From Dragonfly: Chasing Enbrel

Writing earlier today, I had no idea what my day would bring. Well, now that the day is nearly turning to evening, I can tell you. It involved "chasing enbrel" all day long. As you know, I am on a medication called Enbrel (an injection that assists me in my autoimmune issues). It is important that I keep it at its regular schedule (I get a shot every Monday and one every Friday). Since the clinic was closed today, due to the ice outside, I decided to follow the advice of a nurse from last week. The nurse told me that if the clinic is ever closed on my injection day, I should go to "Med Surge" which is the real hospital floor at Carswell. After breakfast, I took the elevator to the 4th floor for the first time since I've been here (we are not allowed to wander around the hospital, we must have a reason and talk with C.O.'s in the process).

The Med Surge officer told me that I need to go back to my unit and have my officer call over and then they will let me come back for my shot. So, I bundled myself back up with my two shirts, sweatshirt, and jacket, and made my way back to my unit. My friend Lola took that trip with me and I knew that she would not want to venture out into the cold again... Anyway, I get into my unit and see an officer. I tell him what Med Surge said, and he tells me to go next door to 1 North (I live in 1 South) and wait by the officer's office and he will call for me. Turns out that the officer supposed to be on 1 South today couldn't make it in due to the weather.

So, I enter 1 North for the first time ever. It looks a lot like our unit, but I like the color of their columns more (ours is a dull pink, theirs is a bright turquoise). They also have decorations hanging - signs made by some of the inmates who are doing "programming" like Life Connections (a Christian program lasting 18 months to help women build self-esteem, find god, and make healthier decisions).

Anyway, the officer starts to call medical, when his "replacement" officer came into 1 North and so the first officer handed my id off to the second officer. And, so it goes. That officer says that I should go back to my unit and he will come tell me what he learns. It is now 8:15am.

About 9:15am, the officer finds me and tells me that Med Surge was not set up to give injections for the clinic today and that he passed my id off to the new officer that just arrived in 1 South and that I should check in with him at 10am. At 10am, I go to the officer, who has no idea why he is holding my id. I tell him that I'm supposed to get an Enbrel injection today, but since the clinic is closed, I need to go to med surge, however, med surge needs a Physicians Assistant to call them so that they can get all the supplies. The officer calls the P.A. on duty and then tells me to come back at 11am.

At 11am, I go back to the officer, he says that Med Surge will be ready to give me my injection after lunch. I take my id back and make myself and Lola some tuna roll-ups for lunch (it's Friday, so it's fried fish sandwich day in the chow hall). I don't do that kind of fish. I will eat tuna, though. I know, I'm weird. After lunch, I bundle back up in all my layers, and make my way back to the medical building. I go to the back elevators and go back to the 4th floor.

This time the C.O. allows me further onto the floor, to the nurses window. Since this is my first day ever on the floor, I need to say - whoa, it really looks like a hospital!!!! Except, of course, the nurses station has glass all the way around it protecting the nurses from the patient (inmates!). Inmates are in single or double rooms, with bathrooms. They have medical beds. They have their own television. So, I guess it's good to know that the really ill here are cared for. Also, the nurses there are nice... or at least they seemed like it!

Anyway, back at the 4th floor nurses window, I talk with a very friendly male nurse who looks at a list and informs me that I am not on it. I explain that I get my injection every Monday and Friday, and he looks on his computer to see my medical file. It does show my enbrel, but that the prescription "expired" yesterday. My doctor quit and left this place in November, so lots of stuff hasn't been done - including renewing prescriptions apparently! So, the nurse tells me that he needs to reach a doctor and to come back in an hour. I'm getting used to this.

I must say that this Enbrel story is kind of like getting anything done here. We wait, wait, hurry up, and then wait, wait...

So, I bundle myself back up and walk to the housing unit. Everyone asks if I got my injection and I make a negative thumb sign. At that point it is 12:45pm and all I've done is "chase enbrel" for the entire day. I lay down in my bed for a little rest and get up 45 minutes later. I sit with some friends in the atrium and then the hour has passed and I bundle myself back up and walk back to the medical building and go to the back elevators and make my way up to the 4th floor for the 3rd time today. The nurse is busy giving the other people needing injections their shots. We all know one another, because we stand in line together every week. One woman has severe MS, another severe rheumatoid arthritis, there are several with autoimmune issues, others that just need B12 shots. Every person has a story. Many of them are on walkers and in wheel chairs. I'm glad that I'm still walking (albeit slow).

The nurse sees me and says, "I still haven't reached a doctor." He starts to tell me to go back to my unit, but sees my face, and tells me to sit on the blue bench instead. I mention blue bench, because all the benches we have are a blue wire weaved bench. They are not at all comfortable. There are not a lot of benches indoors - just in the medical waiting areas, and then the ones you never want to sit on - those outside the lieutenants office (for people in trouble!). So, I sit on the one blue bench in med surge. There is a woman from my unit, who shares my real first name, and is in a wheel chair all the time, also near the blue bench. We have never spoken, but like in any waiting room, we find ourselves talking to new people about our ailments.

She has numerous autoimmune conditions as well - and has been locked up for 20 years --- but she's my age. Currently, her legs are soooooo swollen that they are about 3x their normal size (OUCH!!!). They've gotten worse and worse for 5 days, but the clinic gave her a run around. Now that she's being seen in med-surge, I hope they do something for her. She should be checked for DVT and they must do something to bring down the severe swelling. I'll see what they do when she rolls back into the unit --- hopefully not too soon. I hope they take her to a hospital! She's also really, really sick right now - immunocompromised like I am. Well, I know it wasn't a good thing that they had me sitting next to her for about 40 minutes with her sneezing, coughing and heavy breathing. I washed my hands immediately, but it's taking everything to keep myself healthy in a place like this. So, at 2:00pm, the nurse called me over and less than a minute later, I am done with my enbryl shot. A doc renewed my prescription and I was able to bundle up for the last time today (I am not going to make it back for chow tonight... I will make something in the unit). I unbundled again because I wanted to do email for a bit and the move was "closed." It has just reopened. So, I am bundling back up and heading back to my unit.

Mission accomplished... enbrel injection achieved.