March 2, 2018
The Demon (aka jab test)
Well, it ended up that the evening of the day someone broke into our van and I got sick, it wasn’t just a fever and go thing. The fever didn’t want to go away (all my life low fever & cough might take a while, but rest, food, and a few days and it’s usually gone) and the cough felt deep and odd. I have a sneaky feeling I’ve fought this off before (as a kid, when “sleep, hot potato soup, and pink medicine” made it disappear in a week) but at this stage in my life the distant memory of a thing called “sleep” and the vibrant energy of my work and home was not working in my favor. Nine days and low fever, I wasn’t doing a good enough job – I needed antibiotics.
I didn’t want to go to the clinic because, although Louis thinks we have a “plan” nothing ever works in my family’s favor financially when I get hurt/sick. So I was worried about the cost of clinic plus antibiotics. Louis is like, the clinic is free. (no, it was $75) Then when I see a doctor, she’s like “we can’t help you because your O2 (oxygen) levels are too low, you have to go to the ER.” (2 pts, just 2pts!)
Really? I was so frustrated and totally wanted another clinician’s opinion as hopefully someone would just give me the antibiotic I needed and send me home. I did not want thousands of dollars of garbage so I could get a bottle of pills. (I knew it was pneumonia: why couldn’t I just call old man Gower’s Drugs and get a prescription delivered to my house? I don’t care how many release of liability forms I have to sign.)
Instead, Louis has my mom on the phone when he picks me up – and instead of trying Healing Arts for a second opinion (where I wanted to go in the first place) – it’s just ER. (Oh, side note? I think the O2 machine at the clinic was straight-up-kooky-dooks because my O2 levels at the ER? 94.) Supposedly way higher than at the clinic. No wonder the physician looked at me like I was hissing words. And have you ever done a flu “jab” test? (I will 100% avoid the hospital FOREVER simply because of that demon – I now have a fear worse than needles! this makes my white-coat-phobia totally valid!) After that assault, my perfectly healthy nose was bleeding, swollen, running, and the next CNA to enter asked if I had been like this for 9 days? (HAHA, no, some dude jabbed a stick up my nose, and this eyes watering and burning, nose running, bloody discharge, is brand new. Want to know how afraid of this place I was before this? Now you won’t get me in IF I’m really dying.)
At least these two came in to do the one thing needed that I guess a clinic can’t do. XRay. Bingo, with that picture, even a laymen could see junk in half of my left lung. Great. The blood guy (who used to work with Louis – everyone in this town knows Louis) asks if I know why I’m here. I’m like, yes, pretty sure what I thought was a normal cold with a cough is pneumonia. He asks about pain. Only in my nose. Supposedly there’s great chest pain associated with pneumonia that I had lacked to mention (guess my body is just a unique biological specimen – maybe that’s why taking Benadryl for a few bites turns my entire body into a solid rash worse than chicken pox for a week). Louis says I have a huge pain tolerance.
Becca, Mom, and Anastasia show up (I’m sure Becca is here just to remind me of children.) By this time they know its pneumonia the only guess is am I staying? Another nurse does a breathing treatment, during which Becca is constantly asking me questions and I’m giving her eyes. Anastasia sits with her Ipad and Minnie Mouse and is smiling. Louis still looked worried. Then we’re told, “oh, you can go home, we’re just waiting on paperwork.” A pill for 10 days with orders to sleep and not work. (WHO am I kidding?? That isn’t going to happen. But I will try my best.)
So I’m home, trying to rest playing a weird game with my girls. The perfect question pops up (this is some teen personality game for “what faction would you be in Divergent” so I do not know why this question is there) it reads “you are trapped on an island with your crush: you do… a) b) c) d) or e) relax and enjoy! You finally have some alone time! (And this is making me laugh the entire evening away – because I’d totally be YIPPPEEEE NO PHONES because I could totally go all Swiss Family Robinson and LOVE it forever as long as my family was there.)
Thanks for reading!
Type at you next time…
~Nancy Tart