossible budget that permanently short staffs us, but customers scream at us as if we chose to only have 2 registers open. The greed goes to the top
drunkStar
Rates have been climbing for the past month with a few places having active outbreaks.
Eidodk
Covid was never "gone", they just stopped reporting on it, when they declared it endemic in the US.
cbale2000
I mean, the main reason is that the newer variants are SIGNIFICANTLY less lethal and we have treatments for it now.
101Medic
Can't give the common folk more reason to demand WFH again, dontcha know. *Someone* has to think of the commercial real estate value!
Tellenue
The company that pays me just sold two of their three buildings. Their return to office group argued "You can't work as effectively away from the product line!" But those two buildings were further from the product line than my house is. Somehow, through some miracle, a C-Suite actually agreed that if they want people in office, they want them in walking distance of the product, not halfway across town. Being at the satellite buildings was no different than being home.
Zainadin
To be honest it is an issue of all the red hats not getting vaxxed, which has caused it to never fully go away.
nanunanumorkmorkmork0
I wish it were as simple as one political ideology being the culprit, but there is so much more to it than that. Feel free to look at my other posts on this thread to see my observations as a nurse. Division is everywhere in our society, but very few people are calling for cooperation. Disclaimer, I hate politics so much that I am not affiliated with any party, but that's another discussion entirely.
KrisPhoenix
I'm guessing many didn't try injecting bleach, damn.
anarchoFeline
it wouldn't have gone away even if that did happen because there are lots of people that can't get vaxxed for legitimate reasons
doodlydoofus
And the red hats will never admit it because they'll just say those people going to the hospital right now are the ones who are dying from their vaccines.
jessthepetvet
Antivaxxers are an issue for a different reason but absolutely are not the reason it never fully went away. The vaccine was never going to make it go away, only reduce severity of the disease when you do get it (which IS important for so many reasons).
nicelyvillainous
#polio, it is possible with vaccines and other methods of reducing spread, to reduce infection rates to less than replacement, so the population of people infected drops to zero.
However, yes, it was never going to happen, because we wouldn’t spend the money to do the same in India or China, so the disease would eventually come back into the US.
Kinda like bed bugs.
albaboss
Covid is different. Influenzas like SARS and the flu are constantly mutating and changing making a vaccine really hard. We guess which strain will be strongest and make a vaccine for that which is why you need a vaccine every year. Something like polio or smallpox that rarely mutates or changes is easy to eradicate which is why you only need one vaccine
derrymerbles
Yeah I don’t know why everyone keeps getting confused about this. After several rounds of vaccines, it was stated that it does not stop anyone from getting/giving the virus, only lessens severity. Which is even more confusing when different jobs were allowing people to come back to work even if they tested positive but were asymptomatic.
landbaronness42
I got vaccinated. I got Covid. I DIDN’T end up in the hospital I just FaceTimed my Dr after I tested positive and she called in some meds. These people are in the ER so probably not vaccinated.
Hammertulski
That might be a significant contributor, but mutation in vaccinated populations is a thing. We knew back in 2020 we’d be chasing this fucking thing for years and wouldn’t you know it, here we are.
abion47
This sounds too much like defending the anti-vaxxers, saying that this was going to happen anyway. The fact is that if people vaccinated up, we would be dealing with thousands of cases by now, not hundreds of thousands. And while mutations can still happen, they are far more likely with a population orders of magnitude larger.
copperdomebodhi
We did? I remember hearing we'd reach herd immunity once 80%-90% of people were vaccinated. Then all the people who said, "We can't have masking or lockdowns, we'll just have to wait for a vaccine," suddenly switched to, "Don't get vaccinated, it's a plot to destroy freedom."
DukeDarkwood
Imagine if we clamped down on it at the start, and never let it spread so widely. Any mutations would take longer to start happening, and remain easy to keep ahead of. Heck, if we're very lucky, we'd marginalize, or even eradicate it, avoiding later problems like mutations entirely!
nicelyvillainous
Yep, the more people it infects, the more chances for it to mutate. On the other hand, the harder it is to infect people, the more likely variants are to spread instead of the original when there are mutants, so the faster it will change.
Evillairforrent
So what you're saying is....shoot maga redhats to prevent mutation...
Alrighty then
Fatbird
Wastewater levels in california, where OP said they're from, are trending toward being the second highest rate of infection since the pandemic began:
https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-statetrend.html
noReallyIamPrincessBob
“Nationally, the wastewater viral activity level for COVID-19 is currently very high.”
Yikes!
nasukkin
Remember folks, just because the Pandemic Response has ended doesn't mean that the pandemic is over.
BipedalHumanoidWithSlightlyDifferentNoseRidge
What are vaccination and booster rates like there?
MutatedHorse
California is pretty good about vaccines. We are a fairly blue state.
PunchyFromCleveland
I work at a hospital in NY, the COVID vaccines can help with the severity of the infection, but they do not seem to help much, or at all, with prevention. Our hospital doesn’t require employees to get boosters anymore (for at least a year now), but the flu vaccine IS required. We have waves where we have to open a COVID wing, but patient load is much smaller and for a shorter time. Also, hospitalized COVID patients seem to be mostly elderly. This is all NY, not CA though.
GriffinMann41
The issue is that they don't help against prevention because we just completely gave up ever trying to contain and fight covid. Cases *were* plummeting and we were on track to do better and then we just opened everything back up before anything was actually over.
LitchLitch
No, there is a new surge. Go look at the graphs.
PresterJon
Regular graphs or Yankee candle complaint graphs?
[deleted]
[deleted]
PinkyTheUnicorn2
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home 17% increase in positive cases over the last week, up 14% in the last four weeks. Hospitalization rate is up 300% since May, but still relatively low.
[deleted]
[deleted]
MrIndubitably101
Then post them. This is like saying "I have a girlfriend! You just never heard of her because she goes to a different school".
TsukariYoshi
And that's only in reported cases - my partner and I both had it a couple weeks ago but needed no medical intervention, so neither of us would appear on any tracking. Multiply that by a shitload of people.
kithylin
Could you perhaps share "the graphs" that you are looking at? Maybe a URL or link to it please?
Leithoa
Google.com
bigfatmadcowmoo
https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_7dayeddiagnosed_06
Eidodk
bigfatmadcowmoo
https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data-research/dashboard/activity-levels.html this also has some good graphs for the big 3 resp illnesses
Kwaj
Everything peaks in the winter like you'd expect, but COVID and only COVID also has a peak in August? Wonder why.
bigfatmadcowmoo
Variants be varying you know
plantpr0n
My guess is school opens up again.
bigfatmadcowmoo
Waning immunity, hotter temps meaning more gatherings indoors (easier to spread illness), more travel, less people vaccinated blah blah blah