Thursday, May 4, 2023
I wanted to bring you up-to-date on my medical isolation. Quiet day so
far. The nurse brings my pills around 5:30 am, takes my blood
pressure--- 82/54-- kinda low--- so she tried my left arm--- 90/52---
not much difference. What do those numbers mean? She used the "Python,"
the automatic blood pressure machine, which neither of us is fond of.
That thing squeezes your arm so hard it feels like the circulation is
being cut off. Don't put it around your neck!
Brought the breakfast tray around 6:00 a.m.--- coagulated, cold grits, a
spoon of cold mystery meat gravy, two hard biscuits. I was hungry, and
ate half of it. The orderly brought a mug of very hot water, and I made
my normal drink of coffee packs and hot cocoa.
The rash looks terrible--- like a very bad sunburn-- but I can tell it
is better than yesterday. It was improving Monday, drying out, until I
applied the fourth Permethrin cream (Doctor's order), which burned
through several layers of epidermis.
Itchy/scratchy. I woke up at 3:30
a.m. in an itching frenzy.
The Permethrin instructions say that one application is curative, but
I've had four, overkill, I feel. If the Norwegian scabies were killed
after the first treatment, the second treatment should have killed any
little critters that survived the first attack. By the fourth
application, I should be purified.
I've taken several doses of the oral
ivermectin, which is normally given to dogs, cats, horses and cattle for
parasites. At least I don't have to worry about heartworms!
I am housed in a big single bunk medical cell with large bulletproof
glass windows facing the nurses station, offices, and examining rooms.
No expectations of privacy. The orderly rolls a screen in front of the
windows when I take showers at 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
There is access
to a portable phone when the inmates in the infirmary aren't using it. I
have access to my tablet so I can send and receive emails.
The doctor has been very conscientious, making sure the nurses dispense
the proper medications, and checking on me daily. She certainly doesn't
want this to become an outbreak. Treating a large group for this would
be a nightmare.
We have most likely determined how I caught what became a painful
infestation.
In February I went to the RMC prison hospital at Lake Butler for a
cardiac test, an echocardiogram. I was one of about a dozen prisoners
from other institutions there to be tested. One man from Sumter C.I.
told us an entire dorm there was in isolation for a widespread scabies
outbreak. I believe that man had scabies, and passed it on.
For the test each of us had to take off our shirts and lie on a gurney
for 15-20 minutes. That's most likely how I caught it.
The bad part is
that it took almost two months to figure out what caused the rash. At
first we thought it was an allergic reaction to a new prescription. No.
The doctor ordered several blood tests for food allergies. No. By the
time she suspected Norwegian scabies, it had infected most of my body,
from the neck down.
I wouldn't wish this on anyone. You never, never, ever want to go
through this.
The nurses are very helpful and concerned, and wave every time they
walk down the hall. My exit date remains May 15th. At least I get plenty
of sleep. My legal research is on hold, though, and my work updating my
2023 parole release plan has virtually stopped. That hurts my freedom
efforts. The sooner I am back on the compound the better.
More later.
Charlie
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