Pete Hypes
The Worst/Worse Patient Yet
By
Jul 16, 2008 - 3:10:52 PM

I am writing this article from Liberty University, where I am serving as Camp Medical Director for this year’s Student Camp. The funny thing is that I have become the worst/worse patient that we have had so far. Last week, my wife and I went to West Virginia for a short vacation. When we left Chester, the temperature was 82 degrees; when we arrived in West Virginia, the temperature was 65 degrees. By Wednesday, I began to show the beginning signs of a sinus infection. Oh, did I tell you? On Tuesday, I took my first of three long 4-wheeler rides for the week. Another piece of this was that everything that could be blooming was blooming in West Virginia. By the end of the week, I began to notice swelling from the inside/out of the bottom portion of my nose and my upper lip. For me, this was different. We got home on Saturday. I preached on Sunday and I left for Student Camp on Sunday afternoon.
By Monday, the swelling had progressed to the bridge of my nose, so I went to a doctor’s office in Lynchburg. If you have never had to test your medical insurance when you are out-of-network, it is an experience. The doctor stated that it was a severe sinus infection and started me on the first line of medications. By Tuesday morning, the swelling had gotten to my eyes. Since things were not turning around, I went to the emergency room at Lynchburg Hospital. There, I received a CAT scan and more prescription meds. The consensus, to this point, is that I have a sinus infection that has become coupled with an allergic reaction that has had a synergistic effect on my face. As I write this article, I can say that I am breathing better than I have in about a week.
What better way to test the system that we use to take care of people at this camp than to go through something like this. I should be back on Truck 14 on Saturday, but for now I need to head off to the ice skating rink, and take care of those I came here to look out for. Until next week…   



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