My domestic partner, Rhythm, is uninsured. Five days ago she started running a fever of 103.5--it came on suddenly and severely, along with chills and generally feeling unwell. She went to the ER, but they couldn't find a cause, so they sent her home with a diagnosis of a sinus infection and a prescription for Augmentin that we couldn't afford. The next day, she developed a small rash on her leg. She went to the ER and they diagnosed staph cellulitis.
Picture of the rash after 24 hours (it started out the size of a half-dollar and in 24 hours, looked like this):
They gave her IV Unasyn plus two more oral prescriptions for Bactrim and Keflex. They all insisted that we get the Augmentin from the previous day, because it was the "best" antibiotic for the job. We couldn't afford the antibiotics, so a couple of friends gave us enough to get all three prescriptions. Unfortunately, none of them worked. At all. They kept calling her back to the ER every day for 3 consecutive days for more IV Unasyn, then releasing her again. Even though none of these antibiotics were working and her leg looked more and more awful every day, they refused to admit her. She had no insurance, and they claimed that hospitalization "was not necessary" despite the obvious signs that this infection was resistant to conventional antibiotics.
What it looked like the third day that they swore she didn't need to be hospitalized:
After three days of going in and out of the ER, her infection got bad enough that they could no longer pretend that it was no big deal. There were blisters forming on and under the skin, the redness was spreading around the back of her leg, and her fever remained sky-high. They finally admitted her, and right away they started her on clindamycin via IV. The next day saw no improvement and the doctors at last admitted that this was likely MRSA, so they added vancomycin to the antibiotic regimen.
On her third day in the hospital (two days after the previous photo, and after two full days of vancomycin and clindamycin):
Finally, after four days in the hospital, her leg started showing signs of improvement. It's not entirely gone, but it's a hell of a lot better than it *was*. The final bacterial cultures haven't come back yet, but we're supposed to get those results tomorrow and they've all but assured us that it's a certain type of MRSA that has a bit of a weakness toward clindamycin--not enough that it can be treated with clindamycin alone, but enough that the clinda and the vanco are a good knockout-team for it. This is what it looks like today, after three days of IV clindamycin and vancomycin:
Her leg today, taken from the other side for the sake of better lighting:
Today she came home. They gave her one last dose of IV clindamycin and vancomycin before releasing her, but did not send her home with any pre-filled prescriptions, despite knowing full well that we are deeply low-income and uninsured. They gave her oral prescriptions instead and impressed upon her the direness of getting them filled as soon as possible because even though it looks like the infection is gone, it could come roaring back super-fast if she doesn't KEEP taking the antibiotics.
We just got off the phone with Walgreens. Her prescriptions are going to be $120. We don't have it. We spent the money our friends loaned us on Augmentin, Keflex, and Bactrim, NONE of which is of any use now, and the expenses of which could have been prevented if they'd hospitalized her sooner. We *wasted* $130 on those three medications. We might as well have thrown it out the window, for all the use they are now. One of the same friends has offered to help us again, but we feel very uncomfortable taking that much money, especially considering the fact that what she gave us before was pretty much wasted on the antibiotics that didn't work.
We're not sure what we're doing from here, but I have a grand proposal for health care reform. How about a bill that requires public hospitals (like ours) that receive federal dollars to send uninsured patients home with any medications that are direly necessary to their condition? A MRSA infection is a life-threatening condition, and if she doesn't get her antibiotic prescriptions filled NOW, she risks having it come back even more resistant to treatment than it was in the first place. She could lose half the flesh of her leg, her whole lower leg, or even (if it goes septic) her life.
We REQUIRE hospitals to provide lifesaving care to everyone, regardless of insurance. Why do we not REQUIRE them to do the same thing when medications are the issue? Saving a life is saving a life, whether it's hospital emergency room care or medications. Why is it okay to withhold vital, life-saving medication but not medical care? When it comes down to it, what exactly is the difference? A degree of separation?
It's ludicrous. There needs to be a law addressing this to save lives NOW, instead of being forced to wait several years for a health care bill that MIGHT help, depending on what the final version contains. This is urgent.
Sorry for the rant. I'm just really upset about all of this.
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