Nothing really changed for the next 2 years. The Soldier went on believing he only had IBS and just lived with the blood and the stomach pains. He hoped when he left active duty he would be able to control what he was eating and the symptoms would go away. Unfortunately for him the symptoms never went away.
It was now July 04. He had been dealing with this for 3 years now. He was no longer an active duty soldier, he was now a weekend warrior (a reservist). His symptoms were getting worse to the point he wasn't able to do much physically because of the pain and the need to use the bathroom. He needed to go see a doctor, but at the time he didn't have insurance.
His mom (the worrier) finally broke down and made him an appointment to be seen. She couldn't stand to see her baby in such pain. The appointment was set, but not with his normal doctor. He was too busy at the time and couldn't get him. So the appointment was made with a doctor in the same clinic.
The day of the appointment the Soldier was so excited. Finally a real doctor, not that the Army's doctors weren't real. It was just different. The Soldier had no doubt that soldiers being wounded in battle were getting the best care anywhere. When a soldier comes in with a disease on the other hand, they are never seen by the same doctors so there is no consistency. There is always the feeling that the doctor is there doing his or her time. Waiting until they have paid back their debt to the Army for paying for their medical degree. Once the debt is paid they are gone to make the real money. The ones that stay like the fact that they never have to pay for malpractice insurance because there is a law about soldiers not being able to sue other soldiers.
The Soldier new from the beginning that the doctor he was talking to was different. She seemed to ask much better questions and had answers that made sense. The Soldier explained his situation and the doctor had a puzzled look on her face. "You have had this bleeding for 3 years now?" She asked. "Yes ma'am, they told me it was IBS and that there was probably a tear from being dehydrated." She stopped typing on her computer and said "I have many patients with IBS and none of them have bleeding with it." She went on to explain that she thought it was Ulcerative Colitis. Ulcerative colitis? He had never heard of this, fear again went down his spine.
The doctor asked if it was okay to do a rectal exam. She explained that she could go get an escort if he wasn't comfortable with having this done with just her in the room. This is just what he wanted, a total stranger in the room while this doctor stuck her finger in his poor bum. He explained that he was okay with her taking a look. He had the thought that she was a small lady so this shouldn't hurt to bad. He was wrong. For being so small she seemed to have a lot of anger when doing the exam. Most exams he had experienced were very short, this one seemed to last forever. When it was finally over she left the room. He sat there with this new term in his head. Truthfully he really didn't understand what she said so when she entered the room he asked her to write it down.
She explained she had talked to another doctor and they felt he needed a colonoscopy immediately. He went white. He was expecting them to pull out a couple of bottles and get right to it. But no, they set him up an appointment the next day and gave him a prescription to clean him out.
Early the next day he started the cleaning process. After all was said and done. This was by far the worst part of the colonoscopy experience. He followed the instructions and spent the next 4 hours in the bathroom.
His dad had taken day off so he took him to the hospital. Not much was said on the way there. His dad was probably just as worried about his son as he was. When the nurse came and got him, his dad gave him a smile and said "at least your nurse is cute." She was very cute. He told the nurse how scared he was and explained what he had went through the last time. She couldn't believe anybody would do a colonoscopy that way. She assured him they would make him very comfortable and he wouldn't remember a thing.
Dr. PJ was the gastroenterologist that was going to perform the procedure. He introduced himself and the Soldier told him his story. Dr. PJ couldn't believe he had been dealing with all the symptoms for that long and assured him he would find out what was going on.
The next thing he knew he was waking up in a room with his mom and dad. He didn't remember a thing. From what his dad said on several occasions he had asked the nurse if she could get him more of these drugs, he would make her Top Ramen every night (Top Ramen was the only thing he knew how to make). He was told he even asked her out. He was sure it wasn't the first time someone in the haziness of the drugs had asked her out. Unfortunately for him in all the excitement he missed the big rock on her wedding finger.
Dr. PJ entered the room and told him and his parents that he too thought it was Ulcerative Colitis. In fact because he saw signs of the disease throughout his whole colon he said it was actually Pan Colitis. He had taken several biopsies and the results would confirm what the good doctor had thought.
Dr. PJ gave him two prescriptions. He explained that the first one was a very common drug used to treat Ulcerative Colitis. He would need to take 4 pills 3 times a day while they tried to get it under control. The second prescription was a steroid. This would be the first dose of many the Soldier would take of this nasty drug. He was given an appointment to follow-up with the doctor in a few weeks. By then they would have the the results of the biopsy and they could discuss the strategy to keep this disease under control.
They left the hospital and on the way home his mother stopped at a pharmacy to get the prescription filled. As mentioned before he didn't have insurance so this was going to be expensive. For a one month supply the total for the two drugs was $1,100. Outrageous, but his mother wanted her baby to get better so she paid the amount. With the Colonoscopy and Drugs the total for that month was well over $5,000. It was time to find insurance and fast.
It was now July 04. He had been dealing with this for 3 years now. He was no longer an active duty soldier, he was now a weekend warrior (a reservist). His symptoms were getting worse to the point he wasn't able to do much physically because of the pain and the need to use the bathroom. He needed to go see a doctor, but at the time he didn't have insurance.
His mom (the worrier) finally broke down and made him an appointment to be seen. She couldn't stand to see her baby in such pain. The appointment was set, but not with his normal doctor. He was too busy at the time and couldn't get him. So the appointment was made with a doctor in the same clinic.
The day of the appointment the Soldier was so excited. Finally a real doctor, not that the Army's doctors weren't real. It was just different. The Soldier had no doubt that soldiers being wounded in battle were getting the best care anywhere. When a soldier comes in with a disease on the other hand, they are never seen by the same doctors so there is no consistency. There is always the feeling that the doctor is there doing his or her time. Waiting until they have paid back their debt to the Army for paying for their medical degree. Once the debt is paid they are gone to make the real money. The ones that stay like the fact that they never have to pay for malpractice insurance because there is a law about soldiers not being able to sue other soldiers.
The Soldier new from the beginning that the doctor he was talking to was different. She seemed to ask much better questions and had answers that made sense. The Soldier explained his situation and the doctor had a puzzled look on her face. "You have had this bleeding for 3 years now?" She asked. "Yes ma'am, they told me it was IBS and that there was probably a tear from being dehydrated." She stopped typing on her computer and said "I have many patients with IBS and none of them have bleeding with it." She went on to explain that she thought it was Ulcerative Colitis. Ulcerative colitis? He had never heard of this, fear again went down his spine.
The doctor asked if it was okay to do a rectal exam. She explained that she could go get an escort if he wasn't comfortable with having this done with just her in the room. This is just what he wanted, a total stranger in the room while this doctor stuck her finger in his poor bum. He explained that he was okay with her taking a look. He had the thought that she was a small lady so this shouldn't hurt to bad. He was wrong. For being so small she seemed to have a lot of anger when doing the exam. Most exams he had experienced were very short, this one seemed to last forever. When it was finally over she left the room. He sat there with this new term in his head. Truthfully he really didn't understand what she said so when she entered the room he asked her to write it down.
She explained she had talked to another doctor and they felt he needed a colonoscopy immediately. He went white. He was expecting them to pull out a couple of bottles and get right to it. But no, they set him up an appointment the next day and gave him a prescription to clean him out.
Early the next day he started the cleaning process. After all was said and done. This was by far the worst part of the colonoscopy experience. He followed the instructions and spent the next 4 hours in the bathroom.
His dad had taken day off so he took him to the hospital. Not much was said on the way there. His dad was probably just as worried about his son as he was. When the nurse came and got him, his dad gave him a smile and said "at least your nurse is cute." She was very cute. He told the nurse how scared he was and explained what he had went through the last time. She couldn't believe anybody would do a colonoscopy that way. She assured him they would make him very comfortable and he wouldn't remember a thing.
Dr. PJ was the gastroenterologist that was going to perform the procedure. He introduced himself and the Soldier told him his story. Dr. PJ couldn't believe he had been dealing with all the symptoms for that long and assured him he would find out what was going on.
The next thing he knew he was waking up in a room with his mom and dad. He didn't remember a thing. From what his dad said on several occasions he had asked the nurse if she could get him more of these drugs, he would make her Top Ramen every night (Top Ramen was the only thing he knew how to make). He was told he even asked her out. He was sure it wasn't the first time someone in the haziness of the drugs had asked her out. Unfortunately for him in all the excitement he missed the big rock on her wedding finger.
Dr. PJ entered the room and told him and his parents that he too thought it was Ulcerative Colitis. In fact because he saw signs of the disease throughout his whole colon he said it was actually Pan Colitis. He had taken several biopsies and the results would confirm what the good doctor had thought.
Dr. PJ gave him two prescriptions. He explained that the first one was a very common drug used to treat Ulcerative Colitis. He would need to take 4 pills 3 times a day while they tried to get it under control. The second prescription was a steroid. This would be the first dose of many the Soldier would take of this nasty drug. He was given an appointment to follow-up with the doctor in a few weeks. By then they would have the the results of the biopsy and they could discuss the strategy to keep this disease under control.
They left the hospital and on the way home his mother stopped at a pharmacy to get the prescription filled. As mentioned before he didn't have insurance so this was going to be expensive. For a one month supply the total for the two drugs was $1,100. Outrageous, but his mother wanted her baby to get better so she paid the amount. With the Colonoscopy and Drugs the total for that month was well over $5,000. It was time to find insurance and fast.
1 comment:
It is pretty amazing what moms and dads will do for their kids. It is always nice when kids validate the parents efforts by being good contributing citizens in the community. Plus even better, we appreciate it when our children dont kill our grandchildren when the little buggers mess up.
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