Sibley Emergency Room

When we lived in the Midwest both my husband and I were comfortable knowing all the health care facilities and care givers. It made a bad situation so much easier. But when we moved to DC, nobody knows my husband was a surgeon, and I was a nurse. And it is hell getting around this town for whatever appointment you make. And depending on the time of day, it can be even worse. So when my husband was having sustained tachycardia, we knew he needed to get evaluated - the urgent care center wouldn’t do. So the emergency room at Sibley is our hospital of choice. We both dislike the huge medical centers that are closer to us. Sibley is a lot like the neighborhood hospital we liked. Going to any emergency room is a long and drawn out process but we have generally had good experience with Sibley. We were in and out within five hours, and luckily it was not a traumatic event. At least we are familiar with this type of environment and understand what is going on. Any time this sort of thing happens makes one pause about everything around you. It’s tough being on the other side of the bed. 

A Very Bad Dream - But it Wasn't

It's not a good thing when your doctor asks you what emergency room you'd like to go to. I finally made an appointment to see my doctor related to nagging abdominal, chest and pelvic discomfort, a swollen leg, and a rapid heart rate. Being a nurse and my husband a physician, the symptoms pointed to only one thing - or so I thought - and I was looking at the world through very uncertain glasses as we drove those miserable miles in heavy DC traffic to Sibley Hospital. I always preferred being on the other side of the bed - as an ICU nurse and then as a director for all the critical care units. It was an interesting international flavor at the hospital - my emergency room physician was Korean, the techs were Russian and Chinese, and everything was so different from a technical and documentation perspective than it was when I was practicing. I felt like I was in good hands, but feeling really awful about upsetting my husband and cursing our family for moving to Virginia. Regardless, it's always the small things that matter most, especially the communication of what's going on, even if it's nothing going on. Luckily for me the major findings were negative, but I do need to follow up given I still feel the same and my family history slants toward other issues. These sorts of episodes make you stop and think. Life is just too short and it's good to be reminded once in a while. Everything looks very different today - in so many ways.