Tracy Herceg
Sep 2026
Had been feeling bad for a very long time, but woke up one day and my symptoms had changed drastically. Maybe I was being dramatic by going to the ER, but I didn't know what was happening ro my body and I was scared. I was reluctant to even go, but my fiance was really worried and wanted me to go, so I did. I was having stomach issues, and when they asked me to describe my symptoms, I had mentioned that there was some cramping with the stuff that was scaring me. I didn't love the cramping, but that wasn't why I was there. They wrote my reason for visit as pain, and left out the actual reason that I was there. When the doctor came in, he Immediately started asking me repeatedly how many times I've been to the ER for this, and how many different ERs I'm going to. I kept saying none, this is my first time seeing any doctor for this, not understanding at why he kept asking me like he wanted me to change my answer. It wasn't until later that I realized he assumed that I was a drug seeker. After I maintained that I haven't been hopping from ER to ER, he no longer let me speak. He'd ask me a question but then cut me off the second I tried to answer him. He even very randomly blurted out, "I can't give you dilauded." I never asked for any pain meds whatsoever. (or any other meds for that matter) I just wanted to know what was wrong with me. He told me that since I'd been feeling unwell for so long, obviously I'm not dying. (aka, saying I had no business going to the ER) He told me he was going to do a cat scan of my stomach but then told me that he wasn't going to find anything on it because the CT will only show the outside of my intestines, and not the inside. (So why even do the cat scan then?) As soon as the CT came back, he said that he didn't have any of my labs back but he was sending me home anyway. After being told they were sending me home, the nurse placed an IV in my arm, just to come back and take it back out a few minutes later. (The nurse was just following orders) when I first got there, they took my vitals. I don't remember what my blood pressure was, but I remember it being high. Like 170 - something over 90 - something. Something embarrassing happened in CT which increased my fears and basically sent me into a panic attack, which raised my blood pressure to 194/102. The person who took that second set of vitals implied that they would want that number to come down before they sent me home. They didn't though. I was having a full blown panic attack, sobbing. They then just sent me home without even checking it again. (BTW, the labs were drawn in the emergency room 4 days ago, I was told they would call me with the results, and I have not received any call at all from them) Right before leaving, I told the nurse that I didn't feel the doctor took me seriously because he labeled me as a drug seeker from the second I walked into the room, and accused me of going from er to er to get drugs. (Again, i never asked for ANY meds while there, and I made it very clear that the pain was NOT the reason for being there) I have never felt so insulted, dismissed, invalidated, and unheard by anybody in my life. If I'm ever unfortunate enough to have a true medical emergency, I'll stay home and take my chances before I ever walk into your ER again. Edited to add: I forgot to mention that I told the doctor that I take a lot of imodium. He then proceeded to repeat to me over and over again that I can't take more than 4 a day. I told him that I don't. I just take it WAY more frequently than the average person. (A few days a week every week for the past year) He kept cutting me off saying, "no, you said you take a lot. And then repeated multiple times again exactly how to take imodium, like I was a child who couldn't comprehend. Then he told me imodium is a narcotic. There we go with the drug seeking crap again...
