Tuesday June 26, 2007 9:41 PM

Guess what? Jim's in the hospital AGAIN.

We went to Texas last week for my cousin's wedding. This is my father's sister's son. I'm really glad I went now because I found out when I was there that my aunt has cancer again and has opted not to do chemo. Apparently last time she did chemo she suffered two strokes, and she doesn't want to go through that again, so this will probably be the last time I see her. Jim felt lousy before we left. I kept telling him that he didn't have to go....I would go with Jimmy and we would be fine, but he kept saying he had to "protect" me. Protect me from what I don't know. Turns out the whole time we're there I can see he doesn't feel well and I'm constantly asking him, "Are you o.k.? Are you o.k.?" Well, whatever. He went and was miserable. He's still running to the bathroom constantly and I can't get him in to the gastroenterologist until 7/2.

Sunday night when we got back he spiked a fever of 102. That was the last straw for me. I called the gastroenterologist Monday morning BEGGING her to take him early but no go. She just suggested I take him to the emergency room, so I took him to the ER at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philly. I decided to go there instead of Kennedy in Washington Township because all of his specialists are out of Jefferson. It just made more sense. So now instead of taking the train I had to drive him, which I hate, because driving in Center City is a bitch. But I did it. So we were there for TWELVE hours. Yeah...TWELVE hours. Luckily I got my in-laws to get Jimmy off the bus from camp and put him to bed and stay overnight.

So while we were on our way I warned Jim about gastrointestinal problems and doctors. I suffered for years with the symptoms Jim had and went through close to a dozen gastronenterologists. All I got from them was a shrug of the shoulders and "take fiber pills." Now come on.....what would you think would happen if someone running to the bathroom 20 times a day takes fiber? DUH. I finally had found someone who treated me for inflammatory bowel disease with a drug called Azulfidine. I took that for a couple of years and my problem finally went into remission and I didn't need the drug anymore. Then a few years later I ate one of my ex-sister-in-law's tainted meatballs at Christmas and while my ex and I both got food poisoining, he got over it in a day or so and I stayed sick for another two years. This time azulfidine didn't really help, so I went to MORE gastroenterologists, plus emergency rooms, etc., and finally when I was ready to off myself because I couldn't take it anymore I found a doctor who gave me Cipro. I took that all the way up until I was pregnant with Jimmy, then tried Asacol for while, which was o.k. Now I'm much better and just take Cipro occasionally if I have a flare-up.

Now, I really was hoping that Jim wouldn't have to go through the years of hell that I did. So we're sitting there with the doctor and I'm telling her about the progression of what Jim's gone through and what we've tried and she says to me, "Are you a doctor?" and I said, "No, but the lower G.I. tract is my specialty" and she says, "Well, you really should be a doctor" (Ha! Not with THOSE malpractice insurance rates! I've been trying to talk Jimmy into being a plumber!) But then she didn't want to do much for Jim but have him wait for his appointment on Monday, and then I'm insisting "NO...THIS CANNOT GO ON ANYMORE! THIS CANNOT GO ON ANYMORE!" and she finally agrees to order bloodwork, and not that I want Jim to be sick, but I'm PRAYING that his white blood cell count will be high because maybe then she'll do a scan of his abdomen. Well, his white blood cell count was high, she orders the CAT scan and whallah! They find inflammation in his colon. Gee- there's a big surprise. At 11:00 pm they decide they're going to admit him.

No here's what really got my dander up. Okay...I'm glad he got admitted and they'll get to the bottom of what his problem is, but JEEZUS CHRIST....all I got for years was "take fiber" and not a single shred of respect for my problem. THIS guy goes into the emergency room ONCE for this problem and BOOM- gets admitted. What's THAT bullshit all about? I mean, I don't begrudge the guy for getting help right away, but you know what the difference is? Now, only the women will understand this because there's definitely discrimination in the way women's complaints are handled by doctors and the way men's complaints are handled by doctors. JIM IS A GUY AND I'M NOT. That's what it boils down to folks. There has been research done on why women are catching up to men in death by heart attack and one of the reasons is that if a woman complains of pain, she has "anxiety". If a man complains of pain they assume he may be having a heart attack and work their way backwards.

But anyway....enough of my soap box. It's water under the bridge now. So it turns out he's still got a little touch of pneumonia, which is not a shocker because he had a raging case a couple of months ago, and the problem with his colon is called "C-diff" which is an organism picked up in hospitals. So the theory is that this is probably another souvenir from Lahey Clinic. So they started him on Flagyl (which is an anti-biotic...I've had that one before, too). I'm not sure when he's getting out, and he doesn't have acess to e-mail. Man....did I get the heeby-jeebies walking through that hospital corridor looking for his room today. Flashback....flashback...flashback. Dr. Kaulback stopped in to see him and said, "What the hell are YOU doing here?" and when I got there I said, "ENOUGH of this hospital shit, do you understand?" But you know what this means now, right? His tests for his throat have to be pushed back, his teeth have to be pushed back, his therapy has to be pushed back, and his throat stretching so he can eat has to be pushed back. I am so DONE. Last night while I was hanging in Center City I kept taking a walk to see if I could find a bar. Apparently I was walking in the wrong direction. I guess that's a good thing.