On July 3, I completed a productive day at work and happily
left the office at 5:00 anticipating a long holiday weekend camping at a Corps
of Engineers Park on Lake Seminole. That
night I went to bed and awoke sometime in the middle of the night with chills
and a fever of 104 degrees. I covered up
good, took some Tylenol and suffered through the night. The next morning I felt some better and
pushed myself to go to Wal Mart with Bubba to buy our camping groceries for the
weekend. I didn’t hold up too well and
when I came home to rest my fever was once again 104 degrees. I determined that I would see the doctor the
next morning. The night was rough with
high temperatures. My neck and head
ached. It’s a wonder I didn’t die from a
drug overdose because I searched the cabinet for anything that might help
relieve my pain. Bubba heated hot
compresses for my head that seemed to help some and he massaged my neck until
he gave out.
Long story short, I ended up the next day (Thursday) at
Sacred Heart Hospital in Port St. Joe.
The doctor there did not seem alarmed by my high temperatures (although
I know that I heard once your brain would “boil” if your temperature got too
high). He said that I didn’t need a
spinal tap because I could move my head and neck. I was told I had a virus and to take Tylenol
for the fever.
On Saturday, I tried to reach the doctor at Sacred Heart but
couldn’t so we decided to go to the Emergency Room at Gulf Coast. Same story as Sacred Heart – I didn’t need a
spinal tap, I had a virus and should take Tylenol for my fever.
The misery continued until Tuesday morning when Bubba called
Dr. Barnes who agreed to see me right away.
I believe he saved my life. He
told Bubba that I was going into shock and that he was calling the ambulance
and having me admitted at Bay Medical.
Most of that day is a blur, but I do remember that the first thing said
by the emergency room doctor was that he was going to do a spinal tap. I don’t remember anything until I was in my
“isolated” room on a bedside toilet and I didn’t have the strength to get
up. A bald headed black man reached
around me and said, “Come on, Mama, we’re putting you on that bed.” And he did.
I began to get antibiotics and other drugs via IV -
wonderful medicine that stopped my headache.
After a night of pushing fluids into me, they discovered that I had too
much fluid and it had built up around my heart.
I was so swollen. My fingers were
short, fat stubs and my wedding ring felt like it was going to cause the end of
my finger to drop off. Of course, the
cure for this was a lot of diuretics and I was put on fluid restrictions. Also something had happened to the sodium in
my blood and I had to take $200 sodium tablets.
I have never craved cold water so much in my life. Eventually I felt better and began to beg the
doctor to let me go home and he did (big mistake).
At home I felt like I was doing okay. I could get up to go to the bathroom although
they did not send me home with anything for my headaches which continued. The fevers also continued, but I was at home
and happy until I got up to go the bathroom and did not have the strength to
get up. Bubba helped me and we decided
that we might better go back to see Dr. Barnes the next day. The next morning on the way out the back
door, my legs turned to jelly and I sat down hard on the step and of course
Bubba couldn’t get me up. He called his
friend Charles to come help. He was there
e in just a minute. I put my arm around
his big strong shoulders and I’ve got to tell you it sure felt good. His wife, Helen, asked me if he stunk because
he had been working in the garden, but I assured her that he smelled wonderful
to me. Dr. Barnes sent me back to the
hospital. Wow, it took eight hours in
the emergency room to get back in. I was
in isolation again, but I was where I needed to be. That was on a Thursday and I stayed until the
following Wednesday. The doctor had said
that I would go to HealthSouth from the hospital because I needed rehab to get
my strength back; however, when he came in Wednesday, he pretty much said I was
a strong woman to go home. I asked about
my headaches and he pointed upward and said some things only God can heal.
Well, I’ve been at home four days. Bubba is taking very good care of me. I’m making myself get dressed every day and
walk as much inside as I can and a lap outside also. I am getting stronger and I do love being at
home.
We saw Dr. Barnes again who gave me my headache pills. He said that the headache would go away when
the swelling around my brain subsided.
He also said that getting well was going to take time and I should just
try to do a little more everyday He also
said that it might be Thanksgiving until I’m back to normal, but I feel like
I’m on the right track.
You may think that I’m writing too much about this
experience, but I’m 63 years old and have never experienced anything like this
before. I truly feel for the people
suffering from cancer and the other debilitating diseases that are out
there. I feel like a baby next to them,
but this wasted a whole month and maybe more from my life. I don’t want to forget it so I’m really
writing this for me. There are a lot of
things/events I don’t want to ever forget.
1.
The way Bubba has taken care of me. He has definitely passed the “in sickness and
in health” vow.
2.
Amy and Darryl’s response to my illness. Darryl was boarding an airplane when Bubba
called and told him they were taking me to the hospital. He cancelled his flight, picked up Amy and
Amelia and headed to the hospital.
3.
All of Bubba’ brothers and his sister came to
the hospital to be with him.
4.
While Amy was here, I would doze off and I would
wake up and see here sitting on the couch reading – just watching over me.
5.
It always made me smile when Darryl came in the
room. He would have on his mask and
would pull on his latex gloves and snap them like he was going to do
surgery. He has a flair for the dramatic.
6.
I received so many phone calls. I felt so loved. Many of the people I work with called me on a
regular basis. Both prison chaplains
called or came by. My boss has called me
nearly every day and visited the hospital twice.
7.
I don’t want to forget how well I was treated at
the hospital. Everyone from the
custodian to the RNs were so nice and attentive (except the one nurse from
h-e-l-l), but I only had him once.
8.
I don’t want to forget the nurse who was
concerned because the permanent IV they had left on my hand was hurting
me. It burned like fire when they
flushed it out, but they have to leave it just in case they need it again. She said that she was going to call the
doctor early the next morning to get permission to take it out. I kind of thought, “Yeah right”, but the next
morning at 7:00 just as she was finishing her shift, she came in and took that
hateful thing out. I thought of her
every time I tucked my hand under my cheek to sleep.
9.
I don’t want to forget the nurse who talked to
the doctor about increasing my headache medication. She got him to change it to every four hours
instead of every six. The nurses knew
that if they got it to me on time, I would not have a headache and they were
always there with it on time. (Except
the nurse from h-e-l-l who was three hours late.)
10.
I don’t want to forget the nice man from Food
Service. Somehow I got entered in the
computer for a diet that was “non mechanical”, which I think meant no
teeth. Everything I got was something
pulverized beyond recognition and served on mashed potatoes. It seemed that no one was a high enough
authority to change the entry in the computer.
Dr. Compton, my kidney doctor, tried twice to fix it. I got a real pork chop and a baked potato that
night and I was so excited. I almost
sucked the bone, but alas, the next morning the pulverized stuff returned. Apparently the computer caught the
mistake. When Amy came back (surprise!)
the second time she took matters into her own hands. On Monday night she went and got us some
Mexican food for supper. I savored and
smiled over every single bite. I kind of
felt bad when the man picked up my tray, but he said he understood that he
would have done the same thing.
The next night we had Pizza Hut pizza
supreme. Once again each bite was a
delight. You would think that all this
spicy food would not agree with me after a week of eating bland pulverized
food, rest assured that it did not bother me one bit.
The next day the nice food service man came
to see me and asked me if I would want a cheeseburger for lunch. I assured him that he would be my hero if he
could accomplish that. It seems that the
computer allows that for a “non mechanical” diet because of the ground
beef. He was so proud when he delivered
it and I assure you that I enjoyed every bite.
On my last day, right before I was released he came in to tell me that I
had finally been corrected in the computer to a “regular diet” and with great
excitement he informed me that tonight was FRIED CHICKEN NIGHT. I sadly informed him that I was going home
and going to regret missing the fried chicken, but I did thank him for all the
personal attention he gave trying to please me.
UPDATE:
I have now been at home since Wednesday,
July 25. I feel like I’m getting
stronger every day. Last Thursday I went
to an eye doctor appointment, a drug store, ate lunch at Golden Corral (with Bubba fixing my plate), and got
to go back by the prison for a short visit.
It was my best day so far.
Saturday was our 46th Wedding
Anniversary and I felt like going out for lunch. We made the hour long scenic drive to East
Point where we ate at Captain Snook’s.
It was delicious. Bubba has
really proven himself as an excellent care giver over this past month. I’m very blessed. This is it on my health until I am able to go
back to work. I hope that it won’t be
too much longer.
