Creative medical care: a short story

A couple years ago I had an urgent medical need and I went to an urgent care. Actually I’d been bit by a tick in my backyard and I have Lyme disease. Although I don’t even think I got Lyme disease from a tick but that’s a whole other story. Still it alarmed me and it was attached to me in my groin area. I needed someone to remove it and Paul was in the UK.

So I went to an urgent care and I was nervous because I also wanted very hard-hitting antibiotics because I do have the pathogens associated with Lyme disease and I wanted to make sure to kick out whatever this particular tick was carrying.

I was nervous because in Arkansas there are virtually no doctors that treat Lyme disease and there is a statewide denial that Lyme disease exists at all.

I ended up getting this really cool guy who was kind of a nomad doctor who worked in urgent cares. He was wonderful and we hit it off and we talked shop for a while and then he took out the tick from my groin. It wasn’t even awkward because he was cool and made me feel comfortable. He then gave me what I asked for as far as the antibiotics went.

So it was an incredible thing for me because I have not had any decent medical care for many years now and he was so nice.

But he was an urgent care doc so that was that (or so I thought).

Anyway 5 days ago I had another urgent need. My face is exploding with the systemic fungal infection that’s also associated with my multiple systemic infections. This time of year has been bad for several years now. There are pictures here.

My face is exploding and it was getting dangerous and I was scared that if I went to the emergency room they would lock me up because that’s what they did last time I went to the emergency room.

So I thought huh, I wonder if that guy in urgent care is still there.

Since he was kind of a nomad traveling doctor I thought he might not be but he was!

I was very happy I got to see him again and he was again very nice and gave me exactly what I asked for and I was on my way.

Now I know that I can visit him whenever I want to because that’s the state of healthcare in America. I don’t have insurance for lyme treatment (good care isn’t covered) but I can go to urgent care and visit the only doctor that listens to me whenever I want. That’s actually better for me at this juncture since I really don’t need a doctor most of the time and even Lyme docs have had a hard time working with me. I simply know more than they do about my body and condition and they don’t like that!

When I told this guy that doctors don’t like to work with me because I actually often know more than they do he said,

“Oh! that’s my favorite kind of patient!”

Oh, yes. He’s like a gift from beyond.

Whenever I really need to apparently, and I will. I’m grateful for weird happenings here in Arkansas.

Patchwork healthcare is working for me.

• Building a Therapeutic Village for Care
• the posts on systemic infection: Lyme disease / systemic infections

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