MikeD
Full time employment: Posting here.
I just got out of Fairfax Hospital in northern Virgina Friday evening after a long two day stay. I slept approx 4 hours out of the whole 48. My room's door was right next to the nurses' station for the whole floor. They were yelling out down the hall all night long like they were out in the back yard having a cookout. During the graveyard shift the midnight Lotharios were out in force, joking and romancing the "Ladies," as they put it. I was there because I had an organ rejection scare. Wednesday evening I had a sudden onset of fever, chills and violent shivering, classic symptoms of transplanted organ rejection. I had had diarrhea all day Wednesday so I was dehydrated. That is not unusual at all anymore. Gastric problems are associated with diabetic gastro-paresis, which is a paralyzing of the gut from nerve damage from diabetes. I'm either constipated or having diarrhea. I called the transplant center at Fairfax hospital, just like I'm supposed to whenever my temperature goes above 101°. They said to come in to the emergency room immediately, like they always do. That's when the cluster you-know-what began. The place was filthy and they couldn't get any of my meds correct for the entire 48 hours. I am on 19 prescription drugs which is an awful lot to keep track of. Transplants are supposed to take their pills on a regular schedule and by the time I got out I was 24 hours behind on some of my pills. I had my first transplant over 15 years ago and in the last 4 years I have not missed a single pill. I spent 14 hours in the emergency room before I was transferred to a bed in the hospital. The emergency room was crowded. The room I was in was next to the decontamination area where they powerwash the bloody gurneys (from wrecks). Some of the water and, yes, debris, blew into my room via under the door. I almost turned inside out from revulsion. I am NOT supposed to be exposed to germs! No transplant or kidney doctors saw me until over 24 hours later. I had all kinds of blood tests and a cat scan and ultrasounds and cultures for all sorts of weird infections but they couldn't find anything wrong. My kidney function measurements were fine from a bloodtest I had had the Monday before. During the emergency room stay they shot up high but that was deemed to be because of the dehydration. After a round of IV fluids they came back down to good levels right away. But until they did we were all worried about the transplanted kidney. The diagnosis is a transient viral infection. No kidney or pancreas rejection whatsoever! So I am greatly relieved. I still have never had an organ rejection during my fifteen years as a transplant. I am considered a compliant (well, with my treatment regimen, anyway) patient.
I have a transplant team. They work for the Fairfax Hospital transplant center. Back in '96 when I got my first transplant, Fairfax was a decent to good hospital and the transplant center was superb. Now, 15 years and lots of cutbacks later, the hospital is a sh*t hole and the transplant center is just OK. I have lots of experience with the transplant center and can get what I need from them using guile and perseverance and knowing the system. I am also polite and respectful when dealing with other people and way more so when dealing with service providers upon who my life may depend.
I have had a bad week - 10 days. Last week I got the news that I have a cataract. I sent to my regular eye surgeon follow up appt and complained that I couldn't see well out of my left eye. He, who I have known for over 30 years, looked in there and said "Well, no wonder, you have a cadillac! I immediately responded with the old punch line "If I'm going to be impotent, I'm going to look impotent!" He laughed and we launched off a round of old black guy joke punchlines. I have to have my clouded lens sucked out and a replacement, artificial plastic lens inserted. I am uncharactically apprehensive about this. I don't like people cutting my eyeball for some reason.
My best friend from college in the '70s, who I'm still close with now, lost his wife to ovarian cancer last week and I had to go to the wake and then a Catholic funeral mass last weekend. The worst part was I had to dress up. I was highly uncomfortable wearing the suit (lifelong aversion to dressing up at all) but the church stuff didn't faze me. I also had two different meet and greets for all of the deceased and friend's family and friends, which included lots of hand shaking, hugs, and from the older ladies, kisses on the cheek. That's why I got sick and had the rejection scare this week I think.
I had a nephrologist appt yesterday and he said I'm "doing great!" He said that the transplant doctors always say it's a transient viral infection when they don't know what it is! So after about 10 days of angst I finally am relaxed and relieved.
So I'm a naturally happy guy and usually stress just flows out of me without affecting me much. But this last period it really took its toll. I'm all better now.
I reread what I have typed and apologize for it being disjoint and not flowing well. One of the casulties of my diabetes induced vascular dementia is the ability to keep a good train of thought while writing and speaking.
There's nothing like that just-got-out-of-the-hospital feeling!
Mike D.
I have a transplant team. They work for the Fairfax Hospital transplant center. Back in '96 when I got my first transplant, Fairfax was a decent to good hospital and the transplant center was superb. Now, 15 years and lots of cutbacks later, the hospital is a sh*t hole and the transplant center is just OK. I have lots of experience with the transplant center and can get what I need from them using guile and perseverance and knowing the system. I am also polite and respectful when dealing with other people and way more so when dealing with service providers upon who my life may depend.
I have had a bad week - 10 days. Last week I got the news that I have a cataract. I sent to my regular eye surgeon follow up appt and complained that I couldn't see well out of my left eye. He, who I have known for over 30 years, looked in there and said "Well, no wonder, you have a cadillac! I immediately responded with the old punch line "If I'm going to be impotent, I'm going to look impotent!" He laughed and we launched off a round of old black guy joke punchlines. I have to have my clouded lens sucked out and a replacement, artificial plastic lens inserted. I am uncharactically apprehensive about this. I don't like people cutting my eyeball for some reason.
My best friend from college in the '70s, who I'm still close with now, lost his wife to ovarian cancer last week and I had to go to the wake and then a Catholic funeral mass last weekend. The worst part was I had to dress up. I was highly uncomfortable wearing the suit (lifelong aversion to dressing up at all) but the church stuff didn't faze me. I also had two different meet and greets for all of the deceased and friend's family and friends, which included lots of hand shaking, hugs, and from the older ladies, kisses on the cheek. That's why I got sick and had the rejection scare this week I think.
I had a nephrologist appt yesterday and he said I'm "doing great!" He said that the transplant doctors always say it's a transient viral infection when they don't know what it is! So after about 10 days of angst I finally am relaxed and relieved.
So I'm a naturally happy guy and usually stress just flows out of me without affecting me much. But this last period it really took its toll. I'm all better now.
I reread what I have typed and apologize for it being disjoint and not flowing well. One of the casulties of my diabetes induced vascular dementia is the ability to keep a good train of thought while writing and speaking.
There's nothing like that just-got-out-of-the-hospital feeling!
Mike D.
or none that I can see, anyway. And the filth washing in under the door in the ER.... I used to work in a hospital (while in grad school), and I'll just say that heads would have rolled had that ever happened in our hospital.
