Of Doctors and Needles
I have spent entirely too much time in the company of medical professionals this weekend.
So it turns out that my cold was actually broncitis. Who knew? My regular doctor--we'll call him Dr. F cause it gets confusing later--very nicely wrote my a prescription for antibiotics. Sometimes due to my lupus, I have weird reactions to medicines but this antibiotic, I had tolerated just fine several times. Famous last words, right?
About 3 in the morning, I woke up to a very odd feeling in my throat and a throat swollen to about the size of a tennis ball right under my chin. Uh oh. I called my doctor's office (they really like it when you call them at 3 am) and was advised to go to the emergency room. By the time I arrived, I could barely talk and swallowing was completely out of the question. Thankfully, breathing was carrying on OK. The nice folk at the ER medicated me (an IV and a shot and a breathing treatment) and observed me for a few hours, then sent me home. It was about 7:30 am. Bed!
I just getting ready to pull the covers up over my head when the phone rang. It was Dr. F who thought that I should be seen in his office for a chest X-ray.
"What time?" I squeaked.
"How soon can you be here?"
(sigh) So, NOT going to bed.
So, now I am pretty sleepy with benadryl and well, lack of sleep. Don't worry, I didn't drive myself. I waited to be worked in to see the doctor and then to be poked again and then finally the chest X-ray. Then back to the exam room to wait for test results. Two hours after I arrived, news that test were normal, so now the question of just what antibiotic to use since I have had reactions to so many. Dr. F makes a quick call to a fellow doctor Dr. T. to consult. Great, almost home and to bed.
But wait, Dr. T. would rather not prescribe over the phone so he wants to see me. Now. In his office across town. (sigh)
I am a work-in so it takes about 45 minutes to get into his office. Then I wait (and doze) on the exam table for about another hour because he has an emergency. When Dr T arrives, I recite the list of medications that I have had bad reactions to for about the 12th time that day and he decides that he wants to get a sample of my sputum--ewww. So in comes a respiratory therapist to show me how to get a good sample--"it's not spit." But first, after never having a breathing treatment in my life, I now have the pleasure of a second one in the same day to "loosen my secretions." Finally, having mastered the technique of coughing from my gut, I successfully give a sample. Whew.
Now Dr. T comes back and decides that he wants to give me the medication in his office to make sure I tolerate it before he sends me home. Good idea really but I am so tired that I just want to go to bed and I also have not eaten at all. I am expecting a shot--nope, an IV (twice in one day!) so if I start to react to the med, I won't have had the entire dose. It takes about 15 mintues for the IV to drip. Can I go home now? Nope, I have to be observed for 45 minutes just to be sure. Finally done about 3 hours after I arrived in Dr. T's office.
It is now 3 pm--12 hours after my little adventure started, but I can finally go home and sleep. Thankfully, I am so full of medication that I don't have to stop at the pharmacy--until the next day. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
And how was your weekend?
So it turns out that my cold was actually broncitis. Who knew? My regular doctor--we'll call him Dr. F cause it gets confusing later--very nicely wrote my a prescription for antibiotics. Sometimes due to my lupus, I have weird reactions to medicines but this antibiotic, I had tolerated just fine several times. Famous last words, right?
About 3 in the morning, I woke up to a very odd feeling in my throat and a throat swollen to about the size of a tennis ball right under my chin. Uh oh. I called my doctor's office (they really like it when you call them at 3 am) and was advised to go to the emergency room. By the time I arrived, I could barely talk and swallowing was completely out of the question. Thankfully, breathing was carrying on OK. The nice folk at the ER medicated me (an IV and a shot and a breathing treatment) and observed me for a few hours, then sent me home. It was about 7:30 am. Bed!
I just getting ready to pull the covers up over my head when the phone rang. It was Dr. F who thought that I should be seen in his office for a chest X-ray.
"What time?" I squeaked.
"How soon can you be here?"
(sigh) So, NOT going to bed.
So, now I am pretty sleepy with benadryl and well, lack of sleep. Don't worry, I didn't drive myself. I waited to be worked in to see the doctor and then to be poked again and then finally the chest X-ray. Then back to the exam room to wait for test results. Two hours after I arrived, news that test were normal, so now the question of just what antibiotic to use since I have had reactions to so many. Dr. F makes a quick call to a fellow doctor Dr. T. to consult. Great, almost home and to bed.
But wait, Dr. T. would rather not prescribe over the phone so he wants to see me. Now. In his office across town. (sigh)
I am a work-in so it takes about 45 minutes to get into his office. Then I wait (and doze) on the exam table for about another hour because he has an emergency. When Dr T arrives, I recite the list of medications that I have had bad reactions to for about the 12th time that day and he decides that he wants to get a sample of my sputum--ewww. So in comes a respiratory therapist to show me how to get a good sample--"it's not spit." But first, after never having a breathing treatment in my life, I now have the pleasure of a second one in the same day to "loosen my secretions." Finally, having mastered the technique of coughing from my gut, I successfully give a sample. Whew.
Now Dr. T comes back and decides that he wants to give me the medication in his office to make sure I tolerate it before he sends me home. Good idea really but I am so tired that I just want to go to bed and I also have not eaten at all. I am expecting a shot--nope, an IV (twice in one day!) so if I start to react to the med, I won't have had the entire dose. It takes about 15 mintues for the IV to drip. Can I go home now? Nope, I have to be observed for 45 minutes just to be sure. Finally done about 3 hours after I arrived in Dr. T's office.
It is now 3 pm--12 hours after my little adventure started, but I can finally go home and sleep. Thankfully, I am so full of medication that I don't have to stop at the pharmacy--until the next day. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
And how was your weekend?