Perhaps I am lucky because I have healthcare through my workplace. However, will the company continue to pay for health care for me or will I end up paying more? Just recently I was ill and had to have a bout of some expensive medicine (see blog on Levaquin). I was shocked when I went to pay for this as it was $50 above my coverage. Then I have to pay another $70 for a nasal spray and an inhaler. How can people who have little or no health care afford this?  The truth is they can’t. That’s were Obama comes in. He is saying we should all be able to have good health care. Now picture this: Mom gets sick, goes to the doctor ($20 co pay here), then to the drug store. Sorry, the medicine costs more than she has in her wallet or bank account. Now she has to go home and worry about getting sicker because she couldn’t afford the medicine. Is Obama going to make this go away? Is he going to make sure Mom and others like her who don’t have a lot of money will be able to afford such medication as Levaquin if necessary? Or the $35 bottle of Nasaonex which cost me an additional $35 over my insurance?

Until I see this with my own eyes, I don’t believe the health plan will go as expected. Many people were opposed to it, but the legislature still passed it. Are we doomed for health care? Will there be enough doctors to see all the patients who are ill? Right now I can’t get into my family doctor as she never seems to have hours open during the week when I am ill. Lately I talk to the nurse practioner or to a nurse who relays my message or inquiry and then talks to the doctor between patients, then calls me back to tell me what to buy over the counter. Is this good doctor-patient relationship? No, it’s not. For someone like me with an ongoing illness, this worries me further as there may be times when I really do need my family doctor. I don’t believe she will be there for me. This is going to make more people run to the emergency room for help. Then the emergency rooms will be too full of people who really aren’t there for an emergency so they will tie up the people who are really ill and need help immediately. Yes, I do believe this all may backfire. It remains to be seen just what will happen in the next months and years.

Pray for America. We need all the help we can get.

Day 1- I was really “out of it” due to the pain medication given. I could barely move, but my stomach wasn’t giving in to the pain, so the vomiting continued off and on. I thought there was nothing left to vomit, but I was wrong. I spent this day mainly in pain along with the vomiting. I had an ultrasound done to determine why this was going on.

Day 2- I learned the ultrasound didn’t show anything that might be causing me to have the pain in my side. So frustrating! I want to know why the pain and what can we do about it. In all this time I was on IV, no food or drink allowed in case they had to operate on me.

Day 3- I learned the blood test done on Day 1 showed nothing new, but the previous pancreatitis was now gone. That was good news, but I still have that nagging pain. It’s a good thing I have some wonderful, caring nurses. I know it’s their job, but they are very concerned for me and expressed it. I was told the doctor in charge of my case, the one who had me admitted, wasn’t happy about not finding the cause of the pain.  She seems to think I am a mystery. Just letting my stomach “relax” and still nothing to eat or drink.

Day 4-I have lost count of how many bags of IV I’ve had. I’m more concerned today about the blood sugar levels I’ve been having, mainly due to the IV which doesn’t come in a sugar free choice. There is 4mg per bag going into my blood system, resulting in high blood glucose levels, none of which have been under 235 since I came into the hospital. The IV connection which was put into my hand on Sunday evening had to be changed today (after 3 days they fear the area will become infected, so it’s a standard rule to change it). The nurse who came to redo the IV connection had a problem with my veins. Seems they are small, but she finally managed to get the connection in place. Now the doctor is talking about possible shingles. Since I did have chickenpox as a child the disease can lie dormant in the body until a time when it may suddenly occur. My back and stomach area were checked for the rash, nothing was found. I was told shingles can take weeks to months to appear. It will be itchy. The endoscopy was done today. Nothing abnormal was found. Another test and no answers! By now I am more than frustrated. I am totally stressed out about this. My blood pressure and blood sugar are elevated.The blood pressure levels are over 250 most of the time. The blood sugar levels are still in the same range as the blood pressure. I know this means there is something wrong with my body and I certainly wish the doctors would find what it is.

Day 5- Today I had a test in nuclear medicine, one that should show if my gall bladder is working correctly. The other tests I had on this area only showed the exterior. This test will show the interior and if the gall bladder is correctly working. I get there and learn the test takes 1 1/2 hours. Getting on the metal table my back began to ache again. The first hour I was injected with a radio active matter that basically made my organs glow, like being a human glow worm. The second part a medication was injected to make the gall bladder contract to see if it was working properly. When it came time to get up off the table, I felt like I was paralyzed and couldn’t move. The nurse helped me up, but when she did I heard something pop in my lower back. When I mentioned this to the head nurse on the floor where I was staying she reported it. So, another x-ray to make sure I didn’t do something really bad to my back. That test showed stretched ligaments, so I was taking pain medication for that and having warm compresses on my lower back.The IV is taken away. A victory for me, but the blood sugar levels are still high.

Day 6- The surgeon came in to let me know I wouldn’t need surgery. All the functions the gall bladder was doing were just fine. He felt my problem would be shingles, but still there is no rash. I am also very stressed out. HA! Of course! Wouldn’t you be stressed having someone poke around your body, taking test after test and still no valid answer? Letting me go home today. Great! It’s been almost a week without a shower, taking only baths with a washcloth doesn’t help me feel better. I call Alex to pick me up at 2. Can’t wait to go home. The frustration of this week has gotten to me. I cry, wanting to hit something. There are two things I learned while in the hospital this week- my organs are all functioning properly and I lost 8 lbs. But after I come home, the pain in my back is still there. I came home feeling worse than when I went in, being in more pain now. I can’t sit or stand for very long with my back beginning to feel the deep pain. Plus I still have the pain left side near my kidney.

First day home- my blood pressure came down to a more normal level, but the blood sugar level is still in the upper 200s. I hope it will go down now that I am on my normal medication for diabetes. I am very weak and tired today. Plus the back pain is still there, no matter what I do.

Second day home- Tired, weak feeling along with the back ache. It hurts to sit, hurts to lay down, hurts to walk. I need to check in with my family doctor. I am just not sure what came be done, but the heating pad helps a bit. All in all, the stay in the hospital was frustrating. The bright spot was the nursing staff who all were so wonderful  to me and concerned, the ones who listened when I complained, who held my hand and told me it will get better, and sympathsized with me about the possibility of shingles.