Those last days, I got letters from Joey who was complaining about a cyst/boil under his left arm. It's the second time he gets one within 3 months. This last cyst was hurting him bad, and he asked for an appointment with a doctor.

First thing: when you ask for an appointment, you don't see a doctor before 5-7 days !!! :mad: Anyway, there's a nurse working at Florida State Prison who seems to be more concerned about inmates' health than others, and after Joey told him he couldn't sleep at night because of the pain, he managed to give him an appointment sooner than expected. (Joey is under prozac and vistaril so he SHOULD sleep at nights).

Anyway, he saw a doctor who lanced the cyst, and here's what he wrote me yesyerday !!! :argh

"It's me frenchy, I'm sorry I haven't written in a few days my stomache has been messed up !! I am on 5 medications now with the psyche meds and the 3 I take for my arm it's caused an upset stomache !!

Well I got some bad news yesterday, but I don't know what to believe !! OK the dr who cut me put a rope or string in "what he calls" a "wound cave", this to pull the infection out slowly !! Ok well friday I went and seen another dr one who's been here years ! Anyway, he pulled the string out and said "that's not how you treat this" !! OK fine !! So he put some ointment and a bandaid !! OK it look better the next day so I am happy !!

Well, yesterday I go up and a nurse who works here part time but who's also a doctor's asst on the street asked me why I pulled the string out !! I explain that I didn't but a 2nd doctor did !! Well he explains to me what could now possibly happen to my arm !

I have a hole in my arm !! The reason for the string is to allow the wound to heal from the inside out ! But now with no string the wound could heal outside in !! Understand ?? Now if this happens it leaves a hole in my arm and a chance for another infection !! But so far so good, I try to keep it clean !
I even talked him into giving me some bandaids and ointment so I can change my own bandage ! Well I must hope no infection !! "


Do you believe me if I say I'm worried AND pissed off ??? Either they can't see a doctor, or they see too many, who go from one treatment to another !!! It doesn't make any sense, and from a doctor friend of mine I called yesterday, the first treatment was the appropriate one !! So why did this second dr change it ?? Joey is not a guinea pig to test medical treatments on !! :mad:

Now what will happen if he gets another infection ?? And why did he get 2 cysts within 3 months ?? Should this mean the first one was not properly treated ?? Does anyone of you know where cysts come from and why ?? My friend was in a hurry yesterday ( he's an emergency dr), and had no time to explain me.

Thanks for help and for letting me vent my anger and worries !!
Phil

Phil, Hopfully some one here can tell you where and why cyst comes up. I myself get them all the time. I have one that pops up and then later goes away. It seems that when i go to the doctor they dont see much concern.
I do know that some cyst can hurt like poop. That one i had, ( another one) would not go away, they had to cut it out. Actually scrape off.

I will ask around as well.

much love

Awww Phil. ****{hug}}} I know this is so frustrating. The care is just as bad in Alabama... the guys generally won't go to the doctor because the care is just so bad, plus it takes 7-14 days or more to get in to see the medical staff anyway and by then the inmates usually are past the worst of whatever's wrong with them. I had to listen to Brian suffer thru a nasty bout of flu for two weeks in late April/May.

Cysts... well, there can be a variety of different reasons... but I don't know a lot about the skin so I won't try to guess... that is weird tho. But hopefully if Joey keeps the wound clean and is able to change the Bandaids and ointment it will not get infected, it'll probably be alright.

Hang in there sweetie, I share your frustration with the system... :(

No clue about where these kind of cysts come from or why.. I hope he's able to keep it clean and not get an infection.

Maybe one of the nurses will come along and be able to answer your questions. I know there's several on PTO...

Deb

Lulu Lys and Deb thank you :) Well I guess I should not worry that much !! Well, I don't know !! I freaked out like a crazy about the story of this young 19 yrs old guy in Ohio who died because the prison staff thought he had been bitten by a spider, and actually died of blood infection because he didn't get the appropriate care :( My friend told me of blood infection, but once again he was in a hurry, and didn't explain me too much !!

I hope a PTO nurse will come and calm me down :)

Phil

Hi Sweetie ... well I'm no medical techie for sure so can't help much on that end ... only run off at the mouth and maybe keep you occupied for a time :p ... I am seriously interested in this "string" thing as I have neverseen nor heard of it and can't visualize it ... I would think the most important thing would to keep the area clean and dry which by being under the arm this would seem difficult ... maybe go without the bandage at night while sleeping(?) would help to dry it out but then that may also cause a problem of drying the outside first so unless there were a way to open it again in the AM to allow for drainage(?) ... I best hushup and leave the medical for those in the know but I will be watching this post for my own personal knowledge, ya never know when it might come in handy :)

Well kid, I hope you have a good evening and not to worry to much ...

oh ya, Marcus has sent me the post cards, he really enjoys them!

Haha China you crack me up !! :D After reading your post, I tried to visualize this string thing too, and couldn't !! But anyway, this string thing make sense to me !!

I tried to call my doctor friend this evening, but either they are very busy when they work in an emergency service, or he's fed up with Joey's cyst !! :( Well, I hope he's just busy !!

I'm happy Marcus enjoyed the cards !! :)

Love
Phil

You know, the string thing is confusing me too. I have never heard of such a thing either!! Now Phil honey, things like that blood infection that person died of... that's pretty extreme and rare, so don't worry too much about things like that. One thing I do know about cysts is there's a lot of different kinds - sebaceous, ganglion, I don't know what all else - and cysts DO tend to come back so I guess it's probably not all that surprising that he got two in such a short amount of time. I wish I knew more to tell you.

However - I bet our beloved PTO nurse Danielle will be along in a bit and have something to say about this! Maybe she will be able to tell us something that will ease your worries... and I personally think she should give you a sponge bath and a foot massage to calm you... ;)

Seriously, it'll be OK, I just know it dear... whatever it is that's wrong, as long as he can keep it clean and change the dressing and stuff it'll probably be just fine... ****{hug}}}

Lys, you're a true Angel !!! :) Thank you !!!

I wonder where Danielle is !!! The Frenchy needs you PTO nurse !!

Love
Phil

All I am going to say is that I will send Joey good healing energy and prayers! Joey just needs you and your Doc friend to take care of him...

Phil I am sorry to hear of his problems I dont know much about cysts but if they dont get it fixed and give himm the proper care contact JDMC www.Jeffdicks.org we hamdle medical issues with inmates and press to get them the proper care I am good freinds with the lady that handles Florida

:mad: DARN DOC ANYWAYS.....

HOPE JOEY IS OKAY!

Thank you for your support, and MommaHen thank you for this very interesting and valuable link. I hope I won't have to contact them, but I did add it up to my favorites, just in case.

Well, with all those darn post office strikes we're having in France, our mail is messed up !! Today I got 3 letters, and one of them was written immediately after they lanced his cyst. So I should have got it before the one I quoted above !! :mad:

So here are some explanations about this string thing:

"Well I didn't get to rec today, I went to medical and got cut on !! Yes I am fine, much better, lots of blood and pus !! I have it bandaged and I will go to shower every morning cause I will be going to medical every morning for 2 weeks ! I must get a fresh bandage and stay clean and sweat free !! That was my suggestion which the doctor agreed so I got a shower pass.

Also they do not stitch me they packed the hole with a string patch thing which is stitching out about 1 inch !! Everyday they will pull a little more out until it's completely out and no infection !! But no rec !! "

Cheena, do you visualize better now ?? I'm still not sure I do but I'm not a nurse :)

Now in another letter, it seems that they don't really care for him properly !! :mad:

" I slept better but they didn't bring me no antibiotics or pain medication last night !! Hopefully today when I go to get a shower and bandage changed I will tell the doctor and he'll do something.

It's now 2:20 and I've yet to go to medical for a bandage change and shower !! They don't want to help me my love !! Well I cannot let this stay like this so I will try to get help on the next shift ! Then if I can't I will file a grievance and go this way, but someone will surely be pissed and retaliate against me !! All because I need medical attention ! I don't want to get this infected again, once was enough !! "

I'm really pissed !! I don't know if they try to save money or if they really don't care at all or both !! If they try to save money and he's got infected again, it will cost them more dollars than actually healing him !!

If things are not better in his next letter, I will certainly contact MommaHen's friend !!

Thanks again for letting me vent !!
Phil

:argh DOC IS A BOIL! :fb:

Phil, Both my parents are nurses and I asked them what causes one to have a boil? It is a bacterial infection. My mom is not sure what causes for one to get one but it just happens. I remember when my daughter got them often between the ages of 2 and 3 years old. I told my dad about the treatment that was done to Joey and he said the 1st doctor was in the right for putting the string in the affected area. The 2nd doctor was in the wrong. My moms saying is "Ones miracle cure can be another ones poison." I hope his arm gets better. My dad also said what the 2nd doctor did was just a different approach of doing things but the boil has a better chance of just resurfacing. Yvonne

awwwh Phil ... I am so sorry to hear that this is still not all resolved ... I mean, well I know it wouldn't be healed yet but you would think they would get their stuff together and stay after it ... seems to me on the cost issue it would be a whole lot more to clean up thier mess then to just be consistent to start ... i'll bet the Dr.'s are now on a power trip over who knows best and so neither one will respond, which is stupid!

I do have an idea of this string thing ... makes sense to me now :)

... since he has a "shower slip" why can't he just go get a shower? At least that way he could keep the area clean ...

Phil, I did forget to tell you that my dad said the string is a way to pull the infection out . I believe he said each time he goes and sees the nurse or doctor they will pull this string out and the infection ooooooozzzzzzeeeeesssss out with it!!! I think?! Yvonne

Yvonne

Thank you so much for taking the time to ask your parents about Joey !! :) That's very sweet of you !!

Well I get another letter, and it "seems" his arm is getting better !! :) But I do agree with your dad, I guess the boil might resurface !! Your dad is the 2nd person telling me the first doctor was right !!

Thank you again Yvonne.
Phil

Hi Phil,
my mom is a nurse and she confirmed that the 1st doctor was right! I wonder what the 2nd one was thinking?!
I hope that Joey will feel better soon. Please send him my best wishes!

The healthcare sucks in most prisons, but I think Florida is one of the worst States! I'm still fuming mad how they treated (or lack thereof) Jules. He had to get his wisdom teeth pulled and they literally butchered his mouth. He then got an infection (which spread to his throat) and he could barely talk for almost a year! :( The infection spread to the rest of his body and he got a bad rash all over! The doctor and the nurses were very neglectant. And it took a lot of phone calls to various places 'til they finally started to do something (the director of the inmate health service is a nice lady and if you ever need her info, look on the FL DOC site and in case you can't find it, let me know and I'll PM it to you).

-Susanne-

S :cuffs: J

Susanne thank you !! :)

Well, in the last letter I got he told me he's doing better, so I hope it's true, and that he doesn't say this to relieve my worries.

Gosh I'm sorry to hear about Jules' wisdom teeth !!! :( That's really scary !!!! They really don't care !!! To me a doctor or nurse should treat his patients like any patients, whether they are prisoners or not !!

I'll look for this nice lady's name, thank you !! Don't worry, I will sure find her, I'm now very good at finding things on FLDOC site !! I visit them everyday !! :D

Thanks
Phil

Phil,

Everything is going to be alright, I'll say a little prayer for Joey!

ha ha ha !!! THANK YOU !!!! I LOVE your attachment !!! :D

I will print it out and send to Joey !!! :)

Thanks
Phil