Re: W

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 5/2/02 4:46:06 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

susuw@... writes:

<< If I can

do anything at all to help you, please let me know. I'm always here for you.

W >>

, Please arrive at Stanford on the designated date for my operation.

Let me know how it goes and know that I'm thinking of you. Thanks for doing

this for me girlfriend. LOL

HUgs & more hugs

[Guest guest]

To late the done eat her !!! But he did say it was a little on the lean side

looking for a

Heavier meal next !! LOL

> I'm just a little south, in Seattle. Come on down!!! It's warmer

> here, althgough it's probably wetter! Plenty of places to hide!

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[Guest guest]

Dear :

My fever is below 100 now but the flu feeling is still around a

7. The infectious Md said I should start feeling better by Friday.

He only gave me 7 days worth of Augmentin (825mg 2x per day). I had

to check in with him yesterday and then on Friday and he will

determine the next step based on how I am doing. I have felt like

this flu feeling since November, before the stents were in. But I

did have a stenting series before that which ended in May. So maybe

the infection was there for a while but since I got the dog bite

infection the antibiotics kept it down. I don't know. As long as

they can get rid of it is all I care about. If the stents caused

it, oh well, as long as they get rid of it. The stentings always

stop the pain so I will do what I have to do. The Mds may have

another plan, will cross that bridge when I get to it. I'm quite

good at getting my points across. Will see.

How are you feeling? Are you getting stronger everyday? More

energy every day? How is your pain level now? I remember when I went

back to work after my panc surgery. I would be so exhaused for days

afterwards. But each week I got stronger.

Love,

W

Wisconsin

> I hope the antibiotic is working and you are feeling better every

> day. How long will you be on the course of antib's? Did they say

> what might have given you the infection? The stents?

>

> Well that really is not what is important its more important that

> you are feeling stronger and getting better every day?

> Warmly,

> Chrissy

[Guest guest]

Chrissy,

I think you are right. They probably see many more people who do just want

drugs than people who honestly do have cp. For a while things got a lot better

in my local ER after I filed a complaint with JCAHO against the hospital, the

one major jerk doc, and nurses that were working one particular night. The

whole time I was in the treatment room, the nurses were talking about this one

kid, by first and last name, and saying there was nothing wrong with him except

that his parents brought him to the ER too much. One nurse said that he had his

gallbladder removed when he was 14 just because his mom took him to the doctor

too much. She went on and on about this guy. I have no idea how old he was at

that time, but she said his parents had been bringing him there since he was 3

and that was the only thing wrong with him. She even told how many times he'd

been to the ER that year. She told the doctor to just tell him that there was

nothing wrong except with his head and that he needed to go to a shrink. She

told the doctor to tell him that he was not about to give him any medication at

all so he might as well not bother coming back. That is exactly what the doctor

told him. I heard the doctor yelling at him and saying just what the nurse

said. I don't remember what else the nurse said, but she basically gave his

whole medical history, as she saw, and said his name more than once. She was

talking loud and the doctor and nurses were all laughing about it. then they

started talking about their own kids and about how the problem was that parents

just needed to beat their kids. One said that she had told her 17 year old that

she 'would knock her into tomorrow'. Another talked about how she had hit her

daughter so hard that it had knocked two teeth loose for a few days. This was

what I got to listen to for several hours in the treatment room while I was

throwing up and in pain. The doctor did give me IV fluids and finally gave me

zofran right before he let me go. He told me that since he'd taken care of my

nausea I could take my own pain medicine at home.

Anyway, that was the final straw. I filed a complaint, making sure to give the

guy's name they'd talked about all night long, so they would know I didn't

invent the story. I also talked to director of nursing and she assured me she

would talk to all the nurses and let them know that all patients were to be

treated with kindness and respect regardless of what they thought. Things have

been MUCH better the times I've been admitted to my local hospital since then

and for a while they were better in the ER. However, when the nurses are able

to apparantly taint how a doctor that had previously treated me so kindly acts,

it is time to say forget it. The thing is that the hospital my doctors in

Huntsville use is trying to get the state's okay to build a hospital in a city

that is half way between Athens and Huntsville. Athens Hosp (I live in Athens)

is fighting it tooth and nail saying they get a lot of their patients from the

area where the new hospital will be and the new hospital would force them to

close down all or part of the Athens Hospital. Well, no duh! Crestwood

hospital doctors and nurses are some of the best. They actually get in trouble

if a patient has to wait longer than a certain amount of time for a nurse to

come to the room (for any reason) after the patient calls. They have the things

on their badges that pick up when the nurse walks in the room and their

evaluations are based on the average time it takes them to respond. I was there

once and the sensor in my room wasn't working so it didn't pick up when the

nurse came in. I made sure I wrote a letter for the charge nurse telling her

that the nurses were great for the entire visit and that the problem was that

the sensor in my room didn't work.

I worked at the other hospital in Huntsville as a ward secretary 1980-1982 and I

saw how hard the nurses work and how much pressure they often have on them. I

am typically a very easy and tolerant patient. It takes a lot for me to

complain and I honestly don't ask for a lot. I try my best to not bother them

with little things like wanting ice or something to drink. I figure it's good

for me to walk a bit so I walk to the desk and ask them for what I want rather

than having the nurse bring it to my room. I do understand that sometimes

nurses are just having a bad day and I know they are human. However, I am also

human and if they think I'm abusing the pain meds, the right thing to do would

be to talk to my doctor about it. I know that nurses have told my doctors on

more than one occasion that they think I'm using too much pain med. My pcp told

me one time that the nurses were 'concerned' because I was asking for my pain

med about every 2-3 hours. He told them (and me) that he knew I needed the pain

med at a higher dose and more frequently than most patients and that's why he

had ordered it that way. Gee - ya think? My doctors know my entire history.

They know that I have cp, along with lots of other medical issues, they know I'm

under the care of a pain mgmt doctor, and they know I take pain meds every day

just to keep the pain at a tolerable level. Don't you think they might also

know that, yes, I have built up a tolerance to pain meds, yes, it is going to

require a higher dose to help my pain when it is bad enough to be in the

hospital, but, yes, my pain is also very real - I am open and honest about the

amount of pain meds I take. I am subject to drug tests at any time (according

to the signed agreement at the pain clinic). I get prescriptions for pain meds

from no doctor other than my pain doc, despite the fact that many doctors have

actually written prescriptions for me. I make sure I tear them in half and hand

them back to the nurse or doctor. I get my pain meds filled at only one

pharmacy - the same one I've used for over 10 years. I agree to my pain doc's

rules because I know they are for my protection as well as his.

Well, I need to get off my soapbox. It's one we could all get on together and

stay on forever!

W

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