Tonight's picture was taken in February of 2009. I will never forget this day. Mattie was basically quarantined in his room because they were trying to rule out that Mattie picked up a contagious infection in the hospital. Which was why Mattie's physical therapist and child life specialist were wearing gowns. Mattie's best buddy, Brandon, was receiving treatment too and was in the room next door to us. Brandon wasn't allowed into our room, but participated in Mattie's therapy session from the doorway. Mattie needed a lot of encouragement and support to move his body. Mainly I imagine because it hurt and expending physical energy was challenging for Mattie. I remember the intense isolation from being quarantined for days, and if it weren't for Mattie's nurses, PT, and child life specialist, those days would have been beyond impossible.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 27,739,873
- Number of people who died from the virus: 487,656
The saga continued today. I woke up feeling not much better than yesterday. This morning I received a call from my doctor's office manager. Ironically I have spoken to him in the past. About a very similar issue..... the inability to reach the practice after hours. To me this is a very serious issue, as doctors can't leave their patients without a plan of support after hours (nights, weekends, holidays).
The office manager apologized for my experience yesterday, said he is looking into why the whole phone system failed, and said this is not how the office wishes to handle after hour patient calls. While talking to me he could hear I was still sick. So he looked into the schedule to see if my doctor could examine me today. No such luck! Instead, he arranged for me to have a virtual visit with a new physician in the practice. At 12:00pm, I got on my computer and followed the check in process needed to meet with a doctor at 12:30pm! It is a new world, and not a good one if you ask me because I truly do not understand how a doctor can meet you on-line and accurately diagnosis your issue, and never physically examine you! Somehow this is counter intuitive to me and though necessary during a pandemic, I hope this doesn't become a medical standard of practice.
Any case, at 12:30pm, I waited for the doctor to appear on my screen. I could see a message that the doctor was delayed helping another patient. But to remain in the waiting room. Needless to say, about fifteen minutes later I got a call from the doctor on my cell phone. She let me know that the entire office's computer system was down! Wonderful no? Seems to me no one can function without having access to electronics! Also a scary notion. My main issue is I haven't had a sore throat like this as an adult. So I am worried that perhaps I didn't really have a sinus infection. However, she assured me that even if I have strep throat, I am on the right antibiotics to treat that infection too. She has me on high dosages of my friend, Advil, and wants me to check back in with her on Thursday.
Typically, I can work through whatever I am feeling, but today, because of intense sinus pressure in my head and a throat making it painful to swallow, I took to the couch.
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