My friend got strep throat somehow while being in New York. We think it’s because she made out with some rando guy inside Kiss and Fly. I’ve never been to this club because all of the NYU girls have warned that it’s somewhat trashy. Her strep throat was feeling better after the 6th day on antibiotics, so my friend decided not to take them anymore. Instead of resting until the completion of her infection, she decided to start going out with us again. It was a horrible idea on her part. New York is just so fast paced that she felt she was critically missing out, even if it was only a few days.
On Sunday morning she began having a panic attack when she realized her throat was closing up. She couldn’t swallow, and found it extremely hard to breath. I thought she was just freaking herself out, however, I started realizing that her panic attack was not going to cease until we took her to a doctor and they told her their professional opinion. She was admitted into the emergency room after trying at two other local hospitals. Nothing besides the ER was open, so we waited in line at the ER for a good 20 minutes even to get her through her first screening. They did several screenings to make sure we were actually there for a legitimate cause. Imagine all the crazies that show up at the ER talking to themselves and asking for a medication handout—the screening was necessary.
We were guided to a freezing 5’x7’ curtained room where my friend was told to get out of her street clothes and into a (hospital frock.) A nurse finally came in to take her vitals. This was already done during the initial screening. She was about to give her a second blood test until another nurse ran in and yelled at her not to. Hours upon hours went by before a doctor finally attended to my friend. The emergency room is a complete joke to me unless you’ve been locked inside a fire or stabbed, but then again, I feel like even with these cases people do a lot of waiting around. No wonder why one of the leading causes of death is mistreatment in the hospital.
The doctor advised a shot to her throat to calm the swelling and clear out the (strep bacteria.) He returned after a few minutes to change his mind from giving her a shot to giving her an IV to kill the pain. On top of this, he was going to give her very strong medication for strep. The man who was supposed to administer the procedure pulled out a needle and I said, “Excuse me, WHAT are you doing?!” He told me the doctor’s orders were to give her a shot (of whatever this concoction was) to her throat. I told him that he better check his information because the doctor had told us that he had changed his mind. This was the second time in this hospital that they were about to administer the wrong procedure.
I couldn’t believe these “professionals.” Here my friend was, in pain and oblivious to what was going on around her, and the doctors/nurses couldn’t get their orders straight?! Doctors treat you like you know nothing, but a lot of times I feel like there is a major lack of common sense and courtesy that exists within professional clinics. I was absolutely appalled because these drugs are not something to just mess around with. Instead of having actual knowledge of health and the body’s ability to heal itself, they’re insistent on prescribing out pills for every ill.
Always,
Alena Netia Horowitz
