Mt. Auburn Hospital

I go to school at Harvard so every time I go to Urgent Care and it involves my stomach hurting they send me right over to Mt. Auburn. Sometimes by ambulance which is always fun.
1. Waiting Room (4/10)
- First it just seems old. The receptionist is ALWAYS cranky. Doesn't matter who it is, what time of day, just cranky. There also always seem to be people just lounging around the waiting room for no particular reason. They do tend to take you to triage pretty quickly and do registration then.
2. Waiting Time (9/10)
- I have never had a long wait here. I have once had to have a stretcher in the hallway because I came by ambulance but even then I was quickly put into a room. The rooms themselves are standard and pretty private even if you don't get a single room. Plus the nurse and doctor are into see you pretty much as soon as you get into a room.
3. Thoroughness of the Staff (8/10)
- They do the normal background medical history, questions about Crohn's related issues. The nurses don't always seem to know what's going on, but the doctor's ask you lots of questions and are receptive.
4. Pain Relief (10/10)
- This is the best place I've gone relating to pain relief. If you come in in pain it is something that the doctor immediately addresses. He also encourages you to ask for more when you need it. They always start with a medication that helps me so I don't have to wait for the other medicine to not work. They also give you nausea medicine with the pain meds without even being asked. They really care about making you comfortable
5. Nurses (5/10)
- It's really hit or miss. Some of the nurses are fantastic. They're always around when you need them. They get orders for you fast and keep you up with what is happening regarding your treatment. Then there are the others who you have to track down to find out what is happening. So it's a toss up. It's also really hard to get blankets and it's always freezing.
6. Doctors (6/10)
- The doctors here are really nice and seem to know what they're doing. They get a complete report of what's going on and come up with a plan. Most importantly they discuss this plan with you. The most recent doctor I had went almost too far with this, leaving it up to me whether I wanted a ct scan of my head and then a lumbar puncture. I didn't really want to make those decisions, but the hypochondriac in me made them for me.
My complaint is the same as with the nurses. It's a toss up. Another doctor had come in a little while before I had to leave. She gave me a prescription for a nausea medicine when I left, claiming it was good for headaches. It's not, I've used it before. When I come in because I'm having the worst headache of my life at least give me some form of pain medication, especially since I can't take Ibuprofen. Not to mention that she just stuck her head in for less than 30 seconds before leaving her orders.
7. Overall (6/10)
- This is just for the inconsistency. When I have been hospitalized here they were fantastic. In the ER you just never know if you're going to get a great doctor of if you're going to get a horrible one. This is just one instance where you really have to speak up for yourself. And get yourself a blanket out of the blanket warmer.

(disclaimer all of these opinions are purely my own and no one elses)

Newton Wellesley Hospital

This is my hospital of choice. I was taken care of here when I needed surgery and had the surgery here. My GI doc has his office here. So I'm a little biased in my ratings.

1. Waiting Room (9/10)
- There are many couches and tv's throughout the room. There's a snack and soda machine for the people waiting with you. You also get a buzzer when you get in, so if there's going to be a wait you don't have to pay attention to hear your name. Triage and Registration is all done in the same area, and they are all very nice. They take down any ailments that you have. You are in Wellesley so the people around are not smelly, that is a problem I've encountered.
2. Waiting Time (5/10)
- This hospital tends to get pretty busy at peak times. My symptoms tend to come late at night and even then there's a wait.
3. Thouroughness of the Staff (7/10)
- I feel that they do a good job asking all relevant questions while you're in triage. I'm always asked about medical history, if it's a pain question the type, location and severity. They always ask the Crohn's poop related questions.
4. Pain Relief (8/10)
- What I like about hospitals in Massachusetts is that they seem to care what state you are in, not just whether you're breathing. In this hospital they always ask how you're feeling, regarding nausea and pain (those are my normal symptoms). They usually come back quickly after putting the IV in and taking the blood with the medicine. One draw back is that they always try with a pain med that doesn't seem to ever help, it's good with headaches. But if I just ask again a little after that they'll give me something that works.
5. Nurses (9/10)
- The Nurses are amazing here. They are super nice. They always get the iv in quickly with a limited amount of pain. They care if you are in pain and do whatever they can to make you feel better. They almost always have a warm blanket ready before you even ask for one.
6. Doctors (9/10)
- Doctors are great. They come in quickly, ask some pertinent questions, and tell you their plan. If you have any problems or questions with it they are very quick to answer them and change the plan if need be. One problem I had was that a doctor was giving me the decision whether I should get a lumbar puncture or not (there was a small chance there was bleeding in my brain that the ct didn't catch) and I honestly would rather he made the call. In the end I did it, not as bad as expected.
7. Overall (9/10)
- This ER is just amazing. All of the beds are in separate rooms with their own tvs. There are warm blankets. And these are just the perks. The nurses and doctors are very receptive to you and always make you feel taken care of. They also definitely care about making you more comfortable, if it means some pain meds, some anxiety meds, or just a warm blanket.

Go here if you are in the Boston area at all.
Directions: From the mass pike take exit 16, and there are signs all the way.

(disclaimer: all of my statements are purely my opinion and should be taken as such)

Boston Area Hospital

I live in Boston so I've been to my fair share of hospitals. Here is my take on them from a patients perspective. Plus my priorities are slightly different from the normal patients.
I'm rating hospitals on a 10 point scale.
1. The waiting room - is it clean, good magazines, scary homeless people?
2. The waiting time - how long your going to wait to see a doctor once you get there
3. The thoroughness of the staff - do they ask all the important questions, get blood work quickly, etc.
4. Pain Relief - How long does it take from when you get a bed to when you get relief for your pain
5. Nurses - Are they approachable, attentive, able to get the iv in easily, take your questions to the doctors
6. Doctors - Do they listen to you, get your full history, give you a say in treatment, have multiple theories, take you seriously
7. Overall experience at the hospital

When to go to the Hospital

First, keep in mind that I'm not a doctor and all of my recommendations just come from personal knowledge.

Every time I decide to go to the emergency room I have a major internal struggle. Or if I'm with my fiancé it's an external struggle. Or internal struggle externally? I don't know. Basically I always think that I'm just going to waste my time, the doctors and nurses time, and the nurses will all be annoyed with me. But then I think about what would happen if I don't go.
Before I had the surgery the not going to the emergency room side won out most of the time. Then I got an intestinal blockage, after I had been having severe pain for a month and while on Prednisone. I didn't even go to the ER that time, I just made an urgent appointment with my school's medical center. I went for my appointment, which was actually made because my joints hurt so bad from the prednisone. She saw my stomach, which looked about 5 months pregnant and touched it which hurt so incredibly badly, and decided I needed to get to the emergency room. It turned out that I had a blockage and needed to be hospitalized for a month with nothing solid to eat, and eventually needed surgery.
So now my perspective has changed a bit. Every time I'm in pain (which is the major sign of my disease) I ask myself what's the worst that can happen if you go and they find nothing? The answer is that the nurses and doctors will be annoyed with me. I'll be out $50. I'll have to wait around for awhile. I might get a CT scan. All pretty bad things.
Then I ask what's the worst that can happen if I don't go and something's wrong. I could die. That time I had the blockage if I had just left it alone it would have ruptured and I could have died. So really, you need to take this disease seriously. My best advice is do what I say not what I do and DON'T WORRY ABOUT WHAT ANYONE ELSE THINKS ABOUT YOU, YOUR HEALTH IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. So when in doubt go. But here are some, I hope, helpful tips.

1. You know what your signs of the disorder are. If they're starting to come back make an immediate appointment with your GI doctor. Hopefully it can be dealt with on an outpatient basis.
2. If any of these symptoms are unbearable to live with and you can't see your doctor right away go to the ER.
3. My disorder causes a lot of pain and I bet yours does to, so don't be afraid to go in to the ER if the pain is unbearable. And I mean, can't drive yourself to the doctor unbearable.
4. If there is blood coming out of somewhere there shouldn't be (not nose obv.) go right to the emergency room.
5. If you stomach is hugely distended and you can't get in immediately to see your doctor go to the ER.
6. If you get sharp severe pain.
7. If you get sharp severe pain in a new place.

So run through this list when you're making your decision. Know that if you go the worst will be that you'll get your pain taken care of, you'll get a good idea of whether your disease needs immediate hospitalization or a doctors visit, and you may get a CT scan. Be careful with those, they have 1,000x the radiation of an x-ray. You can always say you'd rather just get an x-ray or an ultra-sound instead if the doctor doesn't believe it's something life threatening going on.

Hospitals and Crohn's Disease

If you have Crohn's disease you have probably had the unfortunate experience of going to the emergency room. They have played a large part in my life. So I'm going to write about which ERs in the New York and Boston areas are the best and which one's to avoid. Also, it's hard to know when you should go to the ER and when you should wait and see your primary care or GI doctor. So I'll give some of my tips on deciding.

Try this website for looking at typical figures.

Welcome!

Crohn's disease stinks. Figuratively and literally. It's embarrassing, painful, frustrating, and unfortunately chronic. Plus it sounds like a disease old ladies should get. When I heard it for the first time I thought, well there's no way I have that I'm only 20. Later I realized I was thinking of this (and no I am not an archetypal fairytale character).
I have been struggling with this disease for 5 years. These five years have included 3 colonoscopies (where I'm always the youngest in the room by decades), 3 Barium swallow x-rays (way worse in my opinion), 1 endoscopy, countless CT scans (I'm going to get cancer at some point, I know it), lots and lots of pills including Prednisone, and a intestinal resection where they took out my ileum and 2 feet of large intestine. These five years have been delightful.
This blog is to share any knowledge that I've picked up along the way. Such as what hospital's have the best ERs and what minimizes the lovely Prednisone moonface.

Enjoy,
Kristen