Day 19
This morning I took my friend Mary to the doctor. Mary is 93 years old. She was in the hospital a couple weeks ago with a severe headache and pain behind her eye. Her ophthalmologist sent her to the emergency room around 10 am. She was admitted for an overnight stay around 7pm. After an MRI, a CT scan, and lots of lab work, it was determined that, in her words, she had a "headache."
Today's appointment was a follow-up. The bruise on her arm from all the IV sticks had vanished, but her eye and left arm were still black and blue from where she fell out of the car before her son could get around the car to help her out. So the doctor is listening to Mary's litany of hospital complaints and reading the test results which is not an easy thing to do. It turns out, Mary's sinuses were/are blocked.
Now you'd think that someone in the hospital would have mentioned this to the patient and/or her son. You'd think the eye doctors she saw after the hospital stay might have called it to her attention, before sending her to a cornea specialist. Apparently no one thought it was important. At least that's what I'm guessing. Because surely they wouldn't have neglected to tell her. Surely the docs reading the scans can tell the difference between nothing and a fricking blocked sinus cavity.
What really scares me is Mary's blood pressure is really high. She lives alone with only her cat Gracie for company. Her son checks on her every day, and I'm usually there once or twice a week. She wears an I've-fallen-and-can't-get-up button pinned to her shirt, but a fat lot of good that's going to do her if she blacks out and hits her head. I try not to worry. I tell myself it's not my problem. But it makes me crazy.
Later on this afternoon, I went with Bella and her mom to the doctor. Poor little thing was getting sicker by the minute. Like most children and dogs who have been to the doctor enough times to understand that this is not going to be a picnic, Bella started crying as soon as she heard her name called. I'm not talk crying so much as deep body wracking sobs. How the doc heard her lung sounds or saw inside her ears is beyond me. Pediatricians and geriatricians must go to the same school. Their patients can be very distracting. Turns out Miss Bella has sinusitis, too. What do you think the odds of that happening are?
I am the only one who did not get sick on or after our trip to Georgia. I've never heard so much sneezing and coughing. Now I've been puked on, coughed on and sneezed on. I'm a walking talking science experiment. I'm sucking down Airborne and trusting it to keep my immune system bolstered against the creeping crud.
So far so good.
Merry Me
P.S. I realize I'm kinding of scraping the bottom of the barrel with these posts. My goal is to write something. It's easier to write what's happening than make something up.
Today's appointment was a follow-up. The bruise on her arm from all the IV sticks had vanished, but her eye and left arm were still black and blue from where she fell out of the car before her son could get around the car to help her out. So the doctor is listening to Mary's litany of hospital complaints and reading the test results which is not an easy thing to do. It turns out, Mary's sinuses were/are blocked.
Now you'd think that someone in the hospital would have mentioned this to the patient and/or her son. You'd think the eye doctors she saw after the hospital stay might have called it to her attention, before sending her to a cornea specialist. Apparently no one thought it was important. At least that's what I'm guessing. Because surely they wouldn't have neglected to tell her. Surely the docs reading the scans can tell the difference between nothing and a fricking blocked sinus cavity.
What really scares me is Mary's blood pressure is really high. She lives alone with only her cat Gracie for company. Her son checks on her every day, and I'm usually there once or twice a week. She wears an I've-fallen-and-can't-get-up button pinned to her shirt, but a fat lot of good that's going to do her if she blacks out and hits her head. I try not to worry. I tell myself it's not my problem. But it makes me crazy.
Later on this afternoon, I went with Bella and her mom to the doctor. Poor little thing was getting sicker by the minute. Like most children and dogs who have been to the doctor enough times to understand that this is not going to be a picnic, Bella started crying as soon as she heard her name called. I'm not talk crying so much as deep body wracking sobs. How the doc heard her lung sounds or saw inside her ears is beyond me. Pediatricians and geriatricians must go to the same school. Their patients can be very distracting. Turns out Miss Bella has sinusitis, too. What do you think the odds of that happening are?
I am the only one who did not get sick on or after our trip to Georgia. I've never heard so much sneezing and coughing. Now I've been puked on, coughed on and sneezed on. I'm a walking talking science experiment. I'm sucking down Airborne and trusting it to keep my immune system bolstered against the creeping crud.
So far so good.
Merry Me
P.S. I realize I'm kinding of scraping the bottom of the barrel with these posts. My goal is to write something. It's easier to write what's happening than make something up.
Comments
Poor Bella...no fun being sick at any age but when they are so young and can't explain exactly what is wrong, is heartwrenching.
I'm happy your immune system is warding off all that nasty stuff! We don't need you sick too!
(((Big Hugs)))