[at-l] POSTSCRIPT Rabies..OT ....LONG....DELETE AT WILL

[kahley7@ptd.net (kahley7)]

Thought I'd give a blow by.  The ER is only about 25 mi. away but
there are 22 redlight twix heare and theare.  I'll spare you 'check in'
and skip to my classification. G D....on the wrist band which I later
came to realize translates to 'Gathering Dust'..

Eventually, I was put in a tiny room....a tiny room with a dripping faucet.
Drip .....drip .....drip..  I'm of the firm belief that if there is a 
shared neurosis
that hikers are most likely to have, it's claustrophobia.  I have it.  Add 
that
to my dislike of hospitals (well earned in my case since I once picked
up a nasty bug in this same hospital which resulted in 41 days in isolation),
I was already not a happy hiker.  But..of all things.....there was a rocking
chair in the room.....a really nice one actually.  So I contented myself
with vain attempts at meditation and rocking to the beat of the drip drip drip.

A tiny little Dr arrived, inspected the bite scene, informed me
of six deaths in '00 in the US.  I admit to having second thoughts when
he informed me i had to return to the ER for each the the 5 shots.  He
noticed my vacillation, so he said he granted that the odds were low,
but that I didn't seem like a stupid women.  I let that pass.  What really
did it was the fact that I had been bitten by a bat when i was a kid and
kept it a secret (having broken the rule.."Thou shalt not try and play with
the bat) and several times by dogs and cats, plus fish, chippies and a 
horse..
I figure this shows a pattern and the dr. said the shots would provide life
long protection...(yeah...right).....'Thou shalt not push your luck' rang 
in my ears.
That plus OB's story about bricks and it was a go.

Off he goes to order the meds....evidently from the manufacturer <sigh>
and I was left to amuse myself with the rocker, the even tinier, closed 
room and
the drip drip drip drip.  No clock, and I don't have a watch so I don't know
how long I stayed there before leaping to my feet to open the door.
I stood in the doorway, managing my breathing.  Suddenly, from the open
door of the tiny room next to mine came the distinct sound of someone tossing
cookies.  Now I'm what you might call a sympathetic barfer.  The smell,
sight or even sound triggers me.  So I shut the door for another undetermined
period of drip drip drip.  The walls close in....sweat forms......breathing
becomes rapid and dash for the door again.  Dry heaves erupt nextdoor..
Repeat same.

I ignored hospital policy and left my cubical......I can hear your collective
GASP!!!  I mosied thru the halls searching for the tiny dr, then, more or 
less just
staked out a piece of wall near a door with a window thru which I could see 
another
door with a window to the OUTSIDE.  At least there were things to see and hear.
Dr Green....smoke alarm..section 6.  Dr Green...smoke alarm ...section 6.

Uh oh...here comes Nurse Cratchet.  'Can I help you?'  I suggested she help the
guy barfing for an hour in the little room down the hall.  She ignored that and
with great determination, attempted to establish my status (I had the arm
with the band with the GD designation hidden in my coat pocket) and when she
insisted I return to my room, I told her to call housekeeping because if i 
did so,
while the gentleman in the next room was so troubled, housekeeping would
be required.

As if on cue....said gentleman let loose with such a tortured
combination of yaks and hacks...so audible even from that distance,
that even Nurse Cratchet was moved, though reluctantly
to attend to him rather than the scofflaw in the hall.  I relocated .....
and became engrossed in a huge wall display of Agricultural Workers
and Trama (man...farming is dangerous work)  and other informational
stuff until I was discovered by the nice nurse who had taken my BP
at arrival (122/95 slightly high for me, but I'd have loved to see what it
was after a half hour with drip drip drip in the teeny tiny room).

I explained my problem with the door 'closed' and 'opened' and that
I was quite happy here in the hall unless she felt I might have time
for a little walk-about during the wait for the meds to be sent up.

She went to check.  I followed and peeked around the corner to
watch here make a call and shake her head before turning to return to
me. 'It may be a while but you really should stay here.  I'll look
for a different room if you like?'  I said 'Unless it has a window,
I'd rather not'  She understood and off she went.  So did I.

I know this hospital well....I spent 4 months in this hospital and
when not confined to isolation, wandered relentlessly.  I know
lots of 15 minute routes and figured the odds were, I could go
and come, yet only be missing, briefly.   Skipping the sights
of  many forays, eventually I buzzed around  the corner and almost
ran into the nice nurse, huddled with the tiny dr. 'Oh..there you are..we're
ready for you now.  A few brief words from Dr Little...four sites
of injection today, four more over the next month...all at the ER.

I shared OB's brick story with him to use with any, future, reluctant bit-ees
and followed the nurse into the room.

Her......This one is for you arm.....please relax your arm.....I'm sorry there
	are so many..really sorry.....I know this must be bad.....Big pinch

Me...That's OK...I'm not afraid of needles.  I'm OK as long as we don't shut
	that door.

Her.....if you feel dizzy let me know....I'm sorry ..really.  Now, the 
wound site.
	I need to inject in two places here....I'm sorry.  Please relax your leg......
	Can you relax your leg?

Me.......That is relaxed.

Her....Are you sure?  It's very hard.  Are you sure?  Would you like to lay 
down.

Me....Yes ..I'm sure.  No.... laying down won't help.  That's the way my 
legs are.
	That's muscle.

Her.....well  yes, i can see that but this is going to hurt more since your 
muscle
	is so hard.

Me ...That's OK.honest..just go for it!     (I could hear the guy in the 
next room
	building up a head of steam)

Her......I'm sorry......this is just so.......oh ...dear....sorry
Her......OK..here we go with the other site...big pinch......oh my
Her.....OK.I'm sorry, but he wants the last on on your buttock, your hip area.

Me......This one will be easy...nothing hard about that for years <g>

OK...jeans back up.  I'm outta there.  Come back in three days...
that's Saturday and she said my chart would be kept locally and the med would
be at the ready so it shouldn't take as long.  I asked her recommendation as to
when an ER was less busy.  She said early morning.like 6AM.  Like a fool, I
asked if we were talking about a strict 72 hr interval or would 58 hrs do.  She
reconsidered and told be to come Saturday evening.  If any of the medico's
on the list can advise me of the fudge factor here, it would be helpful for me
I have to be in the studio on saturday nite.
Drive home...ate a can of tuna , groomed my fur, curled up for sleep.

Not nearly as bad as the time the piranha bit me....
remind me to show you the scar sometime.
Time for a stretch and a nap <g>
k