During my last appointment with my pulmonary doc, he asked for a sputum sample. I was so proud when i was able to produce that for him on September the 20, ....and even got results from it to the Iris (online doctor portal) by mid week.
However, my pride soon turned to aggravation and frustration and thus the details of that follow....along with some happies thrown in here and there..
Friday 9/27/13 Happy Birthday, Ana. Got call from Health Department…coming by Monday morning for some bloodwork due to the results of my latest sputum tests which according to Iris were…. Moraxella (branhamella) catarrhalis
Beta lactamase positive.
Heavy growth
I looked all this up on the internet and didn't find a thing that was troublesome nor related to the tuberculosis bacteria.
On Friday the 27th the local Health Department called and wanted to come by on Monday, 9/30/13 to take some blood work and get their own sputum. On Monday, the nurse came by and rather than do a skin test for TB, she said she was drawing blood as that would give her/them a more intensive/complete result. She also said if I couldn't give her a sputum sample that was ok. I didn't.
I asked why all this and she stated because of my prior diagnosis with the mycobacterium being in the TB family they had to do this. I asked even if this latest sputum didn't test positive for that and she said it was all in the same family.
Saturday 9/28/13 Watered nursery, Terry and Bruce went to resevoir fishing, started working in office cleaning it up, Ana, Cheyenne and I went with Pat and Ronnie to Dempseys for Ana's birthday. Went to bed around 9..fell asleep…woke around 11 when Terry came home…went back to sleep..woke around 1:30 so here I am updating computers and typing away.
Of course all this time I cannot go anywhere and if I do I have to wear a mask. The only place I have been since the 27th is to keep my appointment with the ENT, Dr. Thompson on the 1st of October at which I wore a mask the health department nurse provided.
I called on Friday the 4th and all my blood came back fine but nothing on the culture. When I questioned that she said they were growing a culture from the sputum I collected for Dr. V and it could take a while.
Again today, Monday, October 7, 2013, I called for results on that culture and nothing. When I research the culture for tuberculosis, I find it can take up to 6 weeks to grow.
10/9/13 I still haven't heard from the HD and have a Balance test at Dr. Thompson's office at 9:30. I go to it, keeping Ana out of school and taking her with me just for company and another pair of eyes. I have reached a point I don't trust myself and my eyes. I went through the balance test…whoa!!!! Big old set of goggles on my face that by the end of the test was causing a headache, following red dots across a light bar and up and down a light bar, staring at red dots, turning head and being laid back quickly from all angles, then warm air blown into each ear with a 5 minute rest between blowings, then cold, then a repeat of the warm air in the left ear which seemed to be the worst….I was/am worn out.
We leave the doctor's office and I am pulling into a parking space at the mall when the Health Department calls. I am released from isolation but am still a suspect, so be cautious about whom I'm around until we know the sputum doesn't grow anything awful or mysterious!!!!!! Imagine green slime with glowing purple overlay!!!!! hehehehehehehe
Ana and I try out Newt's for lunch; our first time there. Yep, this is a keeper. We ordered the shrimp po-boy--she got the full po-boy with chips and I got a half with a Caesar Salad. Taste was wonderful, dining area clean, plenty of choices on the condiment/oil/vinegar bar--yep, a keeper.
From there we went to Sam's and picked up a couple things, then to Columbia and Walgreen's for meds, and of course by McD's for a caramel Frappe before heading home.
The nurse had told me not to come home and work in the yard to take it easy because she had put me through the mill. I came in expecting to at least take it easy until time for Prayer meeting when Stacie text and wanted me to bring her some gas. She had run out of gas in the bike just below the school. Of course, I had to go buy gas because someone always leaves the cans empty; so after doing that and an interesting conversation with Ana on the way about her mom and a job, we delivered mom her gas and made it back home just in time for the phone to ring and after that, visitors and then another phone call and now, finally 3 hours after arriving home the house has calmed down just a bit.
