12/16/06 10-day holiday cruise Part 2

[karylrocks]

<--he's just so cute!

 

[KSDTink]

But, even if we have to break the bank, we will be cruisin' come Christmas Time - priorities, ya know .

I hear you there!!! DH has been spending like it's going out of style. More scuba equipment, scuba classes, going to a race on Sunday, talking about going north to learn to hang-glide sometime this summer, driving to NY w/DD via Niagara in August! And he is only teaching half the usual number of classes this summer so only bringing in half what he made over the winter! Here I am scrimping and not buying things I want and everytime I turn around he is spending money. New bars for his truck, a new gun at the gun show a few weeks ago..... it never seems to end! Thank god I put money into a CD earlier this year. The interest will pay for some of our excursions on the cruise and the Disney rewards I am getting with my Disney Visa will help too. And he thought I was crazy for doing those two things!!!

Now I have to finish paying off some medical bills, pay for the 3/7 of a cow that we are getting, pay for this trip for my dad's birthday in September.... yeah, a winning lottery ticket would be really good right about now!!!

 

[DCLgodess]

my mom just got the family regulators. I am really excited. I am hoping to get my console with a computer.

 

[KSDTink]

Hmm, down on page 2 again. We're slacking, folks!!

So what's going on??? Anyone doing anything interesting these days?

DH and SIL are taking the girls to King's Island on Monday while I stay home and worl And SIL is working this weekend so I have DM all weekend. At least DD will be at a Girl Scout thing all day Saturday.

 

[Denise Escola]

Morning all!!!

My girls are so excited about tonight. Cousin is coming!!!Poor teenager doesn't have a clue whats going to hit her. She'll probably run to UCLA to get a break.

Its supposed to be in the 90's this weekend. Ha welcome to California. We're gonna hit the Wild Animal Park early.Like when they open.

We are getting more and more business. Can't wait till I'm too busy to do the work by myself and will have to start hiring.

Well didn't win the lottery. sigh so I guess I better get back to work. Have a great one everybody.
D

 

[DCLgodess]

my boyfriend just put his SUV in a ditch. just right in. is that exciting enough?

 

[KSDTink]

What did he do that for????

 

[karylrocks]

Hey, have you noticed...?


SIX MONTHS


and counting ............. Better start packing..........

 

[KSDTink]

Yay, only 6 months. I have stuff in piles but not packing yet!!

 

[DCLgodess]

What did he do that for????

for fun.... no actually he swerved to miss a deer

 

[fabulusk]

Hi Guys

Oh my the last two weeks have been crazy. I woke up on Thursday, June 1 with a fever and a little vomitting. Thought it was the flu. Had a little rash on my leg. Thought that was from the super high fever. 104.5. Friday - felt better but rash was alittle worse. Looked like it was getting better Friday afternoon so I didn't go to the doctor. Well Saturday, I went to the doctor first thing it was getting worse. Dr. gave me a shot and antibiotics and sent me home saying if it gets any worse tomorrow go to ER. Well 12 hours later in ER for IV antibiotics as I had red streaks and a swollen lymph gland. Again IV Sunday. Went to my doctor Monday. He sent me to an "infection specialist". Of course nothing ever grew on any of the cultures because I was on antibiotics for 12 hours before the first culture.

Long story short the "infection specialist" changes my meds that the ER dr. had consulted the UW. The infection specialist called me this past Wednesday and said that nothing came up on the biopsy either and that it must have just been a really bad bacterial infection. Which no one can pin point where or why I got it. Scratch, bug bite, ? This so called specialist never specifically diagnosed me but treated me for a minor bacterial infection and fungal which is was not. So if I had just stayed with the course of treatment from the ER -- I probably would have been fine and cured alot faster. It was a very severe case of cellulitius. The specialist told me on Wednesday that the pigment may not return to my leg in that area. I am furious to say the least. If she treated me for the condition I would have had a better chance of a quicker recovery and less damage to my skin. Now it is a wait and see.

But at least there is some good news in all of this....Having been to 4 different doctors I have been on the scales a few times. I found out that I have lost 82 lbs since January. See I didn't want to get on the scales because it really didn't matter as I have just been trying to eat right and exercise.

Well this is our update. Oh and today is DS birthday. Tomorrow big party - thank goodness things are starting to return to normal.

Angela

 

[KSDTink]

Wow, Angela, that doesn't sound good!! Glad you are getting better, though. And congrats on the 82 pounds!!! Wow!

 

[KSDTink]

for fun.... no actually he swerved to miss a deer

Hmm, yeah, not sure which would be worse. I am assuming he is ok, yes?? How is the SUV??

 

[magiroux]

Wow, Angela. That is just scary. Sometimes I think we are all guinea pigs where Dr's are concerned. Hope you feel better.

And a BIG congrats on your weight loss . It is so hard. Your should be very proud of yourself.

 

[KSDTink]

Hmmm, nobody's around......

 

[KSDTink]

It's mine, all mine!!!!!!!!!

 

[windermerejudy]

Wow, Angela. That is just scary. Sometimes I think we are all guinea pigs where Dr's are concerned. Hope you feel better.

You know, you have no idea what h***physicians go through. First of all, they spend an enormous amount of time in school and residency making absolutely nothing and living in subpar conditions getting virtually no sleep. Then once they get out they get basically told where they can practice and live based on opportunities available. They do not have the freedom to choose where they might desire to live. Then once they are out, they have to spend the rest of their lives taking care of patients 24 hours a day. They can call you in the middle of the night and you are supposed to drop what you are doing and run across town at a moments notice. A meal never goes by without 10 phone calls. A night of sleep never goes by uninterupted. There are weekends where my DH never comes home. All for sometimes no pay. Instead of getting a cost of living increase every year insurance companies cut our salaries while our cost of operating continues to go up. His hours are most often 5am until about 8 pm. No days off during the week. I have worked with thousands of physicians over the years and have NEVER met one who would Use patients as guinea pigs. Medicine is not like some fields where when you come in with a symptom one can definitively say it is a certain disease. It is a process of elimination and constantly changing courses. Obviously you were better and then got worse.----That would lead anyone to believe the diagnosis could be something else. Fungal infections would be one of the options. I do not see that the treatment was out of line in any way. Infectious disease doctors are specially trained to treat odd infections. All of us who have chosen to serve you, are not out to get you. Instead we have dedicated our lives to serving sick, dying, diseased, people who contaminate us giving us long term debilitating illnesses, sue us, take our family time and never say thank you or show any appreciation. I am sure 99% of the public would never do what we do. Fewer and fewer people are choosing medicine and nursing so what you have to look forward to someday is a hard time finding someone who will treat you because of the lack of respect and crappy working conditions we have endured.

I just don't know what kind of people you guys are if you truly believe doctors sit back plotting how to "get you".

Have a great time in December and don't get ill!!!!!

 

[fabulusk]

Judy - I certainly did not mean to upset you. I was simply sharing my story. I do not believe that doctors are God or share any of the same powers. The only thing that really frustrated me is that if I had stayed on the original course of treatment as prescribed by the ER physician, I would probably be fine. That was my fault.

It, in my case, was a series of unfortunate events. First, I became ill at the end of the week. Second, went to the walk-in clinic on Saturday at our medical center and was seen by a doctor that was not familiar with me. So no ONE doctor saw or examined the infection more then once other than the specialist.

I would not have not shared my story if I would have known that it would upset anyone.

One fact that might interest you though is the specialist changes my meds from Bactruim (sp?) 4X daily to Minocycline 2X and Flucanozal. Minocycline is commonly used to treat achne and sexually transmitted diseases. The ER doc's IV treatment was Vanco-something 2 grams and a follow up 1 gram the next day. I believe this is the same antibiotic they give patients with flesh-eating bacteria. All the docs had this information. My family doc did exactly what I would have wanted any doc to do - he wasn't sure so he referred me. The specialist wasn't sure but treated me.

Here is to not getting ill before, during, or following the cruise.

Now can we kiss and make up?

The only person I truly blame is myself, I could have continued the meds as prescribed by the ER doc, but didn't under the advice of the infection specialist.

I love my family doctor and do appreciate all they do for us.

Angela

 

[windermerejudy]

Minocycline is tetracycline and is commonly given for treating bacterial infections of the skin and VERY effective for such --also not many side effects. Bactrim is most commonly used for URI, UTI, ear infections...... It upsets peoples stomachs quite alot. As I stated before he did exactly what any infectious disease doctor would have done. You were getting worse on Bactrim so he had to switch you. Also alot of ER docs will put you on a first line antibiotic with broad coverage. Like I stated----medicine is not a .precise science. When one gazes upon a patient---especially one with cultures that aren't useful (by the way protocol would be to do those anyway) a stronger bacteria fighting antibiotic would be exactly what would be prescribed. Of course he did not know precisely what it was but I feel sure he had in mind several options of what it was. Several things present themselves with exactly the same appearance. They have been through 4 years of med school, an internship, 4 years of internal medicine residency and a fellowship which varies depending on the program and specialty.

I am not upset you posted your experience I just did not appreciate the assumptions that healthcare workers don't know what they are doing. We are not idiots or untrained. Any heathcare worker has more hours of knowledge and experience than you can imagine before they ever even touch a patient.

 

[Donalds_best_pal]

Hey Everyone!!!

~~Happy Father's Day~~