How I Spent March Break

Amy and I returned to Toronto from three and a half months of wonderful travel to Guatemala, Mexico and Belize on Friday night.  About a week earlier I noticed a sore on my thigh.  I get these sores sometimes, like a large pimple or boil.  By Friday, it had popped open and was draining.  By Saturday, another area of swelling had begun and I started to feel ill – chills, fever, headache, nausea and weakness.  Sunday morning I went to a walk-in clinic.  He advised me that since I was seeing my family doctor for a scheduled appointment the next day, I could either try to find an open Urgent Care clinic or wait to see my doctor.  He wrote a prescription for antibiotics as a “precaution” which I ignored.  On Monday at 12:30 I went to see my doctor for some blood tests and so on.  She looked at the infected area and told me to go straight to the hospital.

I arrived at Sunnybrook at around 2:15 to and walked into an Emergency Room that was standing room only.  At 5:15 I was brought inside to be seen by the Emerg doctor.  Amy arrived shortly after.  By 7 pm I was admitted into the hospital.  They suspected a serious infection, and by the next morning confirmed Staphylococcus Aureas.  Staph is a very common bacteria that lives on many people’s skin, and nobody really knows what triggers it becoming an active infection, but when it does, it can be very serious, even fatal if untreated.  So they weren’t kidding around.  After a battery of blood tests and visits from many doctors from many departments (Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Infectious Diseases), I was moved into an area called Medical Short Stay.  Medical Short Stay is like a converted Emergency Ward with about twelve patients, a few in actual small rooms with walls, but most in open areas along both walls with rolling dividers that form a kind a circle around the bed.  Amy calls it a “hospital yurt”.

By Tuesday morning, having started intravenous antibiotics, I was actually feeling pretty good, no headaches, fever or symptoms other than pain and discomfort around my thigh and groin area. So I figured things were getting under control and I would be out of there.  Then I was informed that I had tested positive for staph bacteria in my blood, which is much more serious.  Once it’s in the blood, it is devious – it can sneak into other organs and hide, creating colonies of infection there that are much more difficult to clear.  So now they felt I would be in the hospital for several more days while they ran tests on organs and so on.  Oh boy…

At this point I reflected on my situation, and here is what I thought about:

1.       Thank God we arrived in Canada before this erupted.  I can’t imagine what would have happened in Belize, Mexico, or even the U.S., even though we did carry Travel Medical Insurance.

2.       Thank God for the Canadian medical system, flawed as it is, and for Sunnybrook Hospital which has provided stellar care and attention.

3.       Thank God for Canada, period!

4.       Thank God for Amy who has been absolutely wonderful, who I had to kick out on Sunday night, since she would have slept here in a chair the night before starting an intense 3-day Training Workshop she was leading.  She is my rock!

5.       Thank God for family and friends.  I was trying not to let people know thinking that if I was out in a couple of days, there was no need.  Now the good wishes, visits and calls are part of my healing process.  Thank you!

6.       Thank God that my ailment is completely treatable and not too uncomfortable, and that it has not spread to other areas.  I look around this ward, and see people in such worse shape than me.

7.       Thank God that my “accommodations” are reasonably comfortable, that the doctors, nurses and other workers are 90% fabulous.  They even have wireless here!

Oh I could go on and on and on…  I am so thankful!

I have also been scared.  Yesterday morning I was taken for an Echocardiogram, which is an ultrasound of the heart area.  They pressed a wand against my chest and moved it around taking detailed pictures of the heart.  They were looking for signs of the infection there.  After the procedure, the doctor said she wasn’t sure, but one of the valves appeared to be a little thickened, so she would request a second test, called a Trans Esophogeal Echocardiagram, where they sedate me, freeze the back of my throat, and insert a tube with an ultrasound probe down my throat to get close to the back of the heart and get clearer images.  I was taken back to my “room”, and had a good cry, fearing that perhaps my heart was infected.  If that was the case, it would involve four to six weeks of intravenous IV, though not necessarily in the hospital, possibly at home with home care workers coming daily to administer.

Amy and I had all our plans.  We would stay in Toronto for a couple of weeks, then pack up the car and drive to B.C. where we will be living.  I guess those plans are on hold.

I cried because I was afraid.  I cried because things seemed to be getting worse.  I cried because all our plans were up in the air.  We don’t even have a home here, having rented our house for the year.  We do have so many wonderful friends who are hosting us and would gladly host us, but hosting me with these issues could be a burden.  I cried because of how my problem impacts on others, especially Amy, who is doing everything that needs to be done with hardly any help from me, as well as trying to help me.

A couple of hours later they wheeled me into the room for the second test.  Though it was certainly not pleasant, I was totally into doing it to find out for sure.  After about a half hour, it was done.  The doctor turned to me and said: “I’ll have the report generated by 4 pm today, so hopefully the doctor will speak to you either today or tomorrow.”  She must have seen the expression in my eyes, because she leaned over and quietly said: “Don’t worry, your heart looks fine, it is not infected.”  I don’t know if she was supposed to do that, but she made my day.

In the afternoon, they did some more tests, ultrasound of my abdominal area, looking at all the organs, checking thoroughly for signs of infection.  I was examined head to toe by another doctor, asked lots of questions about other symptoms, histories and so on.  The thoroughness of the investigations is absolutely amazing, and gives me great confidence.  The lead doctor put it this way: “You have a staph infection that has spread to the blood.  We know exactly which bacteria it is, and the absolutely appropriate antibiotic for it.  It is completely treatable and curable, and it is a good thing that you came when you did.  It’s just a question of time.”

You know, I hate taking antibiotics, except for now.

On Friday (day 4) I was given an evening pass for a couple of hours.  Our daughter Julia and her partner Howie were flying in from Cuba, spending a couple of hours at the airport before flying home to Montreal.  So we went to hang out with them.  We hadn’t seen them for four months, so it was a real treat! 

Saturday (day 5), I received a four hour pass and went to shul.  It was a special musical Shabbat, and I was able to participate with the fiddle, as well as reading from the Torah.  I returned to the hospital around 1:30, to finish up arrangements for home care and have a last consult with the doctors before being discharged.  At 6:15, I’m free!  The home care nurse will come this evening to set up my IV for timed release of the antibiotics, and will visit daily to reload.

It’s great to be home, even if it’s a friend’s house!  While I really appreciate the care at Sunnybrook, I am looking forward to an uninterrupted night’s sleep, and an (almost) normal daily life.  Hallelujah!