Bill With Anastasia

Bill With Anastasia
Bill Eatmon - 1955 - 2006 Co-shepherd at Sheltering Pines from June, 1996 to August, 2006.

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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Remembering Bill

Well, the 2nd anniversary of Bill's death has come and I was in the hospital on the exact day. (Aug. 26). Interesting karma, eh? On Sunday, Aug, 24 I stepped on a 2 x 4 with 2 big spikes sticking straight out of it. They went into the ball of my foot and I was stepping on it with full weight. Needless to say it hurt like heck. I drove myself into emergency and they gave me a tetanus shot but refused to give me any antibiotics (after I asked for them) saying, "we don't do that anymore". They told me to come back if it became infected. Well, by Monday night it was definitely infected. I returned to the emergency room and waited from 7:30 Pm to 11 PM to see a doctor. (there were only 6 people in the emergency room ...none with life-threatening emergencies). I've never seen a more incompetent emergency room than that in Allegan, Michigan. Avoid that place like the plague.

After finally being seen by a doc, they told me I would not be going home that night. I remained on a hard gurney until 3 AM when they finally decided to put me in a room. (really big of them, eh?) I was on an IV antibiotic. At 8 am I was informed I needed to have a surgeon go into my foot and clean out the infection so they gave me general anesthesia. After that I told them I needed to get home as my dogs needed feeding. They assured me I would not be feeding my dogs due to not being able to drive or put any weight on my foot. I still wanted to go home, so they allowed it but I had to go home with a "pick line" (IV) and a portable pump that would give me IV antibiotic. I have a nurse coming to teach me how to change my own IV bags. What a nuisance.

I know Bill is smiling down with satisfaction knowing that I now a little about what he went through. He had to have a pick line (IV) about once per year when he got infections in his ear. I was awed at how he handled it. Needless to say, I'm not nearly the good patient he was.

It is hard to believe that it has been 2 years since Bill died. I miss him as much today as the day he left.

Thanks to Elizabeth for coming out every night this week after work to feed my dogs. She is the only person who has socialized with them and is able to just walk in with them. And thanks to Troy...I think he filled up my sheep water tanks the other night.

Bill, I miss you.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hugs to you!

Sharrie said...

Cool it with that "pick" line. It was the cause of a blood clot after my son had it in for six weeks. Sorry to hear about the accident. It seems everyone is laid up right now.
Hugs from me, too.

Nancy K. said...

He's still with you, Bud. And loves you as much as ever.

So do I...

Carol B. said...

I am outraged that they did not give you an antibiotic or open the wound and proberly clean it when you were originally injured. What were they thinking? Deep puncture wounds are bad news. But it seems like this complication could have been avoided if the wound had originally been properly treated.

How sad to have this be your reminder of Bill. Love goes on.

Rayna said...

Wow...I would almost consider talking to a lawyer. My mom did the same thing, one of those big ol' farmin' spikes right into her foot...chasing a nasty rooster with the water hose (<*giggle* He won grand champ. at the fair a couple months later). She had a friend who's a nurse clean it out for her, and then it was infected the next day. The doctor she talked to said she should have come in right away because when you get a wound that deep with manure around, it will get infected FAST, and gave her antibiotics and said he would have given them to her the day before had she come in. It sounds very odd that they refused to give them to you.

Otherwise *hugs* I'm sure you're right and he's looking down smiling and wishing he was there to help you through it, as much as you wish he was there too.

Crosswinds Farm said...

Sorry to hear about your ordeal Stephen. I hope your foot, and your heart, are feeling better.
Big hugs.

Jenny Holden said...

Poor you, that's really rotten. Funnily enough, the same kind of thing happened to my boyfriend not long ago when he got a pitchfork through his foot. He went to casualty and they did very little, just dressed it and sent him home saying that they wouldn't prescribe antibiotics. Next morning I had to rush him back in an a different nurse was really mad when she found out that he was turned away. She cut the wound open and cleaned it properly and a doctor put him on high strength antibiotics!

Kathy said...

I agree with Nancy, Stephen...Bill is still there and probably made you go somewhere to have that infection cared for.

And may God, and Bill, hold you in thier arms 'til you're back on your feet again.