If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Motherfucker
I am getting my ass kicked by the medications for the MRSA combined with the meds for stroke prevention. If throwing up was an Olympic event I would have taken the gold. I cannot sit at the computer more than a few moments without getting nausea and dry heaves. Which is why I didn'[t update NLQ today. They put me on one of the anti nausea drugs they give cancer patients and it's starting to work. Just a little. I kept dinner down.
I've had to ditch many of the daily meds I take and concentrate on the most important for the MRSA. I'm turning into a pill head and not the fun kind.
Got into a huge argument with my doctor. He started nattering at me about my blood sugar levels, I told him to relax because I have Metformin and a meter so my levels will go back down as soon as I kick the MRSA. He said stuff about not taking diabetes seriously. I pointed out it only happens when I have MRSA or use certain asthma drugs and I take appropriate steps. He wants to give me an insulin shot to bring in down and I said oh hell no!
My levels aren't unmanagably high. I can get them down in a few weeks after the infection is gone and I've started the Metformin. But the main reason I did not want him giving me a shot of insulin besides the fact that it is crazy overkill is because of what I'd observed at the clinic I used to work at.
I have seen several patients given insulin for a suddenly spiked reading have some crazy things go wrong, from being hospitalized with low sugar later that day. I know of several that passed out and fell off the table, one who broke her nose, another that sustained a concussion. But the worst was someone I know that actually ended up in the locked mental ward after having an episode after one insulin shot by an over eager doctor.
That's the real issue here, the way Costa Rican medicine is done is very different and very much more hands on. It can be nice, but it can also be an enormous pain in the ass. Take my MRSA toe. When this happened to my thumb in the States (first time I ever popped a high blood sugar) I was seen at the hospital where they drained the absess, loaded me down with prescriptions and sent me on my merry way with the instructions to follow up in a week with my regular doctor. No skin picked off, no daily debriding of the digit. I have been going every damn day for a week followed by every other day here in Costa Rica. They picked all the dead skin off, without giving me a painkiller first I might add, and now every time I go they scrape the toe. I am seeing less improvement from this aggressive approach than the less invasive American treatment.
The discussion between the doctor and I got rather heated. I said some things about high blood sugar that he said were a lie. Later he came back in and apologized because he looked up what I was saying and realized I had a point. So we're at a stalemate. I told him that I will always stand up to medical personnel when they try to do something that I personally feel is contrary to my best interests, like the time I stopped him from giving me a steroid injection because I'm now steroid intollerant after so many years with asthma.
Nope, dude, I will continue to do what I believe is right for my health.
I've had to ditch many of the daily meds I take and concentrate on the most important for the MRSA. I'm turning into a pill head and not the fun kind.
Got into a huge argument with my doctor. He started nattering at me about my blood sugar levels, I told him to relax because I have Metformin and a meter so my levels will go back down as soon as I kick the MRSA. He said stuff about not taking diabetes seriously. I pointed out it only happens when I have MRSA or use certain asthma drugs and I take appropriate steps. He wants to give me an insulin shot to bring in down and I said oh hell no!
My levels aren't unmanagably high. I can get them down in a few weeks after the infection is gone and I've started the Metformin. But the main reason I did not want him giving me a shot of insulin besides the fact that it is crazy overkill is because of what I'd observed at the clinic I used to work at.
I have seen several patients given insulin for a suddenly spiked reading have some crazy things go wrong, from being hospitalized with low sugar later that day. I know of several that passed out and fell off the table, one who broke her nose, another that sustained a concussion. But the worst was someone I know that actually ended up in the locked mental ward after having an episode after one insulin shot by an over eager doctor.
That's the real issue here, the way Costa Rican medicine is done is very different and very much more hands on. It can be nice, but it can also be an enormous pain in the ass. Take my MRSA toe. When this happened to my thumb in the States (first time I ever popped a high blood sugar) I was seen at the hospital where they drained the absess, loaded me down with prescriptions and sent me on my merry way with the instructions to follow up in a week with my regular doctor. No skin picked off, no daily debriding of the digit. I have been going every damn day for a week followed by every other day here in Costa Rica. They picked all the dead skin off, without giving me a painkiller first I might add, and now every time I go they scrape the toe. I am seeing less improvement from this aggressive approach than the less invasive American treatment.
The discussion between the doctor and I got rather heated. I said some things about high blood sugar that he said were a lie. Later he came back in and apologized because he looked up what I was saying and realized I had a point. So we're at a stalemate. I told him that I will always stand up to medical personnel when they try to do something that I personally feel is contrary to my best interests, like the time I stopped him from giving me a steroid injection because I'm now steroid intollerant after so many years with asthma.
Nope, dude, I will continue to do what I believe is right for my health.
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