10/05/2025
On Saturday 9/24/25- I had an asthma attack with a Pulse ox of 74.
At the local emergency room, they were immediately responsive.
Took me to the back to start treatment. They also check my fingers, toes, heels, & for wounds. I thought it was for infectious diseases but apparently they thought or ruling out I was overdosing.
To place the leads, they exposed my breast.
ER team was skilled-overall. I recovered in a hour or so with pulse ox over 98.
Resident had me stay overnight for observation.
Also- I had an abnormal EKG that I wasnt advised of til the next morning after a second test showed similar results.
Hospital resident was fine. White nurse called me “girl” in that trying to build rapport instead of being just a professional.
The attending doctor remarked how close in age my daughter and I looked then questioned my knowing of my health.
Attending doctor could not believe I had asthma and “I can not treat you for fo asthma because there is no official diagnosis” and discounted the impact of long-term COVID-19.
She questioned:
“How do you know you have asthma?”
Well- the same damn way I know I am allergic to pencillin.
So -in my mind, are you also going to discard my report of my allergies.
I have never been seen in this hospital system fo asthma bc I “outgrew it”.
Instead of asking pointed questions:
“When or where were you first diagnosed?”
“How has your asthma been as an adult?”
She shook her head in frustration, raising her hands to her temples.
And-I let her trip over her lips as I knew she could not make sense of my existence or health.
I am 52 and no issues with my asthma as an adult other than exercise induced or allergies.
All of my asthma care and under 19 care happened on military bases bc my Dad is retired Air Force.
This civilian non-profit hospital has never treated me for asthma but has treated me for my hysterectomy.
So- I know there is a record of my asthma and my allergies but this doctor’s questioning was something dangerous.
She then explained my abnormal EKG was due to “your anxiety because you could not breath.”
I replied- “ I did not have anxiety.”
She repeated this 3 times ignoring me telling her I did not have anxiety nor an anxiety attack.
I explained I understand how to care for myself to not make my asthma worse. So no I was not experiencing anxiety.
Delaware is a medical refugee state for q***r people and others fleeing medical repression.
That interaction with the doctor felt unsafe- was unsafe.
I literally just wrote a peer-reviewed article about provider capacity and healthcomes. This experience and the research was right.
Racial & gender microaggressions and patient disrespect do not belong in our hospitals.
https://djph.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/djph-112-18.pe
