JOURNAL ENTRY #75 Respect

One thing I am thankful for during my 10 days in the hospital is that the doctors and the nurses were really pleasant.  I can't even count how many there were all together since everyday produced a different person.  I cannot complain one bit about the nursing staff.  I have been in hospitals wheree the staff is snotty but not at Jacobi.  For my part I made sure I think ed people and minded my manners.

I will always complain about the food though.  I could have died.

JOURNAL ENTRY #74

Actually looking to write more.  About what....still unsure.

For now I am still more concerned about my recovery so my focus is off.

Stay tuned

Re-evaluating

Still shifting slightly from my original blog goal.  From time to time there will be focus on elder care and the homeless.    I am still.....messed up help comes with a catch.    I have looked at city agencies that deal with the homeless.  Not very seriously though.  I would not leave my current job unless I thought I could do significant work.  I want to avoid private agencies.

JOURNAL ENTRY #73 HOSPITAL part 3 (getting treated and getting killed slowly)

I ramble in this final part.

I  went to Jacobi Hospital April 8th and was discharged April 18th.  I have mixed emotions regarding this visit.

The doctors and the nurses were very good.  There were some Asian nurses (from Korea I believe) who I couldn't always understand but were very nice.  Doctors are usually brief in their appearances but mine were informative.  I wasn't happy to be staying at Jacobi as long as I was but I understand.
By the third day I was already tired of the IV and being stationary for it though.  All necessary.

What was awful was the food.  I have heard people complain about hospital food before.  I can't say one way or the other about how it tasted because I never got to eat any of it.

I am allergic to nuts, tree nuts and legumes.  For those unfamiliar legumes are beans and peas, specifically.  I told the hospital upon my entry about my food allergies.  When I got my first meal there was no mention of my situation so I mentioned it to the nurses.  They assured e they would tell the dietitians.  Meanwhile I am getting meals garnished with green peas.  Eventually I would see my allergies listed on my menu but the entrees would still have some legume in it.  One day I got tilapia with green peas all over it.  Consequentially I would only eat a fruit or a fruit cocktail because the food either had allergens in it or I was afraid they were mixed in the ingredients.  Some evenings my cousin would visit me and bring me a sandwich from Subway.  Otherwise I would have fruit or a fruit cup everyday.  For almost two weeks.

One day one of the substitute doctors was talking to me about being borderline diabetic.  Granted, I am a big guy.  I wasn't borderline diabetic before this visit.  However, taking about three different antibiotics through IV and eating basically nothing I had questions about being borderline diabetic.  MY thinking was either:
1)  There was an error because I lost significant weight in the hospital due to being malnourished.
2)  Being on three intravenous antibiotics and not eating messed with my blood sugar.

I left the hospital feeling weak due to the forced diet.  On my own I will check on the diabetes but I am still certain it was brought on by the hospital stay.

That is literally the scariest shit.  What if a person comes into the hospital and cannot really do for themselves.  If they have food allergies they can eat something and die in the hospital.  I was stubborn.  I wouldn't trust anything.  I got beef stew which had green peas all in it.

In fairness Jacobi tried to accommodate me.  They offered a sandwich with the meal.  However the sandwich was often warm and I don't eat warm chicken salad.  Or the warm yogurt.  They need food advocates.

I have to harp on the allergy issue.  If I had dementia or other mental issues having that crap on my plate could cause greater issues than I experienced.  I am schooled in the dangers of food allergies.  I lost a considerable amount of weight because I wasn't able to have a balanced diet or even eat.  Being on IV antibiotics and not eating I don't know what damage was done.

Around April 14th the doctors acknowledged that I had a nasty strain of whatever bacteria I came in contact with.  They were concerned about my white blood count going up.  The Infectious Disease doctors concluded I had a nasty strain of the cellulitus bug and that I needed to be on the antibiotics longer.  I think I was on one antibiotic and it was increased to three.  These physicians also concluded that I got to the hospital in time.  I didn't need surgery.   My doctors told me that I was responding to the increased antibiotics and that I should be able to go home the following Monday.

I was nervous.  The lead doctor was off that Sunday (the 17th) and the physician who substituted for her went in a different direction, choosing to feel my undiagnosed borderline diabetes was the culprit.  I thought they were trying to find more reasons to keep me in the hospital.  I was skeptical about leaving the hospital until I actually got discharged the next day.

When I got discharged I got a surprise.  I originally thought I had the flu.  They admitted me for cellulitus.  They treated my celulitus.  They discharged me for Deep Vein Thrombosis.

I got one CAT Scan once midway through my stay.  They said I had no clots.  I asked no questions.  I wanted to leave.  Some people think that you just go to the hospital and stay until you recover.  People forget the "little" things like rent, work, leave from work, bills and even garbage.I was going to pay my rent on April 10th.  Now I have to pay an extra $50 because I am late.  I used a lot of annual (personal) leave from work.  I am concerned about having to return to the hospital because I will have no leave and thus no way to pay any bills.

My post hospital situation has been interesting.  During the last days inside the hospital the skin around my leg became hard.  My leg wasn't in pain but it was stiff.  A little swollen at times.  A few days after getting home the skin started to peel.  The new skin was not irritated, but I am scared to peel anything.  Meanwhile the old skin gets itchy and will rub off.  The leg gets swollen from time to time.  I was told to walk, however, walking or even sitting makes the leg swell with no pain.  If I sit with my leg up there is no or very little swelling.  I have a follow up on Tuesday and I am nervous.

And I need to see my primary doctor.  Actually I need to see a brand new physician.  After trying to see my personal doctor on April 5th and not getting anywhere I need a new doctor.

JOURNAL ENTRY #72 HOSPITAL part 2 The Emergency room

Once I got 911 it was supposed to be smooth sailing.  For the most part it was.  I made sure the door was open and they EMS arrived, took my vitals and got me out the apartment.  I expected to go to the hospital for the flu.  Actually I didn't really know what to expect.  On one hand I THOUGHT I had the flu but on the other hand I couldn't walk.

In the ambulance the workers asked me where I wanted to go.  I told them Montefiore.  After a few minutes I was told they couldn't take me there.  There was some block preventing them from bringing me there.  My other choices were Jacobi Hospital and a few that were more in the South Bronx.  I chose Jacobi.

It's always weird talking about Jacobi Hospital.  My parents met at Jacobi.  My mother worked there.  My father passed away at Jacobi Hospital.  I feel too familiar with this place.  I also heard a few negative things abut Jacobi.  Nonetheless, it beat going to the South Bronx.

In the ER the staff is very professional.  I have absolutely no complaints about the ER stay.  I wasn't in there very long before I was attended to. They got me x-rays and checked on me frequently.   After a few hours I was told I didn't have the flu.  After reviewing my symptoms I had cellulitus.  A skin infection.  Actually the EMS worker said that I might have that.  And since I had no way to get home I was admitted.  I figured a few days of antibiotics through an IV and I should be as good as new.

JOURNAL ENTRY #71 THE HOSPITAL part 1

This entry will be a change.  Then again I did say I was going to change the focus of this blog.  This time around though I am going to write about MY personal visit to the hospital.  To cover it properly as well as to make sure I don't rush  the story I am doing this in parts.  There will be a point to the entry but it will not be apparent in the beginning.  In the meantime this is just a story about MY personal trip to the hospital.

On April 5th 2016 I got up for work the same as I would every morning.  The only difference this day is that it was colder than it had been the past few days so I  put on a winter coat.  That morning was only in the mid  20s.  Significant because I felt cold and I never feel like that.  Except for snow and ice I embrace the winter weather.

I got on the express bus and never felt warm even with the heavy coat on.  I had the chills.  When I got off the bus at abut 8:45 I still felt cold so I went to McDonald's for a hot tea.  In the back of my mind I wondered if I was coming down with something.

I drank the hot tea and it offered little relief.  I warmed up a little.  I took a cab for the remainder of my ride to work.  Halfway there I threw up.  In the cab.  I managed to get the driver to pull over and most of the vomit was out of the taxi.  From there I felt a little better and continued to work.

Once at work I felt just a little better.  I no longer had chills but I still felt sluggish.  I held off from my job and took a walk.  I carried a plastic bag with me in case I had to throw up again and I went to the staircase to clear my head. I walked downstairs to the first floor where the building nurse was located.

I went to the nurse just to check my vitals.  I had a fever (102.9) and I threw up again.  The nurse  gave me some barf bags and a note telling me to leave work and go to either Urgent Care or my primary physician.  I left work around 10:30 to go to my primary doctor who is actually across the street from my apartment.  I was told I had the onset of the flu.

Unfortunately that didn't go as planned.  Upon arriving at my doctor the receptionist told me that I wouldn't be seen and would have to go to the Urgent Care facility which opened about four hours later and was a couple of miles away.  I chose to go upstairs and lay down.  Rest and over-the-counter flu medication should do the trick.

I don't remember a lot of my stay in bed.  I didn't vomit anymore but I was too weak to really do more than drink the Vitamin water and occasionally go to the bathroom.  The next day I didn't feel much better.  In fact I was more achy, particularly my legs.  I attributed this to the flu and thought nothing more about it.  Aches and pains go along with the flu.  The next day (Thursday) it was difficult to walk on my left leg.  This isn't supposed to be normal with influenza.  I could hardly move though.  I had to crawl out of bed...literally and destroy part of my room to get a cane my father had.  Then use that can to walk to the living room to get a wheel chair he had that wasn't used in over eight years.  The pain was that great.  Once I got the chair I called 911 for an ambulance.