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I had a massive health issue in my classroom.
As a result, I will be on short-term for a period of time if it all goes right.
I have Crohn's disease -really horrible as it is not curable just keeps symptoms down at best.
I did not realize it but my Crohn's was having complications that are serious. I thought I was just feeling bad because the next week was the scheduled week for chemo. I started shaking and then shitting uncontrollably in a classroom full of students. Humiliated, mortified and scared and angry, I ran home to clean up telling the AP that someone needed to watch my class as I was sick. I wanted to get out of there before more people realized how much of a mess I was.
Went right to Dr. He said the problem was that I had two infections wreaking havoc on the Crohn's which was already in a flared state. C-Diff is not contagious but it is transferable and I had likely had it a week or more. That explains the pain and the unable to control myself.
As a result, I have put my job in jeopardy and am just kind of screwed at the moment.
After the first round of strong antibiotic I ended up with 3 infections all raging to be the one that wants to be the loudest. And, the first strong antibiotic the C-Diff at it like candy.
Doc rechecked and C-diff still going strong so he ordered the "supergun" antibiotic Pharmacist said it isn't something they normally carry as it is 3 grand. Insurance wouldn't run it without a pre-auth (this was wed pm before Thanksgiving. The lowest they could get the drug down was 700 dollars. No way could I justify that at all. Called back doctor and said just put me in hospital because the pain has been incredible and I have felt like I have been dying for 3 weeks. He said he had one more option and he called it in . My normal pharmacy was closed so we used Walgreen. Before the insurance card the antibiotic was 1289.19 Finally, my card worked and I got it for 5.00.
How do people do this? Without these drugs, I would have been dead 8 years ago.
If I didn't have student loans, I could actually get well and healthy and not be on this merry go round of feeling well 2 weeks out of a 5 week cycle. I feel useless and like I am a hassle for everyone around me.
If there were a way to rid of my student loans things would be so much different. I could get the rest I need and get my strength back so I could be a productive active person .
I am praying for a miracle.
https://www.gofundme.com/pamelas-crohns-disease-relief
SHRED
(28,136 posts)1. I know someone who's life was saved using cannabis. I make infused coconut oil for edibles.
http://tinyurl.com/hyzljde
2. The Wahls Protocol. Geared for MS but beneficial for autoimmune.
http://terrywahls.com/about-the-wahls-protocol/
Hope these help.
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)I have taught for 20 years but it seems like the loans go up and not down even though we have payed and payed and payed. We did defer when we could while I got my master's.
If not for those loans, I would not even have to worry about keeping my job but until that happens, I go to work to pay for student loans and that is all.
I thought about just telling them they could have my life insurance when I die, just let me live now.
https://www.gofundme.com/pamelas-crohns-disease-relief
mrmpa
(4,033 posts)your loans are then erased.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)Breaking Bad?
TexasBushwhacker
(20,044 posts)I got it following antibiotic treatment after a root canal. Initially it got better after treatment with Flagyl, but it still comes back periodically.
I see from your GoFundMe page that you are in Kansas. Check and see if there are any clinical trials in your area.
Http://clinicaltrials.gov
Ms. Toad
(33,915 posts)Be extremely careful about washing your hands - and warn anyone who has IBD or is on antibiotics, especially clindamycin. Don't go near anyone who is elderly.
Also - expect it to be recurrent.
I gave c-diff to my father. I rarely see him, but stayed at my brother's house for a weekend just after diagnosis along with my father who, coincidentally, was on the same antibiotic that gave it to me (him for a root canal; me for an implant). We shared a bathroom perhaps once a day since we were in meetings at a hotel for most of the weekend. I was being extremely careful about washing my hands. Different strains of c-diff act differently - and he definitely had the same strain as I did. C. Diff also killed his mother - so it is nothing to mess with. If it happens again, the $700 is definitely justified to get you on the antibiotic sooner rather than later.
If you need a second round - and I would be surprised if you don't - ask your doctor if you can use a compounding pharmacy. The cost is approximately 10% of the cost of commercially available manufactured pills. (C. Diff is much more frequently recurrent than in the past - I was one treatment away from needing a fecal transplant as a last ditch effort to get rid of it.)
If it comes back, make sure you see an infectious disease doc and ask him about using a pulse/taper treatment. It is a long treatment, but it is finally (after about 5 rounds of treatment) what got rid of mine. My c. Diff lasted nearly a year.
Good luck. My daughter has indeterminate IBD (it was diagnosed & classic UC for two decades, but within the past year she has developed distinct deep ulcers outside of the colon - so it may have morphed into crohns). It's no fun.
On a related note - from personal experience - make sure they are checking your liver enzymes on a regular basis. There is a rare liver disease (PSC) associated with IBD that everyone with IBD shoudl be screened for regularly.
From job perspective, contact your HR department/person. Make sure they are aware that you have a chronic disease so your job is protected in case you need more absences than the usual employee.
area51
(11,868 posts)It's amazing that republicans don't demand single-payer.
GreenPartyVoter
(72,377 posts)and medical insurance. This country is so backwards!
I hope you heal up quickly!
annabanana
(52,791 posts)My dear late mr banana would suffer from bouts AFTER antibiotics had killed off competing bugs in his system..
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)I have 8 years to retirement
I pray this is just a setback and we can get back to normalcy but I don't know.
Right now, I am just trying to not get worse.
Horse with no Name
(33,956 posts)I really felt like dying...put me on Flagyl and Cipro and finally it went away.
I feel for you.
I know that the situation in the classroom and that it must be devastating because of our social "norms" in this country.
But..if I were you...I would sit down and talk to the students about illness and how it can affect your bodily functions.
Let them know it isn't shameful when "accidents happen".
Perhaps you can reach these kids and help turn them into empathetic human beings.
Good luck.
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)on the next one but not the supergun doc wants it isn't over by a long shot. I still feel horrible
On the job front, the district put in a sub from now till Christmas. Not sure how it is all going to work out
Lars39
(26,093 posts)And hopefully that will be recognized by your employer.