I thought yall might be amused by this....well....not the first paragraph...that'll give ya the creeps! As a preface, being in the home health field, since 1986, I've cared for three different patients with scabies, a microscopic spider-like mite that burrows under the skin and proliferates profusely, bites, stings and itches like crazy and are really difficult to get rid of when one is caring for others who are bedridden AND covered with them. The first time, it took me 4 months to get rid of them and then, only after leaving the job did I succeed. When I went back to pick up some personal belongings, the pt and her hubby still had them and he insisted on passing the belongings to me, whereupon I once again caught them and immediately treated myself and got rid of them, never to return there. The second time, I left the job after 4 months and it took me another 5 months to get rid of them.....the third time, it took me about 3 yrs, since I couldn't really afford to lose another job and another aide and the patient kept passing them back and forth. This morning I went to the townhouse to which the agency owner had sent me and was being "filled in" by the aide going off duty when she mentioned that we needed to wear gloves, as the pt has SCABIES!!! I immediately called the agency owner, told her the problem and said, "I'm outta here!".....I backed out the door as I gathered my things and left so fast, it probably resembled a fast fwd in reverse! I thought about visiting my daughter as planned today, but I hadn't slept last night at all, cause I've been sleeping so much during the day healing from a kick-ass sinus infection that my biscuits were sorely dragging, so I turned off my cell phone and went to bed.... This afternoon, I turned my cell back on and listened to 5 messages from the agency owner, asking me to call her back....later she told me that she found out finally that the woman had shingles and not the ("S" word). I said, "Gee, that's too bad"...(with my luck, I'd probably catch them, too) She said she chewed the aide out for telling me it was (S word), cause I was probably running so fast and far, I'd probably already crossed the State line....LOL! Anyway, that was my Saturday......except that I went to Wally World this evening and enjoyed shopping for some personal items for MEEEEEEEEEE for a change....I guess it felt good, cause I'm over the sinus infection and I was not shopping for someone else's pleasure for a BIG change...
Cheers, yall!
Frannie B (of the "S-word-Free Class")