a little medical lesson....

This week sure flew by! Well, at least it did for me…. I don’t know about you.  I was really busy but at the moment I am not sure exactly what all I did.  I know one thing I did not do…I did not call the doctor yesterday.  Life got in the way, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

It all started with a text message a few minutes before the doctor’s office opened.  A friend was in great pain and was waiting to call my same doctor to try to get in as soon as possible. She has diverticulosis (little pockets in your intestines) and they were inflamed again (diverticulitis). Now, if any of you suffer from this, you know the pain of which she speaks. It is bad! I helped her through when she was originally diagnosed a while back. As a matter of fact, I have that lovely little problem, too and so does Rob.  It seems to be a side effect of aging.  It strikes a lot of people over the age of 50. Food particles get caught in those little pockets and start to fester and the area gets inflamed and then you end up with a little infection in the pockets. This in turn causes spasms along the whole track of your intestines.  Now spasms are a normal occurrence in your intestines…that ‘s called peristalsis, it’s how your food gets pushed through your digestive tract, but this is a extra special nasty spasm when the diverticulitis kicks in!

Anyway, so I did not call the doc for myself. Last time this happened to her, we had to take her to Sheridan for additional testing and I did not want to be in the middle of my own problems and not be able to assist her. She doesn’t like to drive if the weather is bad and the mountain was already looking a little angry by the time she went to see Sandy.  The weather can be completely different in Sheridan so I wasn’t taking any chances.

Turns out, she got in to see Sandy at 11 am and was given some majorly nasty antibiotics and painkillers and there was no need to go to Sheridan.  By the time I got Rob fed for lunch and got over to see her around 2, she wasn’t looking real hot, though, and I wasn’t about to leave her. Nothing worse than not feeling well and living alone, I say. 

Being Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy (that was my nickname when I worked with the kids, given to me by my mother, both in psych and ICU) it was my self-directed obligation to comfort my friend.  Of course, my faithful blonde four legged medical assistant, Thistle, was along to make her smile! She could have refrained from jumping on her stomach, however.  I have to teach her a little better in the ways of therapeutic touch., I’ll forgive her now, she’s still a puppy in training, but if she want to go on house calls with me in the future, she’s gonna have to restrain herself a little better!

Between the two of us, we got her smiling a little.  I convinced her to let me make her some dinner to bring back to her as you can’t be swilling painkillers on an empty stomach (even though it feels like they work faster and better) because that will make you feel sicker. SO, off I went to make her a very mild manicotti drizzled with a little olive oil.  With diverticulitis, you have to let your stomach rest. They used to make you go clear liquids for like a week to rest your system, but have now started letting patients just go the soft food route.  You just don’t want your stomach working too hard digesting food for a while. I also brought her over some frozen pieroges and pot stickers for later.  Yes, I’m a food pusher when it comes to being sick. You can’t heal if you aren’t giving your body proper nutrition!

Don’t mean to toot my own horn but I know all the tricks for sick people, being a professional sick person myself. And since I can no longer practice medicine, I truly enjoy helping my friends. It helps keep the cobwebs away from all that great learning I got in nursing school and beyond, as well.  People are always apologizing around here when they pick my brain on medical stuff but I really enjoy it. It makes me feel useful and I paid a lot of money for that education!  I was working on my Master’s/NP when I got my needlestick and my head still brims with lots of medical knowledge.  Also, I’m one of those that will not tell you medical info if I’m not sure, but I do have all the resources not available to laypeople to look it up. I have continued to keep up my nursing license all these years which enables me access to medical journals online that require a license for access. I use it a lot for my own diseases.  Sandy really likes that, as we both agree..I only have one patient..me…so I stay up on the latest medical breakthroughs. 

That reminds me…I really appreciate everyone who comes up to me and tells me the “latest” AIDS breakthrough they heard on ABC or CNN, really I do. Folks, hate to tell ya, by the time it hits there, I’ve known about it for probably a year.  I don’t know how many people had to tell me about the “Berlin patient”  who was cured!  Old news, folks, I followed his case from the beginning.  What you didn’t know from the main stream media is that he almost had to die to get those results and he had a rare bunch of circumstances that are almost impossible to duplicate.  But, I really do appreciate that you are thinking of me when you see those news items, I really do.  Rest assured, though..I’m not wandering the desert…I want there to be a cure more than you’ll ever imagine.  I’ve done some pretty crazy treatments toward that end.

I’m a realist, however and know that there has never been a cure for a virus to date. We can’t even cure the common cold (although that is a VERY complex virus) You see, the problem with virus’s is that they are extremely smart.  They want to survive just as much as we do, maybe more so. They are willing to go without food or movement in tiny pockets of our body for years, just for one little chance to reactivate! They can mutate, too!  The HIV virus can actually trick our own t-cells into thinking they are producing more new t-cells when in actuality..they are producing HIV cells!

Some of the greatest minds in the world are working on a cure.  I’ve met them and they are brilliant. Stephen Ho is one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever had the opportunity to talk with and Tony Fauci, who I actually correspond with on e-mail.  They have pretty much dedicated their entire lives to this and I wish them well.  However, every time they think they are close, the virus seems to outsmart them. Hmmph… 

So, I didn’t call and make my own appointment yesterday with Sandy.  But, guess what, I actually feel a little better today! I think it was just some passing congestion.  It could have even been due to all the barometric changes, just loosened up some stuff.  My back doesn’t hurt this  morning, either.  I just have a little junk in my upper chest, I think.  I am, however, going to call this morning and schedule an appt for Monday, really I am.  Just to be on the safe side, I’d like someone other than myself listen to my lungs.

Well, it’s Friday! If I don’t see ya this weekend, enjoy the Superbowl! I have no stake in who wins but I do have money on squares! Goooo….numbers!

 Time to do the Happy Pants Dance………  All together now… ♪♪♪Happy Pants Dance… Happy Pants Dance…. Let’s All do the Happy Pants Dance! ♫❤♫