No, this is not about my banking experience, although I borrowed their "Current Situation" euphemism they use to excuse NOT-ANSWERING the phones. Nope. I've got a bank tale, but I can't deal with it today. Today, we will examine a depressing scenario concerning one of Farmer H's acquaintances. Yes. I know that makes all (2) of you pull your chair closer to your device, eager to dive right in...
Please, please, people! Do not get sick during The Current Situation! Don't so much as let a hangnail go unattended, lest you need to visit the hospital during this panicdemic. No good comes of visiting the hospital. Perhaps an urgent care (despite The Pony's workman's comp difficulties) would be better. Or a plain old doctor (or nurse practitioner) appointment IF you can get them to see an actual sick person during The Current Situation. If you MUST go to a hospital, be prepared to be forceful, and insist that the medical personnel pay attention to your main complaint.
Farmer H knows a guy who comes up to the storage lockers. The Guy works for the county road department, putting up signs. Several weeks ago, he scraped his lower leg. Didn't think anything of it. But then it started to hurt, and developed red streaks emanating from the scrape. I'm no doctor, but BEFORE my favorite TV show ER was even thought of, I knew that RED STREAKS MEAN A SERIOUS INFECTION! You'd better watch those red streaks, and if they spread, get yourself to a doctor. It's what we used to call "blood poisoning."
The Guy developed a fever, and his leg hurt. His Wife said he needed to go to get it looked at. They went to the ER (not sure if they couldn't get to a doctor, or if they needed it seen right then) over in Bill-Paying Town. It's our only local hospital now, except for the ER North version of it in Hillmomba, which has no beds, just an ER.
Anyhoo... The Guy went in, and the first thing they did was say he needed a VIRUS test. The Guy said, "I don't have the VIRUS. I've been vaccinated. I'm not sick. It's just my leg I need looked at. I think I have an infection."
Then they said he needed a VIRUS test. Again, he explained it was just for his leg. "Oh, no," they said, "you have symptoms of the VIRUS. We HAVE to give you a test." So The Guy agreed, and the test was negative for the VIRUS.
After they examined his leg, the ER people diagnosed him with the VIRUS. They said this leg infection is one of the symptoms, along with his fever. They sent him home with some medicine for the VIRUS. Farmer H didn't remember what it was, or if The Guy even said, but all he knew was it did NOT include an antibiotic, which is what most people would expect to treat an infection in their leg, with red streaks.
Two days later, The Guy's leg hurt worse. The red streaks were longer. His Wife took him back to the ER. Again, they said he needed a VIRUS test. Again, he explained that he did NOT feel sick like he had the VIRUS. That he had been vaccinated, and had just taken a NEGATIVE VIRUS test two days previous. Again, they insisted. The Guy took a VIRUS test. It was negative. This time, he was sent home from the ER with nothing else. Just told that he apparently had the VIRUS, but was getting a false negative test result. And to come back if he felt worse.
The next day, The Guy could hardly put any weight on his leg. He still had the fever. His Wife loaded him in the car and said, "We're going to St. Louis to a bigger hospital." Farmer H doesn't know which hospital chain. It might have been the one that bought out the Bill-Paying Town hospital. You know how insurances usually have a preferred hospital chain.
Anyhoo... the St. Louis hospital ER examined The Guy's leg. Farmer H didn't know if they first subjected him to another VIRUS test. But they DID say The Guy had CELLULITIS in his leg, and would only have lived another 24-48 hours without further treatment. They put him on IV antibiotics. They thought they might need to amputate his leg.
The Guy spent 13 DAYS in the hospital. They wanted to only release him to re-hab for convalescence, to have someone taking care of changing the dressing on his leg. His Wife said NO WAY was he going to re-hab. Since she was a nurse, SHE would change his dressings for him, and take care of him at home.
The Guy was cautioned to be extremely careful with the leg, because any little bump or scratch could start the whole cycle again. He will never be able to work that job again, and has to file for disability. The Guy came up to the storage lockers, glad to finally feel well enough to get out now. While he was there, he bumped his leg on the car door when he got out. Just a little bump. Farmer H said blood immediately started oozing out of his leg dressing. That it had a bandage, and some kind of pressure bandage sleeve thingy, that looked like support hose, but was a looser weave, and not tight.
The Guys said not to worry, it would stop pretty quick. And it did. But that's just his life now, always looking out for that leg, and not able to work any more. Farmer H thinks The Guy is around late-40s or early 50s.
Makes you wonder what his outcome would have been if he had gotten antibiotics for his infection when he FIRST WENT TO THE ER. If they hadn't been so blinded during The Current Situation, blaming every symptom under the sun on the VIRUS. Which The Guy still doesn't have.
3 comments:
Did the first hospital even look at his leg??
And even before that, why didn't he clean the scrape himself with disinfectant? Why didn't his wife, who used to be a nurse, insist on either of them cleaning it with disinfectant?
And I don't understand why he is still having trouble and is now considered disabled and not allowed to work. If that second hospital cured the infection, the wound should heal, right?
Okay, I read through again and the first hospital did look at his leg, but did he tell them he had scraped it on something that caused the wound? I just don't see how they would think The Virus would cause an open infected wound. They should have given him a tetanus booster shot immediately, then antibiotics.
River,
I don't know how much they looked at the leg, but they must have taken a peek, because they told him a leg infection was a symptom of the VIRUS!
Farmer H did not mention the initial cleaning of the wound, probably because The Guy didn't mention it. They are casual acquaintances, and I doubt he was that thorough in telling the story. I would assume he at least WASHED it, because who goes for days without a bath or shower? Most people around here would wash it, then slap on some triple antibiotic ointment, the generic kind from the Devil's Playground. We always have a couple of tubes of that on hand.
Yes, the first hospital looked, but was so set on it being the VIRUS that they wouldn't consider anything else. Hospitals get government money for each VIRUS admission, which is why they want to test EVERYBODY who walks in. Even if somebody is treated and released, like The Guy, it counts as a VIRUS admission if he tests positive. I don't think urgent cares get that money, so they are not so insistent on the testing unless somebody asks for it, or has actual VIRUS respiratory symptoms.
I think a tetanus shot is used for puncture wounds. Like when that dang chipmunk bit me, and they didn't know if chipmunks carry rabies, the County Health Center said I should come in for a tetanus shot. We are supposed to have a tetanus booster every 10 years. I also got one at the doctor's office when I scraped my arm on a dang NAIL that Farmer H has hammered into the garage walls to hang fishing poles on. So that wasn't a puncture, but it was a rusty nail. I'm not sure how The Guy got his scrape. So maybe tetanus wasn't a concern, but a bacterial infection SHOULD HAVE BEEN treated with antibiotics.
If you read up on cellulitis, it is likely to recur, and can go bad quickly, turning into sepsis. Which is probably the reason for the disability recommendation by the doctor. The Guy would much rather go back to his old job.
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