Narcotics

Last weekend I had the weekend off, and it was my only weekend off for the next 3 weeks, as my Midwife partner has a daughter getting married and she took time off to be the Mother of the Bride. So, we went to the coast on Friday. We had a wonderful day with lots of walking, hiking, geo caching and finally a lovely dinner at a secret little place where you can sit on the cliffs above the ocean, out of the wind. When we were finished with our yummy dinner we decided to walk out to the point, just because we could. Now, we were in a state park that closes at 8p.m. so we were in a bit of a hurry, as we were pretty sure that the Ranger would be along to hustle us out of the park because it was 8p.m. We were laughing and being silly and I was not paying too much attention (obviously). I turned my ankle, flipped head over heals and ended up sliding down a small hill, in fairly serious pain. I got grass stains all over my clothes and once I had righted myself and butt crawled back up the hill we noted that my ankle was huge, and really, really colorful, almost immediately. Stu ran and got the car and helped me in and we visited the nearest ER to discover that I had broken my ankle. I got a boot to stabilize the foot/leg and crutches. I also got some super power ibuprofen and some narcotics. I took the ibuprofen. I actively choose NOT to take the narcotics and I did NOT fill the script for more narcotics that the ER doc gave me either. I was told not to weight bear, not to drive but to ice and elevate and see my orthopedic specialist. Back to Roseburg we came, arriving home about midnight and ruining a perfectly good weekend off, because there were still two more days of the weekend and it was obvious that I was not going to be doing anything fun.

The weekend finished and the week started, but I laid home with my foot in the air and ice intermittently on the ankle. No work on crutches, because I was not to weight bear or drive. Thursday finally came and we went to Eugene to see the ortho guy who said "everything is in great alignment. Start weight bearing and keep the boot on for the next 2 weeks and then wean out as the pain allows." Yea, hooray, I can walk (hobble) and return to work.

Friday comes and I have a labor at the hospital. I go in to the hospital early in the morning to be with my patient. It is a long, long day with lots of stress and walking around. I get really tired and my leg starts to hurt - a lot. One of the family members who is in my patient's room asks how I'm doing and I comment that my ankle hurts. Three visitors in the room pipe up and offer me NARCOTICS FROM THEIR PURSES. Three different types of narcotics from three different people. I.was.completely.taken.aback!! Now, Not Only am I at Work, but I am making life and death decisions about their loved one, not to mention that it is illegal to give your narcotics to other people . I was shocked beyond comprehension. I don't drink alcohol when I'm on call. I don't take narcotics if I can avoid it. Yet, narcotic use is so common place that these people have their narcotics in their purse while visiting at the hospital, and are willing to share!!!! Go figure!!!