Shingles #2

As you recall from yesterday, I was on my way to the urgent care clinic rather than to Missouri to checkout if my self-diagnosis of the shingles was accurate...

My appointment was at ten.  It happened that my doctor was actually on rotation at the clinic that day.  I was glad I didn't have to explain my history of MS and all that happy crappy to her.  She basically took one look and confirmed the shingles diagnosis.  She also looked a little scared at the location.  Apparently, people lose their sight when the shingles get in their eyes.  My compromised immune system made me a prime candidate for a really nasty shingle battle.

So she sent me to the emergency room so I could get on meds right away.  The doctor's office I go to is right across the street from the hospital.  I thought again about going home to get my phone charger but, naw, it was out of the way.

So I landed in the crowded ER at about 11.  Even though my doc had called ahead, the ER staff still didn't really understand why I needed to be there.  I wasn't bleeding profusely or projectile vomiting.  Most people with shingles-even in the eye- don't get sent to the ER.   Even after explaining why I was there, I still had o wait for the screaming kids and the groaning older folks to be cleared out before they put me in an examining room.  There was, however, the caveat that all the docs were occupied so my wait was not actually over...

My turn finally came at 2 pm when the ER doc, the on-call opthamologist and about 45 short-coat interns came in to see the MS/shingles specimen. The opthamologist confirmed that there was shingles virus in my eye, and after all 45 interns got an opportunity to see it , too, I was told I would be admitted for observation and IV medication. I was hooked up to am IV pole and started me on fluids for no apparent reason other than in case they needed to find a nice juicy, bloated vein to poke...or to see if my bladder worked.

At 3:15, I was wheeled up to a room.  I had nothing other than what I put on that morning, my keys, a dying cell phone and a wallet with my ID, insurance cards and about $14.82 in cash. No kindle, no phone charger, no clean underwear or even a tube of Chapstick!  God, I hate hospitals!  Did I tell you that my husband was driving my son to Rolla, Mo so there was no one home to bring me any of the things I just listed.

But I was glad that I was going to get the IV anti-viral medicine to keep the Shingles from getting worse.  So I waited...and waited..and waited.  My husband got back from Rolla ( a twelve our round trip) at about 7:30 and I happily accepted the things on my list, but still no meds were in sight.

One of the short-coat docs came in to tell me all about the differences between IV meds and oral med, because, apparently, He believed that IQ points were the first thing to go when you have MS.  I looked at him and asked,  "So what meds am I on right now?"  He left quickly.

At 9 pm after almost 11 hours after being seen by my doc, I finally received the Acyclovair ant-viral IV meds.  The hold up? No one could get a signature from an attending physician! His pager wasn't working...

That's round 2.  More about the hospital tomorrow, and as a special treat,I'll put up some lovely pics of me with the Shingles