“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.” (Psalm 103:2-5)
“How come you didn’t put a sick call?” I asked the ill-looking male inmate who was complaining of sore throat and difficulty breathing for 4 days.
“I did, few days ago, Ma’am.”
“No! I have your sick call slip here. It was only put in today.”
He didn’t know what to say. He knew that only life-threatening cases were usually seen at night.
“My point, Sir, was for you not to wait for so long the moment you didn’t feel good. Because nursing staff is here 24/7, even if the doctor is not available at night. We can help you to the best we can. Before something gets worse.”
“I’m sorry, Ma’am.”
“No! Don’t say sorry. It’s just hard to treat something that gets so worse when it could have been prevented.” “Now, say ‘ahhhh!” I had a hard time putting his tongue down with a depressor. Through the difficulty, I was surprised to see his throat.
I was taken aback to see how big his tonsils were. No wonder he was having difficulty breathing because he had “kissing tonsils”. It could be life threatening at times if they indeed get so swollen and could block his airway. I didn’t waste any minute. Immediately, I contacted the on-call physician. He gave me orders to give medications to reduce the swelling right away and started him on some antibiotics. 10 minutes later, the swelling had gone down a little bit. But I wasn’t still satisfied. I still put him in our doctor’s sick call that morning thinking that he might need a shot of antibiotics, aside from the pill form.
“Thank you, Ma’am,” he uttered with relief. “I’m starting to swallow and could feel the difference.”
“That’s why we’re here. Remember, we are here 24/7. Next time something goes wrong, don’t wait too long to be seen either by nurses or doctor.”
That night when I returned to work, I noticed our jail doctor did add a shot of antibiotics and he agreed with the other medications I already had issued to the inmate.
This Monday, the pollen had been high and the gusty winds just made it worse for allergy sufferers like me. Last night, I barely slept because I started coughing though I wasn’t as congested as I used to. I still thanked the Lord that my allergy was not as bad anymore as it used to be. I thanked Him knowing that I could seek Him because He was and is available 24/7.
Our God never sleeps and I know that He is always available to comfort us.
Pardon me my friends if I haven’t been able to visit you lately. But I pray for the Lord to bless you all and grant your hearts’ desires according to His will.
STUFF
1 week ago
