- J
Hello, My name is Lisa Good.
Last July I became gravely ill. My foot swelled, turned a bright red and had blisters on top. One day I was fine and the next day I was unable to stand or walk.
I went to the hospital by way of ambulance and emergency doctors did a blood test and an x-ray and said that I had a sprained ankle. This did not make and sense since I had done nothing to cause a sprain but they would not keep me. I assumed they would know better than myself. My nephew picked me up. When he got me into my home, I tried to transfer from a wheelchair to my recliner. I fell on the floor and had to sleep there overnight because I could not get up. The next day, someone came to the house and helped my nephew get me into the chair and there I sat for about 5 days.
I started to feel worse and started having hallucinations, seeing things that were not actually there. My sister came the following Monday and said it look much worse and suggested another hospital. I went by ambulance again and these emergency doctors knew right away what it was - Septic Arthritis. I had three surgeries in 11 days - it was in my ankle and my neck ( it traveled to my neck after the first hospital and before I got to the second hospital). They actually had to remove part of my collar bone because the Mrsa had gotten into the bone. They said the infection on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the worse) was a 9. My mom died of sepsis so I was a bit scared.
I was in the hospital three weeks and then transferred to a rehabilitation facility. I was there nine weeks.
I had to learn how to stand and walk and go up stairs again. Being in bed for 12 weeks also made me extremely weak and I had to do strengthening exercises not to mention my incisions had to heal (my neck took 5 months in total to heal).
I called a lawyer because I had no money for bills and other expenses and didn't know what to do. He looked at the test results from the first hospital. He said they could not go to court because there is no way to prove a bacterial infection was present at that time and that medicine is an inexact science and can't always be proven. He also mentioned that the court system would take the hospital's side in 85% of cases.
When I went to the second hospital they said I had a 10 day infection going on which was two days before I went to the first hospital. Also, in August of 2015 an article was published in Consumer Reports that said the first hospital was the 18th. worst in the nation in handling infectious disease. The lawyer still said I had no case.
Fast forward - I cannot go back to work and have filed for disablity through my retirement program. It is taking forever. I wonder if they are even concerned about how someone can exist with no income for the better part of one year? I have had no money for many months and my credit rating has been ruined with many bills still unpaid. My friends and family have tried to take care of my rent but everyone is tapped out. No word about disability yet.
I did apply and get food stamps and medicaid in the interim.
Funds will be necessary in the near future since my utilities have reached disconnection stage and some of my bills during the time I was hospitalized were not covered. My rent and home insurance also continue. My car was reposessed because I could not make the payments; they sold it at auction for next to nothing and now expect me to pay the $6000.00 still owed even though I don't have the car.
This has all been quite overwhelming. I never experienced anything on this level before. The pain
and suffering were tremendous. And I had always tried to pay all my bills, but it became inpossible.
Anything would mean the world to me and I probably would not be able to thank everyone enough if I lived to be 100.
I know this writing has been very wordy but I wanted to explain the details of the situation completely. I may have missed something, however, I had tried my best. I am not used to asking for monetary help and it is a bit awkward.
Reading my story is much appreciated.
God bless all of you,
Lisa
Last July I became gravely ill. My foot swelled, turned a bright red and had blisters on top. One day I was fine and the next day I was unable to stand or walk.
I went to the hospital by way of ambulance and emergency doctors did a blood test and an x-ray and said that I had a sprained ankle. This did not make and sense since I had done nothing to cause a sprain but they would not keep me. I assumed they would know better than myself. My nephew picked me up. When he got me into my home, I tried to transfer from a wheelchair to my recliner. I fell on the floor and had to sleep there overnight because I could not get up. The next day, someone came to the house and helped my nephew get me into the chair and there I sat for about 5 days.
I started to feel worse and started having hallucinations, seeing things that were not actually there. My sister came the following Monday and said it look much worse and suggested another hospital. I went by ambulance again and these emergency doctors knew right away what it was - Septic Arthritis. I had three surgeries in 11 days - it was in my ankle and my neck ( it traveled to my neck after the first hospital and before I got to the second hospital). They actually had to remove part of my collar bone because the Mrsa had gotten into the bone. They said the infection on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the worse) was a 9. My mom died of sepsis so I was a bit scared.
I was in the hospital three weeks and then transferred to a rehabilitation facility. I was there nine weeks.
I had to learn how to stand and walk and go up stairs again. Being in bed for 12 weeks also made me extremely weak and I had to do strengthening exercises not to mention my incisions had to heal (my neck took 5 months in total to heal).
I called a lawyer because I had no money for bills and other expenses and didn't know what to do. He looked at the test results from the first hospital. He said they could not go to court because there is no way to prove a bacterial infection was present at that time and that medicine is an inexact science and can't always be proven. He also mentioned that the court system would take the hospital's side in 85% of cases.
When I went to the second hospital they said I had a 10 day infection going on which was two days before I went to the first hospital. Also, in August of 2015 an article was published in Consumer Reports that said the first hospital was the 18th. worst in the nation in handling infectious disease. The lawyer still said I had no case.
Fast forward - I cannot go back to work and have filed for disablity through my retirement program. It is taking forever. I wonder if they are even concerned about how someone can exist with no income for the better part of one year? I have had no money for many months and my credit rating has been ruined with many bills still unpaid. My friends and family have tried to take care of my rent but everyone is tapped out. No word about disability yet.
I did apply and get food stamps and medicaid in the interim.
Funds will be necessary in the near future since my utilities have reached disconnection stage and some of my bills during the time I was hospitalized were not covered. My rent and home insurance also continue. My car was reposessed because I could not make the payments; they sold it at auction for next to nothing and now expect me to pay the $6000.00 still owed even though I don't have the car.
This has all been quite overwhelming. I never experienced anything on this level before. The pain
and suffering were tremendous. And I had always tried to pay all my bills, but it became inpossible.
Anything would mean the world to me and I probably would not be able to thank everyone enough if I lived to be 100.
I know this writing has been very wordy but I wanted to explain the details of the situation completely. I may have missed something, however, I had tried my best. I am not used to asking for monetary help and it is a bit awkward.
Reading my story is much appreciated.
God bless all of you,
Lisa