Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Chapter 7

Drum roll please...
It was finally the day that I am to find out 100% what's wrong with me.  The most probable thing is TB and I had already started the medication for that plus I have pneumonia.  I have come to terms with the fact that I most likely have TB so I hope that I don't get thrown a curve ball.  All of a sudden they started shuffling nurses in and out.  I almost couldn't keep up with the names.  "Hello Ricky!" the nurse said.  When I turned my head to take a look, I saw a big and tall woman.  She was not big as in pleasantly plump; she was big as in amazonish.  "Hello how are you?" I asked.  "I am doin fine suga.  I am gonna be your day time nurse for the meantime and in-between time.  My name is Lucille and I am from Georgia,"  she replied.  "Well hey Lucille what do I have to do today?" I asked.  "Have you been feelin okay?" Lucille asked.  "Yes I have been okay considering," I replied.  "Oh, whats going on today is the doctor is coming by this morning," she explained.  "Alright and that's it?" I inquired.  "Nope you know that you couldn't get that lucky in here.  You are gonna do an MRI today.  Someone will drop by and shoot ya down there in a little," she told me.  I had no idea what an MRI was so I just kept quiet.  She took my vitals and then straightened up the room a bit.  "Do you need any juice or water and how about some ice?" the nurse asked.  "I will take all of the above please," I said.  "Okay i will be back in a jiffy," Lucille said.  As she was leaving out of the room, I thought of a secret nickname for her; Big Country.  Doctor Stevens was waiting to come in as my nurse left.  "Good morning Ricky.  Your sputum sample results came back from the lab.  After reviewing the results, I have determined that you do in fact have tuberculosis.  You have been on the medications for about a month now so, in the best case scenario, you have 5 more months of medication.  In the worst case, you have 8 more.  Either way it is totally curable.  We are gonna continue to treat your pneumonia with the antibiotics and fluids.  Do you have any questions for me?" the doctor asked.  "No not right now," I said.  "We are still waiting on the results of 1 sample so we can figure out which pill will be the most effective against the bacteria.  It could take 2 more weeks but I will let you know when I get it," he said.  The doctor took a look at my feet and checked for a pulse.  "I will be by tomorrow.  Try to get some rest," he stated as he walked out the door.  I was so tired of taking pills but, i know in order to get better, I had to do it.  I would get about 8 pills in the morning.  About noon, I would get 13 and the most of them were for TB.  Then, during the night, I would get about 4.  This was my everyday regimen.  Suddenly, I heard a knock at the door...  "Hello Mr. Kendall. I am here to take you to get your MRI," the transport guy said.

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