Cindy and I were sitting in a doctor's office waiting to see the doctor for one of my many medical problems. If it is serious enough, Cindy goes along as a translator or to make sure the doctor doesn't fuck up.
For example, one year when I was in California visiting my sister over Christmas (She lived in the San Francisco Bay Area back then), I got a bad skin sore on the instep of my right foot. Knowing just how bad medical care can be, I self treated it with an antibacterial and hoped I could fend off a bad infection until I got back to Atlanta. The cellulitis was just starting when I returned to Atlanta, and Cindy was waiting at my house to take me to the emergency room.
We got to the emergency room and saw a doctor.
Doctor: Ouch! I bet that hurts.
Me: Nope. It doesn't. That's how I got it. I have no sensation in that area
Doctor: Oh. I see.
Anyway, he immediately prescribed a hard core antibiotic (Rosephin) which is administered by IV.
Note to anyone going on a hardcore antibiotic. It kills everything. I mean everything and that includes the good bacteria in your lower digestive tract which means massive diarrhea unless you take sumpin' like lactaid. Unfortunately doctors never tell you that. I just did.
The nurse had some problems sticking me, so Cindy had them close the curtains and she did it. She was also the person who handled my IV's when I was home. She was aided in this process by Ashley, my little nurse cat, who thought the IV line was a wondrous toy.
At the end of the emergency room visit, the nurse was getting ready to apply a dressing to my foot and was just about ready to put this white cream over the wound.
Cindy: Pardon me, but is that Sulfadine?
Nurse: Yes it is. Why do you ask?
Cindy: He's allergic to Sulfa drugs.
Nurse: Oh.
It's on my chart. And one of the first things they ask is if you are allergic to any medication. Had I been treated out in California, there is a good chance they would have used Sulfadine and I would have probably not realized what they are using.
So where was I? Oh yeah. Cindy and I were at the doctor's office and she was knitting sumpin'. She showed it to me.
Cindy: What do you think?
Me: Is that inside out?
Cindy: (Frostily) No. It is not inside out. It was gonna be your birthday sweater. (Note the emphasis on "was". We don't talk very much about that sweater. She wound up knitting it for someone else.)
Anyway, it was green and I'm not too big on green. The upshot was she knitted this sweater which I think was much better than the green one she was knitting.
Wanna see sumpin' neat? On one side of the sweater, she knitted my initials.
Pretty cool huh?
But I'm not done yet. This doctor visit was a followup on my foot. We didn't get to see my regular doctor. We saw another whom Cindy referred to later as an FMG.
Doctor: That looks pretty serious.
Me: Yes:
Doctor: How are you treating it?
Cindy: IV Rosephin. We need some IV stuff, saline solution and some Rosephin.
Doctor: Sure. The nurse will give you all the supplies and I'll write a script for the Rosephin.
Cindy: Thanks. We'll also need some dressing material.
Doctor: Ok. I recommend using heat to help the wound heal faster.
Cindy: (almost screeching) Heat? That's the worst thing you can do for a wound on a spinal cord injured patient! (She should know after all the years she worked at Shepherd Center, the Southeast's pre-eminent hospital for treating spinal cord injured patients.) He needs compression.
Doctor: Well, if you want the wound to heal faster, I guess that's right.
Cindy bit here tongue but after we left she mimiced the doctor and her answer then was, "Fucking right we want the fucking wound to heal faster you fucking FMG"!
Anyway, we got everything we needed and went back to my house. I had just moved to Beautiful Dunwoody about six months before this happened. It was a fortuitous move because no way could Cindy have come up to Acworth three days a week to handle my IV's and dressings. I would have had to use a visitng nurse and Cindy doesn't have a very high opinion of many of them. Not all, but many. Just as many doctors are not experienced dealing with spinal cord patients, many nurses are not either.
Everything turned out well in the end except for two things:
My mother died about two months later and my sister and I had to go up to St. Louis to take care of everything related to her death which of course, delayed my healing and some other complications arose.
Since I had to spend four months in a wheelchair, I lost a lot of leg strength. I had not used a wheelchair in over six years. I walked everywhere and around the house, I only used one crutch. I haven't regained the leg strength, altho' I'm trying to now that I'm retired and have the time and energy to work out three days a week.
The next sweater goes back to blue.
Posted by denny at December 9, 2005 12:06 PMDid she balance it with GOC on the other side...:-)...!
Posted by: Jeff McDonald on December 9, 2005 05:39 PMI had to be on IV Rocephin a couple of years ago when I got a staph infection in my leg. I don't recall that it did in my GI tract. But I was much more concerned with the tube plugged into my chest for a couple of months.
Not to mention that I still had the memory of the vilest fluid ever that came out of my leg when the staph traveled up to what turned out to be an encapsulated blood clot. Man them little germs thought I was like a giant buffet all laid out for them.
Damn, I've said too much!
Please tell Cindy that we appreciate her efforts to keep you around so we can be entertained.
Just because someone has a medical degree it does not mean that they are smart. Example: My Mother had an abnormal EKG, her dot head doctor suggested she lose weight. Mom had a Heart Attack 4 months later and then lived with Heart Failure for 7 more years. She died at 66.
Posted by: Hugh on December 9, 2005 09:11 PMGood God Cindy is talented. In many ways, I am sure, but knitting, Wow. Really.
Posted by: Bou on December 9, 2005 11:49 PMSomehow you made trips to the doctor sound entertaining. Great sweaters. If Cindy wants to knit for injured soldiers, have I got a job for her.
Posted by: Laurie on December 10, 2005 01:13 AMI am sure that Cindy ment to say "FNG". "Fucking new guy". That is what we call the newbies. And it is real sad that some cannot keep track of a patient's allergies. But , Hello people! There is a Huge nursing shortage in the U.S and it is getting worse as the baby boomers age. People need to take control of their own medical history and make the point to relay that to their health care provider's.
Posted by: Teresa on December 10, 2005 01:38 AMIt is absolutely incredible how little your typical "medical professional" knows about sci. I did my rehab at Craig in Denver and they told us upon going home we would know much more about sci than our family physician. I am very fortunate that my local hospital didn't kill me in the month I spent there before going to rehab.
Posted by: bill on December 10, 2005 02:45 AMCindy sounds like a kick ass lady, in more ways than one.
I know how you feel about the sweaters.
I have a good friend from when I was a kid that knitted me a blanket. A nice, heavy blanket. The best part is the little tag that says "Knitted especially for you by Tweet".
Posted by: freddyboomboom on December 10, 2005 10:37 AMSomeday I want to take up knitting. I'd do it now, but I'd never get the damn piece done--I'd spend most of the time disentangling my son from the yarn. Either that or chasing after him, yelling at him not to run while simultaneously trying to retrieve the needles he snitched off with.
--TwoDragons
Posted by: Denita TwoDragons on December 10, 2005 06:10 PM