As if my ordeal with the hospital wasn't bad enough a friend forwarded me an article from snopes.com.
http://www.snopes.com/kelloggs-peanut-flour-allergies/
It's not a dreadful article , however it does make me more conscious regarding reading labels on food even with brands I am familiar with. A good read though.
I am connected with one allergy group already. I am looking to get with a few more. My motivation: a morbid fear that I will grow old and senile and not be able to articulate the foods I am allergic to. Someone at the nursing home or hospital will feed it to me, I will swell up and die a horrible death.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Monday, May 9, 2016
JOURNAL ENTRY #79 Next order of business
I officially changed my doctor today.
The prelude to this cellulitus mess actually started on Tuesday April 5th when it was thought that I had the flu. I went to my primary care doctor across the street from my apartment after I was sent home. I told the receptionist I had flu like symptoms. She in turn told me that I couldn't be seen without an appointment and that I would have to go to their Urgent Care facility a few miles away in a few hours. I didn't have the energy to do this so I went home. Two days later I found out I had a leg infection and not the flu.
I am a part of the Montefiore Medical group. Montefiore Hospital has primary care doctors across the street from my residence so I utilize them. Well, to be honest I utilize them when it is convenient. I can never seem to make an appointment when I want them so I go to the Urgent Care facility when I need them. Montefiore Urgent Care is a part of the same network so they can update my records.
Problem is, I also don't really like my primary care physician. She is a little bossy and to ME seems like she is a pill pusher. I take medications when necessary. I prefer vitamins and supplements. My doctor was ready to toss cholesterol meds at me. I don't drink or smoke. Let's try something else. But she was telling me what she was going to do and not conferring with me. No good.
So for those two reasons I wanted to leave that facility. However, I would prefer to be a part of Montefiore Hospital and their doctors. The alternative is not great. I could use Mount Sinai or NY Presbyterian but they are too far. So I did the next best thing and chose a different doctor from the group. I hope it works out. My appointment is June 29th. They had me for June 22 at 2:00 meaning I would lose an entire day of leave. Still not cool. Best I can do..........for now.
The prelude to this cellulitus mess actually started on Tuesday April 5th when it was thought that I had the flu. I went to my primary care doctor across the street from my apartment after I was sent home. I told the receptionist I had flu like symptoms. She in turn told me that I couldn't be seen without an appointment and that I would have to go to their Urgent Care facility a few miles away in a few hours. I didn't have the energy to do this so I went home. Two days later I found out I had a leg infection and not the flu.
I am a part of the Montefiore Medical group. Montefiore Hospital has primary care doctors across the street from my residence so I utilize them. Well, to be honest I utilize them when it is convenient. I can never seem to make an appointment when I want them so I go to the Urgent Care facility when I need them. Montefiore Urgent Care is a part of the same network so they can update my records.
Problem is, I also don't really like my primary care physician. She is a little bossy and to ME seems like she is a pill pusher. I take medications when necessary. I prefer vitamins and supplements. My doctor was ready to toss cholesterol meds at me. I don't drink or smoke. Let's try something else. But she was telling me what she was going to do and not conferring with me. No good.
So for those two reasons I wanted to leave that facility. However, I would prefer to be a part of Montefiore Hospital and their doctors. The alternative is not great. I could use Mount Sinai or NY Presbyterian but they are too far. So I did the next best thing and chose a different doctor from the group. I hope it works out. My appointment is June 29th. They had me for June 22 at 2:00 meaning I would lose an entire day of leave. Still not cool. Best I can do..........for now.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
JOURNAL ENTRY # 78 Sunday
As promised I spend most of my Sunday with my feet up. The goal was to elevate my feet to keep the swelling down. So far it has worked. I did go across the street to the supermarket and to the basement to wash some towels but for the most part I stayed in the apartment with the leg up and there has been no swelling. Still some dry and peeling skin but the swelling I have grown accustomed to seeing these past few weeks isn't there. I have one quick errand to make tomorrow and I will repeat the process. Next thing is to adjust the salt in my diet. I don't use that much of it but it may be cause for the swelling.
As for today:
1) Did last minute laundry.
2) Walked down and UP 15 flights of stairs to and from the basement (actually 16 flights since I live on the 15th floor and had to go to the basement)
3) Walked to the supermarket which is only a block and a half away.
Very little foot swelling if at all.
Still pissed about the hospital food.
As for today:
1) Did last minute laundry.
2) Walked down and UP 15 flights of stairs to and from the basement (actually 16 flights since I live on the 15th floor and had to go to the basement)
3) Walked to the supermarket which is only a block and a half away.
Very little foot swelling if at all.
Still pissed about the hospital food.
JOURNAL ENTRY #77 Food allergies and the hospital
Yeah I am still pissed off about the food at Jacobi.
In doing a little research I found an interesting article regarding hospitals and how they treat patients with food allergies. Here is the link to that article
http://www.foodallergy.org/file/hospital-food-training-faan.pdf
Sadly Jacobi did not follow any of these procedures. It is scary because if I could not speak I would be at the mercy of some clueless staff person to feed me something that could end my life.
The thing a lot of people don't realize about food allergies is that sometimes even the smallest amount of a particular food can kill. Touching shrimp can cause an allergic reaction. I once touched peanut butter and got a hive. People who do not suffer from allergies are often insensitive towards people with allergies. They tend to not look at the label because it doesn't really concern them. So it will take a major incident before this changes.
No wonder people smuggle in McDonald's
In doing a little research I found an interesting article regarding hospitals and how they treat patients with food allergies. Here is the link to that article
http://www.foodallergy.org/file/hospital-food-training-faan.pdf
Sadly Jacobi did not follow any of these procedures. It is scary because if I could not speak I would be at the mercy of some clueless staff person to feed me something that could end my life.
The thing a lot of people don't realize about food allergies is that sometimes even the smallest amount of a particular food can kill. Touching shrimp can cause an allergic reaction. I once touched peanut butter and got a hive. People who do not suffer from allergies are often insensitive towards people with allergies. They tend to not look at the label because it doesn't really concern them. So it will take a major incident before this changes.
No wonder people smuggle in McDonald's
Saturday, May 7, 2016
JOURNAL ENTRY# 76 Learning experiences
I TRY to learn from each of my experiences (as well as others). And I have always tried to find the bright spot when things go bad. That silver lining. My recent hospital stay is nothing different. My mind is active trying to make sense of it and to make sure it doesn't happen again if I can help it. At the very least I want to be better prepared for that type of an emergency.
So far my bout with cellulitus is a freak incident that happened. I have spoken to people who are familiar with it and not everyone had a scratch or cut to attribute the infection to. My infection MAY be attributed to drying my feet immediately after taking a shower and getting a cut in between my toes. Just rushing to do something and I neglected drying my feet. Possibly.
After doing a little research my weight may have played a part in it. I read that some people are more at risk and the list included diabetics, the elderly, people with damaged immune systems and folks with circulatory issues. I lost 10-15 pounds while I was at Jacobi Hospital because I couldn't eat the food. I weighed 275. I am not saying I will drop to 200, but I will make a conscious effort to get and stay below 250. My goal is to drop to 225 lbs. I choose to think that this may have been a way to open my eyes and lose some weight before I hit 300 pounds. So I have started calorie counting. I am not going to be radical but according to the app I have I am to stay under 2100 calories a day. Since I have been home I have remained close to that. Most days I am under the goal. Most soda I drink now is just seltzer water. I try to limit my sweet sodas to one can of ginger ale a day. Yeah I drink an occasional iced tea but I monitor that on the app too. Once the leg swelling is gone I will be walking a lot more and will work out in the gym since I believe my biggest problem is inactivity.
I am not aware of being diabetic and one doctor alluded to possibly being border line even though the main doctors never spoke about diabetes and it wasn't on my chart and they took enough blood from me. However I am going to make sure I am not diabetic.
Hopefully I will never go to Jacobi Hospital again. The doctors and nurses rate high but I can't afford to go someplace where I can die not from any disease but from the food. My goal is to not go to the hospital at all, but I will make every effort to never go back to Jacobi Hospital again.
Learning experiences.
So far my bout with cellulitus is a freak incident that happened. I have spoken to people who are familiar with it and not everyone had a scratch or cut to attribute the infection to. My infection MAY be attributed to drying my feet immediately after taking a shower and getting a cut in between my toes. Just rushing to do something and I neglected drying my feet. Possibly.
After doing a little research my weight may have played a part in it. I read that some people are more at risk and the list included diabetics, the elderly, people with damaged immune systems and folks with circulatory issues. I lost 10-15 pounds while I was at Jacobi Hospital because I couldn't eat the food. I weighed 275. I am not saying I will drop to 200, but I will make a conscious effort to get and stay below 250. My goal is to drop to 225 lbs. I choose to think that this may have been a way to open my eyes and lose some weight before I hit 300 pounds. So I have started calorie counting. I am not going to be radical but according to the app I have I am to stay under 2100 calories a day. Since I have been home I have remained close to that. Most days I am under the goal. Most soda I drink now is just seltzer water. I try to limit my sweet sodas to one can of ginger ale a day. Yeah I drink an occasional iced tea but I monitor that on the app too. Once the leg swelling is gone I will be walking a lot more and will work out in the gym since I believe my biggest problem is inactivity.
I am not aware of being diabetic and one doctor alluded to possibly being border line even though the main doctors never spoke about diabetes and it wasn't on my chart and they took enough blood from me. However I am going to make sure I am not diabetic.
Hopefully I will never go to Jacobi Hospital again. The doctors and nurses rate high but I can't afford to go someplace where I can die not from any disease but from the food. My goal is to not go to the hospital at all, but I will make every effort to never go back to Jacobi Hospital again.
Learning experiences.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)