The last several weeks have been some of the most stressful and busiest that I remember having in a long time. Aside from my writing and editing, I had to take a local part time job. I enjoy the job and it is a steady paycheck. In addition, I've just finished with finals and managed to squeak onto the Dean's List. It's not the President's List like my last semester but I'll take it, be happy with it, and vow to do better next semester. I'm also in the middle of moving, right here at Christmas. So yeah, my brain and time has been scattered.As if that wasn't enough, my back seems to be getting worse. I went for another MRI last week to see what's going on. Which leads me into the main topic of this post:
A dear friend of mine who has had similar problems with her back, recently suffered from spinal compression. It was a horrible thing for her to go through and she still has a long road ahead. Such a thing happening to me has been a fear in the back of my mind since I began having these back troubles. The fact that my friend is going through this makes my heart hurt. But I'm also pissed. She, like me, had been telling her doctors for years that something more was going on with her back than simple strain. Only recently had they been taking her claims a little more seriously. Who knows if this could have been prevented.
But the kicker came when the local hospital sent her home with nothing more than pain meds and said she needed to rest. Are you freaking kidding me? It is not my goal to demonize the entire hospital staff or even the entire ER staff; every time I have personally had a problem with myself or my children, we may have had to wait a very long time but we were taken care of (though I will mention one ER doc that stood at the door to my son's room, talked to me for five minutes only because I had him stand there and answer my questions, then charged me a couple of thousand for that). And I realize there is only so much nurses can do. However, even I know that when someone comes in to the ER with severe back pain, incontinence, and partial paralysis, you don't send them home with an order to rest, you send them for a MRI. That is a failure on so many levels... I just can't comprehend how someone with a medical degree can make a call like that. I could really go on about what I've witnessed at this hospital but I'll leave it at that for now.
Another hospital is taking care of her now. I suppose I can be pissed all I want but anger won't help anyone.
In any case, I'll update when I get additional results in. I've given up on any normalcy that might have been. I figure this is what my life will consist of; struggling to move and pain.
On a happy note, though, the second Barrier story is close to its release date! Keep an eye out.
Until next time...
Peace, love, and common sense,
Pamela
