On Thursday, November 7 Peter came home with a wicked cough. He didn’t go to the doctor. On Monday he had to drive to Savannah, GA for work. I woke up that morning with a cough. When I woke up on Tuesday, November 11, I could not move my legs at all and I was coughing. I knew from experience that this was not good. I called my neighbor to please come and help me get out of bed. I also called Stevie and asked her to take me to the hospital. I called Dr. Oh’s office to let them know what was going on. I arrived at the Emergency Room at VCU around 10:30 am.
Emergency Room – I was dehydrated and had a severe “ice pick” headache in my left temple. Right away they did a CAT Scan to rule out a stroke. They put me on IV fluids and tested for Covid and the Flu. They gave me a dose of Tamiflu, which they continued throughput my stay. They also wanted me to have an MRI to make sure there were no active lesions. Before the MRI, they were checking me in. I couldn’t get a room until after the Covid and Flu tests came back. I laid in the ER until 5 that evening when the Flu test came back positive for Type A. At the time I had asked them to please put me on a course of IV Steroids and I’d be good as new. They wanted to wait until after the MRI. At 5:30 that evening they sent me to get an MRI. A 3 1/2 hour MRI! I had one scheduled by Dr. Oh for November 22 of just the brain with no contrast. They took one of the brain, thoracic and spine, with and without contrast.
Hospital Stay – I was wheeled into a room around 7:30 that evening. Peter decided to drive back home the same day. I had a private room since I had the Flu. I had not eaten anything the entire day. The day and night shift nurses were extremely nice and accommodating. I don’t have to tell you that when you are in the hospital, you lose any sense of pride you may have ever had. They put this devise, a sponge that looks and bends like a dildo in between my legs and it has a wick that leads to a tube which empties your pee into a receptacle. Genious!!!! So much better than trying to use a bedpan when you’re unable to move at all. I used that for three days. The bed was extremely uncomfortable and I was panicking by the fact that I still couldn’t move my lower extremities.
A Neurology intern and then a Neurologist with his team also came and told me that there were no new lesions. Again I begged for IV Steroids. Dr. Oh, who works out of VCU and the only reason I went to VCU was still a no show. I repeatedly asked where he was and no one knew. I was told that having the Flu caused a “Pseudo flare” up of my MS. They would not use the steroids. I would have to wait for the Flu symptoms to subside, at which point I should be able to get my motion (legs) back. I was also having another problem, I couldn’t pee. I didn’t feel like drinking or eating for the matter. Then came the bladder sonogram. First showed 300 ml, again up to 800 ml. and each time they had to insert a temporary catheter just to empty me out. They had to do this five times. Meanwhile Pete tested positive for the same type A Flu. The food was the worst, luckily I had no appetite.
On Thursday Physical Therapy came and finally got me out of bed. Another wonderful invention came with them. It’s called a “Sara sit,” that’s totally wrong. It looks like an industrial type walker but it isn’t. It helps you pull yourself up and lo and behold I could stand. Thank the Lord, my butt was so stiff from laying around for days, I was just getting stiffer and stiffer. When I got tired of standing a seat came down for me to sit on. This is now the way I was able to go to the bathroom, even though I had to call a nurse every time I had to pee. They also hooked me up to a machine that would allow me to walk. While standing up to walk, that sponge dildo thing fell out right in the hallway! These two handsome physical therapists had to witness that! Anyway they wrapped my feet and told me I needed braces, (which I knew). I did walk and was encouraged by this. They returned me to my room where I could sit in the chair, yeah! Well I sat there until 9 that night and had gotten stiff all over again. Came back on Friday, same thing. The Physical Therapist wanted me to be discharged into a Rehab place to continue and also get measured for leg braces. This had to be run through my insurance and a bed would have to open for me to be admitted. Then the weekend came, no Physical Therapy, which meant no walking, no discharge. I couldn’t check out until PT signed off. I didn’t want to wait until Monday. I couldn’t be there another night. On Sunday I asked the Neurologist to please let me leave. I came back home on Sunday.
VCU Pharmacy – This is the worst!!! Last time I was here they took my Ampyra and proceeded to lose it. This is the only medication I take that is time sensitive. This time I took my own with some other drugs that I was not going to let them get their hands on! From the Emergency Room, where I spoke to the Pharmacist, to being admitted and my entire time there they screwed up my medications. They didn’t have generic Ritalin and it took them 3 days to get it and 2 days to tell me they couldn’t get Ampyra, (which I knew) . They kept screwing up how many Baclofen I took a day. They gave me all the pills at 9:30 every morning. I usually start around 7 am and space throughout the day. When the nurse brings them in you are expected to take them at that time.
Never found Dr, Oh, never received any word from him except to deny me the IV Steroids. As much as I like him I am going to look into another Neurologist at a different hospital.
To be continued…