Handicapped Parking and .........................

[Guest guest]

Hi, In Rhode Island you have to fill out an application, have your doctor

fill out their section then the doctor sends it to a Board that only meets

once a month or something frightfull like that. I retired last January 7th

and have been trying to get my temporary H.P. renewed since that time. It

hasn't been denied.. just stalled and frankly, I don't know if I'll get it.

Unfortunately, in this state, you'd think they had streets paved in gold and

it cost a million dollars for each handicapped spot. You wouldn't believe

the people they out and out deny.

I'm going through kind of an unusual experience right now. I've had some

swelling and cracking and itching on my elbows and my primary had me

referred to a dermatologist (end of August) to check for RA-related

psoriasis or hives or ???? Then a week and a half after my mother's death

(July2), my left elbow (which had been sore and feeling a little puffy)

turned into my whole left arm being sore and swollen, from wrist to above

the elbow. My primary dr. and rheumy consulted and had me go to the main

hospital in the state, to the emergency room, to get the elbow tapped and

then put on antibiotics.. well it was 9 hours of near ... fill in the blank

.... involving a team of 3 Residents and a senior (orthopedic) specialist

before finally someone at 8:30 p.m. used a #18 needle to remove a little

fluid from the elbow to send off for culture ----- AFTER they'd given me IV

antibiotics, which of course compromised the results. I was put on

augmentin for 10 days with a close follow up scheduled with my primary dr.

Then the lab results came in and surprise, the augmentin was (supposedly)

not affecting anything .... except the swelling Had gone down a lot.

Finally ended up putting me on Biaxin along with the augmentin (oh my poor

tummy)..... tricky part here is that I had once had an allergic reaction to

Septra (which is virtually the same thing... sulfa drugs = no no. But the

infection can only be completely cleared up withe the Biaxin... so I've been

nervously watching myself for ANY sign of allergic reaction .... so far so

good. The arm continues improving. Was determined that it was a bacteria

introduced from outside, not something in my bloodstream that settled in my

elbow -- some form of staph infection which I picked up at one of the 2

hospitals Mom was in or the nursing home.

So I'm off all of my R.A. meds for at least a month -- fingers crossed. How

do I avoid something like this happening again.. it scared me. I've been

lucky in that -- well I've had pain and some joints getting attacked and all

but no heart problems, and compared to a lot of folks, controllable

flares.....

Any insights ???

Thanks. By the way I still really can't talk about Mom's passing. I was so

very fortunate to have her in my life for 60 years. She was one amazing

woman.....

Have a painfree day! Carla in RI