Posted on 10/26/2001 11:23:52 PM PDT by kristinn
It's late. After the usual 12-hour day of work, I spent the last few hours this evening at D.C. General Hospital with tgslTakoma as we were being interviewed, counselled and then prescribed Cipro as a result of the latest anthrax hotspot found in the nation's capital.
Late this afternoon, as I read the news on the AP wire that anthrax had been found at the post office at 45 L Street, SW, where my company's mail comes from, my first reaction was one of inevitability. After two weeks of anthrax hotspots being found almost daily, along with the deaths and hospitalizations from inhalation anthrax in the D.C. area, I knew it was only a matter of time that I would experience a close personal relationship with Cipro--the prime antibiotic used to ward off anthrax.
Soon, my thoughts turned to what would happen to me if indeed I were to come down with inhalation anthrax. The idea of dying soon didn't bother me, it was the knowledge that my body would have to try to fight off a devastating infection with the help of massive doses of antibiotics that filled me with awe. After a few minutes of pondering a traumatic, potential life and death struggle, I went back to work and finished out the day.
tgslTakoma, who has been volunteering a few hours a week where I work, came by tonight to help out and I got to break the news to her that she was a candidate for Cipro because she had recently helped out in our mailroom.
She, too, knew it was inevitable, so we went to the D.C. government's anthrax HQ located at D.C. General Hospital in Southeast Washington.
We inadvertently went to the wrong entrance for the HQ, but we stopped to speak with a Washington Post reporter who said she had been thrown out of the HQ. We spoke for about ten minutes, and could have talked longer, but it was close to the 10 p.m. closing time so tgslTakoma and I had to go inside. Right before we parted, the reporter told me what the theme of her article was: that Americans at home were in more danger than the military and how they felt about that.
I lectured her that for once we were all on the front lines. That there was no room for reasonable disagreement like there was for the Gulf War or Vietnam, and that was why the American people overwhelmingly support this war. I was insulted by what her angle implied--that there was resentment at home that our military wasn't exposing themselves to casualties while Americans at home were exposed to the dangers of terrorism.
Once inside the hospital, the process was quick and the personnel friendly. The HQ was staffed with a mix of D.C. Health Department and U.S. Public Health Service workers. The forms we filled out were short and simple. As soon as I told the woman helping me that I had visited 45 L Street just yesterday, she got very serious and wrote "45 L St." on my form.
We were then sent to a brief presentation by a USPHS doctor who explained why we were being treated but not tested. With the knowledge I've picked up since the onset of the anthrax terrorist attacks, I found her presentation to be quite candid. She was followed by a mental health counsellor for a few minutes and then we were sent to see the pharmacists.
The pharmicists quickly explained the use and side effects of Cipro, but they patiently answered our questions as they gave us our ten day supply of pills.
The last stop was an optional one named 'sick call' for those who displayed possible symptoms. Being that I've had a cough for the last two weeks, I took the prudent step of talking to the doctor there.
He agreed with my feeling that the cough was not anthrax related, but he urged me to go see another doctor soon and get a prescription for the full sixty day course of Cipro.
tgslTakoma says she'll take the full sixty day course also because she believes the ten day initial prescription is not sufficient if she has been exposed to anthrax.
The doctor who gave the earlier briefing explained that we would not be tested for anthrax until we showed symptoms of it. She said the nasal swabs that we had heard about were environmental, rather than diagnostic. She added that a blood test at this point would not be conclusive because it was too early.
We left the hospital around 11 p.m. with our bottles of Cipro and papers explaining our situation and what we should look out for.
We'll be starting our pill regimen tomorrow. We'll be popping Cipro all through Thanksgiving and Christmas. Here's wishing a Happy Ramadan for Osama, Omar and Saddam--in hell.
EAGLES UP !!!
Keep us posted and good luck.
I'm off to bed, there's work to be done.
Please take care, and God Bless.
Bravo. What a useless creature she is.
Stay healthy.
My prayers are with you.
Please keep us posted, daily if you can.
You're great!
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