I went to the ER and the verdict is...

Woe is Me

Hey all!

So, by now some of you already know that I have been at home sick for some time now. I don’t have health insurance and it seemed like I just had a common cold, so I didn’t go to the doctor’s. While I felt as if I were getting better (my voice came back much to the chagrin of others), I was still having sleepless nights and coughing up phlegm in a shade of green that doesn’t compliment my skin tone (tmi?). I consulted my dear friend Google, who’s a big fat “know it all”, and was informed that the shade of phlegm bestowed upon my tissues meant I had an infection. So, the next morning I hauled my bootie over to the emergency room hoping that I’d have a simple diagnosis of say, I don’t know, bronchitis, get given some antibiotics and be told that I’m clear to get my broke a$$ back to work the following day.

I had a great time at the ER I’ll admit, I didn’t want to leave. Aside from the constant coughing that had the 5 year old behind the curtain in the "room" next to me being more concerned about me dying as opposed to her mother’s car accident (so sweet,“Hey, are you okay in there Miss?”), I’d say I was all smiles, bursting with stars and sugarplums, and confident that I’d have medication and clearance to go back to normal living by the next day. I even thought I’d be better by 7:15 that evening to take a dance class I prepaid for (you know, because the magic cough medicine that I imagined they would give me would be that effective!). Well, the doctor’s attending me pissed in my cheerios when they came in with the news. They were so sweet, funny and smiley faced. So much, that when they told me I had pneumonia I laughed and said “Really, so even with that phlegm and coughing there’s nothing wrong with…wait, what?” So that’s why I felt like I ran a marathon each time I went down stairs to get something to eat and stock up on bedside fluids? 

Then the nurse came in, bearer of worse news. Discharge paper in hands, she says something about me (remember, broke and no health insurance) needing to go to a doctor in 5 days for a follow up and then I ask her: 

Me: “So, when can I go back to work?”

The nurse gives me a blank stare. 

Me: “Tomorrow? Day after? It takes like 24 hours for antibiotics to kick in, right?” 

Insert 5 seconds of silence that painstakingly feels like 5 minutes. 

Nurse: “Girl...you got pneumonia what do you mean when can you go back to work? People die from this, you got an infection in your lungs, you need to stay in bed for like 10 days.”

First of all, whoooooa mama. Second of all, 10 days?!?! I don’t get paid when I don’t go to work! I can’t stay in bed, who’s going to feed me?! Will I ever get better? 10 days?! Yes, 10 days. Maybe a little less, but still, what am I going to do, like, financially?

So, when can I go back to work again? Photo compliments of Zazzle.com

The stress over this little very big detail which looms over my head definitely isn’t conducive to the recovery process, so I need to try and let it go for now, but I can’t help but wonder why, at one of the few times in my life that I don’t have sick days or health insurance, would this happen? I’ve already made a few moves such as post a few easy things on Ebay and call my local Avon Representative to inquire about becoming a salesperson too. I mean, it's about all I can do for now to try and make money from bed and I’m even somewhat limited on the Ebay thing since I can’t walk around too much before I start having a cough attack.

I also need to find a way to keep productive and since I don’t have a TV in my room I’ve been wasting away online and I’m kind of bored of it. So, I thought, now is a better time than ever to focus on sharing with you all the issues I’ve had with my health and what I have learned about my conditions and ailments. I promised to do so in the past, but I get more excited about writing about the exciting people and food in my life. Since I am sick  and not at my best,  now is the time to write a little less about the totally awesome people and artists and food in my life since I most likely will not be writing at my best while my mind is all on my health. However, before I got really sick, I pulled together a photo album of some of my favorite works by one of my absolute favorite artists, Derek Santiago, and only haven’t posted because I promised to take a picture of an awesome book I bought from him to post on FB. Oh, yeah, and I have to write something too! The pics of me and the book will have to come later, but I can’t wait any longer to share my love of Derek Santiago’s work with you all! There will be plenty of time in the future for me to get all dolled up and look cute posing with Derek’s artwork, which will house the words I pen for my long lost love of writing poetry. Perhaps, I can do it for a Circle of Art Movement photo shoot and article.

Soooo, back on topic, now more than ever I realize how precious our health is, priceless actually. Our health is our wealth so take care of yourself! Pause. Ok, so I have prolactinoma. Prolactinowhat? Yup, prolactinoma. I’m not going to tell you all about it now, it will be the topic of conversation in tomorrow’s post so you’re not reading an essay today, but I’ll leave you with this: I at times easily overlook it. We should never overlook not one single detail of our health, no matter how mundane it seems, it can be linked to or contribute to greater issues with something else. When I checked into the hospital and they asked me if I had any health conditions I immediately said “no” and then followed by and “Oh yeah, I’m not sure if this is relevant but I have prolactinoma.” Prolactiwhat? Yeah, that’s usually the response I get. Anyway, I hope the information I type up while I’m home with pneumonia is of some interest to you and helpful for some and that I am able to be interesting enough to keep you engaged long enough to learn something new based on my experiences.

Well, for today, that’s all folks! Hope to see you here tomorrow!

Besos, Beijos, Filkia, MUAH!

Love,

Lisa xo