"Oh, THAT'S not good..."
There are some things you never want to hear the nurse say. That's one of 'em.
When I took the KY Nurse Aid certification course in May, I had to have a tuberculosis skin test - a requirement for health care workers. My skin reacted somewhat -- not enough for them to keep me from doing my clinicals (my chest x-ray was clear and I presented with no physical symptoms of an active TB infection), but they wanted me to come back in a few weeks for a repeat test.
I'd had my annual oncology checkup on May 1 - just 2 weeks or so before the skin test - and they had given me an MMR vaccine, which (according to some online material) can affect the test. So I figured there was no reason to get my knickers in a knot.
Silly me.
I went back last Friday to repeat the test. I kept an eye on my arm all weekend, watching that sucker get more red & bigger as the weekend went on. Shit.
On Monday, I dragged myself back to the local health dept. for my sentence.
"Oh, that's not good," the nurse blurted out when she looked at my arm.
Don't they teach nurses to watch what they say to their patients?
Anyway, I presented with 13mm induration (a raised, hard, reddened area - kind of like a bug bite, only harder to the touch). They sent me back to my family doctor, who ordered a chest x-ray, which still turned up clear. I still have no physical symptoms of active infection (night sweats, fatigue, anorexia, unexplained weight loss, occasionally coughing up bloody sputum, etc.) Hey, as a leukemia survivor, I'd be FREAKING OUT if I were having night sweats & fatigue.
My family MD sent me back to the health dept. Here in KY, TB is still around (I gather more than one might expect in other parts of the country). In my little county, there were 8 active infections treated last year (a really high number, considering how small my county is). Since TB is definitely a health threat, the state is pretty involved in things, so I had the pleasure of sending 3 days of urine samples to Frankfort (haven't heard anything yet) to check for active infection.
Since I'm a transplant recipient, they're not playing around. (As a bone-marrow recipient, I'm not on immunosuppressives, but they're still not playing around.) For somebody like me, and induration over 5mm is considered a positive result. They've put me on 300mg Isoniazid and a daily B-6 supplement -- for 6 months. And that's the preventive regimen.
I shouldn't complain. My family MD said she reacted 6 years ago and had to take the meds. I guess it goes with the territory. Hey, it beats having an active infection. And considering my health history, it beats some of the other diseases I've had ... and it sure beats being dead. Besides, it won't keep me from attending nursing school (which was one of my biggest concerns.)
What baffles me is how I ended up exposed in the first place. In the 3 years I've lived here, I worked from home. Miss Fluffy & I aren't active in church. Heck, to most people, I'm downright antisocial. If there was one person I thought would NOT end up exposed to something like TB, it would've been me. I can't figure this out. I expressed those thoughts to my doctor. "Welcome to the healthcare profession," she said. Indeed.
Gawd, can't I just get a COLD or break a bone or something less dramatic?!?!? In the last 12 years, I've endured:
When I took the KY Nurse Aid certification course in May, I had to have a tuberculosis skin test - a requirement for health care workers. My skin reacted somewhat -- not enough for them to keep me from doing my clinicals (my chest x-ray was clear and I presented with no physical symptoms of an active TB infection), but they wanted me to come back in a few weeks for a repeat test.
I'd had my annual oncology checkup on May 1 - just 2 weeks or so before the skin test - and they had given me an MMR vaccine, which (according to some online material) can affect the test. So I figured there was no reason to get my knickers in a knot.
Silly me.
I went back last Friday to repeat the test. I kept an eye on my arm all weekend, watching that sucker get more red & bigger as the weekend went on. Shit.
On Monday, I dragged myself back to the local health dept. for my sentence.
"Oh, that's not good," the nurse blurted out when she looked at my arm.
Don't they teach nurses to watch what they say to their patients?
Anyway, I presented with 13mm induration (a raised, hard, reddened area - kind of like a bug bite, only harder to the touch). They sent me back to my family doctor, who ordered a chest x-ray, which still turned up clear. I still have no physical symptoms of active infection (night sweats, fatigue, anorexia, unexplained weight loss, occasionally coughing up bloody sputum, etc.) Hey, as a leukemia survivor, I'd be FREAKING OUT if I were having night sweats & fatigue.
My family MD sent me back to the health dept. Here in KY, TB is still around (I gather more than one might expect in other parts of the country). In my little county, there were 8 active infections treated last year (a really high number, considering how small my county is). Since TB is definitely a health threat, the state is pretty involved in things, so I had the pleasure of sending 3 days of urine samples to Frankfort (haven't heard anything yet) to check for active infection.
Since I'm a transplant recipient, they're not playing around. (As a bone-marrow recipient, I'm not on immunosuppressives, but they're still not playing around.) For somebody like me, and induration over 5mm is considered a positive result. They've put me on 300mg Isoniazid and a daily B-6 supplement -- for 6 months. And that's the preventive regimen.
I shouldn't complain. My family MD said she reacted 6 years ago and had to take the meds. I guess it goes with the territory. Hey, it beats having an active infection. And considering my health history, it beats some of the other diseases I've had ... and it sure beats being dead. Besides, it won't keep me from attending nursing school (which was one of my biggest concerns.)
What baffles me is how I ended up exposed in the first place. In the 3 years I've lived here, I worked from home. Miss Fluffy & I aren't active in church. Heck, to most people, I'm downright antisocial. If there was one person I thought would NOT end up exposed to something like TB, it would've been me. I can't figure this out. I expressed those thoughts to my doctor. "Welcome to the healthcare profession," she said. Indeed.
Gawd, can't I just get a COLD or break a bone or something less dramatic?!?!? In the last 12 years, I've endured:
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Bone Marrow Transplant
Basal Cell Carcinoma
Osteopenia
Osteonecrosis (Rt. femoral medial condyle) AKA Avascular Necrosis
3 surgeries to correct the above:
(Arthroscopy, Autologous Allograft and Chondrocyte implantation)
and now THIS
I'd like to think I could be known for something OTHER than ticking off another disease which failed to kill me.
I carry guns to protect me from people who would take my life. Disease is something else entirely -- especially since most of my problems haven't been due to factors that I can control.
Oh, well, Enough whining. No class today, and my parents are coming up for the weekend. I've got a bed to make, a yard to mow, guns to shoot and life to live. That which does not kill me makes me stronger. And more surly. And better armed.
LPN classes start August 12.
posted by Alpineman, RN at 11:36 AM
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