From Dragonfly: Don't Have a Medical Emergency

This morning I woke to news that South had been brought into the Clinic first thing in the morning. She was having difficulty breathing. She has COPD and is supposed to be on a specific medication, however, they denied her that medication here due to it not being in the formulary. She has been to the clinic 3x in the past week about her breathing. Anyway, when I got to the clinic for my shot of Enbryl, I found South sitting in a wheelchair (she does not usually have a walking aid of any type) and in the waiting room. I asked what happened, and she told me that she had respiratory issues while in the restroom this morning. She could not walk or talk for several minutes. Scary!!! Anyway, she was brought into the clinic. At the clinic, she was observed and released. They did nothing. They did not put her on oxygen. They did not give her any medication. I wheeled her around to a call-out she had in the lab and then we sat outside until open move, when we could go back to our unit. The poor thing - she was just so upset and I don't blame her.

Yesterday, I got news that another woman in our unit is in the hospital. For over a week, I've heard her complaining at the Clinic that her leg is hurting her and that something is wrong. She is diabetic and on dialysis. No one would change her to a first floor room, or do anything about her leg. Well, it burst. Literally. She is now at the hospital having her leg amputated. She had even talked to higher administration here to try and be taken seriously. So sad!

No matter how sick anyone is here, there's always someone sicker. Everyone seems to have had their medication regiment changed since arriving. At least everyone that is medical. For those who need pain medication and/or insulin, they literally spend their entire day in lines waiting for their medications. They go to insulin line before breakfast, lunch and dinner and then go to pill line just after breakfast, lunch and dinner. For some, they can be in lines for 3-5 hours per day awaiting medications!!! They do not dare skip their medication, because no one wants a medical emergency here.

My health is pretty much the same as it was before I got here. I do get a lot more headaches/migraines - but that's because I was taken off my migraine medication. I'm dealing with it, though. My health wasn't perfect before I got here, but I do not believe it to be any worse. I learned this morning that being on Methotrexate and Enbryl will automatically keep me a 3 care level. That means I will not be allowed to go to halfway house/home confinement early. I'm not giving up. I never give up. But, even though I am capable of working and taking care of myself, I am seen by the prison as needing medical assistance on a regular basis. Level 3 literally indicates that the person cannot do daily living activities for themselves. Yet, I am. Doesn't seem to matter here.

Okay, so there's gossip (inmate.com) about the visit to our facility yesterday from a bunch of federal judges. There's no way to know what is true or not from this gossip. However, people "heard" that the judges said that the prison needs to reduce the number of inmates by 840 people (that's about how over-crowded we are). Also, inmate.com gossip says many of the Mexican inmates caught at the border will be sent back to Mexico early (so many of them are given 4-7 year sentences and then are deported to Mexico - they were caught at the border and never spent a day in the U.S. except in prison... yet the U.S. pays over $27,000 to house and feed them in prison... I just don't understand why our immigration policies are what they are... just let these women go back home to their families!). Anyway, I digress. No politics (for now).

One thing is true, people are being shipped out of here daily... a lot are going to the new prison (Aliceville). Not the medical people, just the one's here because it was closer to their homes or they came for RDAP. These new policies, if they exist, will not likely change anything about my amount of time here. Some people are being sent home. One woman was called to R&D this morning and released. She didn't even know she was getting out. They told her to not even go back to her locker and pack - they would send everything to her. Here one day, and released the next unexpectedly. Gosh, wouldn't that be something!!!

Yesterday was Danbury's birthday. I wanted her to feel special - even for just moments - in a way that is nearly impossible here. South and I bought all the ingredients and we had someones help to make a real chocolate cake. I can't believe we made a cake (which formed in the microwave!) out of chocolate cookies, a coke, mayo, chocolate pudding, milky way bar, and a Hershey's bar. This formed both the cake and the frosting... I can't believe how good it was - truly death by chocolate!! South loved it! Also, we made a potato log for dinner (made with potato chips, corn chips, chicken, queso, Velveeta, and spices). We also had cheesy rice with small pieces of beef and spices as well. Not the healthiest meal I've ever had!!! Today for lunch, we made pizza with Goya crackers, queso, marinara sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese. These are all typical meals made from commissary food. The chow hall is nearly out of food (not sure if it is due to the gov't shutdown) so the meals in there are not so good either. Crazy stuff!

I've officially learned two crochet stitches - single and double. I'm making something, but I have no idea what it is - maybe a scarf. My right hand and wrist kind of go numb fairly quickly, so it may take me the rest of the time I'm here, but I have nothing else to do! I'm way behind on writing folks... I'm going to try and get some letters out this weekend. Sometimes, there is just nothing really to say. But, since I love receiving mail, I best be a good pen pal and write back!!!

My school should have my letter in hand by today. Tomorrow would have been my deadline. It was mailed out on Monday morning. It will likely be a couple weeks until I hear anything back. I will, of course, share their response. I am not going to worry too much about it until I know my fate. Must live in the day - not the future.