Prison Journal: Day 8,374
July 14, 2010
I’m wondering whether the new health care laws will bring change to the way authorities dispense medical attention to federal prisoners. They should. Because the current policy of denying preventative medical treatment costs taxpayers much more in the long run, and causes prisoners who suffer from some types of ailments to endure needless pain over extended lengths of time.
The need for this change in medical care policies for federal prisoners became clear to me today when I spoke with Mike, a man who self-surrendered to serve a nine-year sentence in the federal prison where I’m held. Mike is in his mid-40s, and did not suffer from any type of medical condition before he began serving his term last May. Administrators assigned him to a job in food services, and some of the lifting that job requires caused him to develop a hernia.
**Inguinal hernia is the result of an organ, usually bowel, protruding through a weak point or tear in the thin muscular abdominal wall. Inguinal hernias can restrict blood supply to the bowel herniated through the defect, creating a medical emergency. (https://health.google.com/health/ref/graphic/17075)
Being new to the prison system, Mike felt hopeful after talking with prisoners who were doctors. Since the hernia is in the early stage, a doctor could repair it quickly and easily with a minimally invasive procedure, but he would have to meet with the prison’s health services staff for a resolution.
Mike made an appointment with health services, and the following day a nurse scheduled time to record his complaint. As a nurse, she told Mike that she could not make a diagnosis, but that she would schedule an appointment for Mike to meet with the nurse practitioner (NP) in one week.
When the nurse practitioner examined Mike, she diagnosed him with an inguinal hernia. The symptoms included a protrusion the size of a tennis ball below his belly button. It prevented him from continuing with his walking regimen, or any type of exercise, and if he ate too much, the pain was intense. Nevertheless, the NP told Mike that he would have to live with the hernia because the medical policy did not provide for preventive treatment.
Mike objected, pointing out that treatment would not be preventative in the truest sense, since he the hernia already existed. But the NP told him that the policy would not provide treatment unless the hernia became life threatening. Mike reminded the NP that he did not have a hernia prior to surrendering to prison and that it was heavy lifting on a prison job that caused the medical condition.
The NP said she was sympathetic to Mike’s pain, but the only treatment she could authorize was ibuprofen. He offered to pay for the surgery himself, arguing that he didn’t want to live with the pain for the duration of his nine-year sentence, and he wanted to prevent the hernia from becoming worse—to the point of being life threatening. Yet, despite Mike’s please, the medical staff claimed they were restricted by policy from providing any further treatment.
Hernias do not improve spontaneously or without treatment, and in time Mike’s hernia may very well become life threatening, requiring a much more expensive surgery. Taxpayers should demand and end to such ridiculous medical treatment policies.
Ran 10 miles / 5,156 miles over 579 days
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Prison Journal: Day 8,018
July 23, 2009
During my sick call appointment this morning, the nurse wrapped a band around my arm to check my blood pressure. She told me the reading was 128 over 72. My pulse, she said, was 54 beats per minute, which she said was low. She asked whether I exercise regularly, then said my vitals were fine when I told her my running schedule.
Up until this past year, I never attended sick call procedures. The need for allergy pills requires that I go now, and it’s probably good that I do so I can keep these records of my pulse and blood pressure.
This morning I read an article about the high expectations industry watchers have for electronic publishing. Amazon’s Kindle will soon have a competitor from Barnes and Noble. Those devices may generate billions of dollars in publishing revenues. My work, I think, will sell well in this arena, and once I finish the manuscript for Earning Freedom, I expect to write new content specifically for this market. I want to have a lot of content ready for distribution upon my release.
An acquaintance asked whether I will continue this writing schedule after I finish Earning Freedom. I expect to continue this schedule until administrators release me from this sentence. I will go to bed before six each evening, and begin working between 1:00 and 3:00 every morning. Today I began at 1:17, and by the time I put my work away, I wrote through page 220 of the manuscript.
I ran 10 miles in the morning. My running tally is now 1,974 miles over the past 223 days.
Tomorrow I’m visiting with the lovely Carole, and I’ve been thinking about the kiss we’ll be able to share at the start and finish of our visit. Those thoughts have carried me through the day.
Prison Journal: Day 8,017
July 22, 2009
I ran 10 miles in the morning, bringing my running tally to 1,964 miles over the past 222 days. Then I attended a TOAD meeting for our youth outreach program, and I’ve spent the rest of the day writing. When I wake tomorrow morning, I’ll feel good about being only one day away from kissing my wife. I miss Carole, because writing about these early years of my imprisonment remind me of how much she means to me, and how fortunate I am to have her love.
Despite not having medicine for these allergies, and still struggling with a bit of lightheadedness, I had a productive day. I began at 1:30 this morning, as I usually feel the least amount of dizziness in the very early morning. Since I was in bed at 5:10 yesterday afternoon, I had plenty of rest. I’ve learned to block out the noise and disturbance of dormitory living, for the most part. I do look forward to living in a residence that I share with my wife only, though after so many decades of imprisonment, I have trouble imagining such a life.
I wrote through page 212 of the manuscript. That was productive, as I had a particularly sensitive scene to describe, and I had to work through it for awhile. I’m hoping that Carole, my first reader, thinks the story comes through okay. This writing project certainly carries me through these long days I spend each week without her.
I just spoke to another prisoner who has been incarcerated about 20 years. We were confined together in a USP during the early 1990s, though we adjusted very differently then. He’s released in one month. Someday, I know release will come for me. I’ll be ready.
Prison Journal: Day 8,016
July 21, 2009
For the past six weeks I’ve been taking an allergy pill. I would like to purchase my own pills from the commissary, as they do not require a prescription. Yet, to receive the allergy pills, the rules at Taft Prison Camp require that I pass through health services procedures. That means I must sign up for sick call, wait for an appointment, then go through a diagnosis. A nurse can then qualify me to receive the allergy pills during the pill dispensary time frame, in the morning, noon, or late afternoon.
I take the allergy pill because, apparently, I’m allergic to something in this area that causes congestion and fluid buildup in my ears. The symptoms make me tired and dizzy. When I’m taking the allergy pill, I don’t feel the symptoms at all. Since this past Saturday, however, I haven’t been able to take the allergy pill because my institutional prescription expired.
This morning the dizziness returned, and some nausea came with it. I was able to write through page 206 of the manuscript for Earning Freedom, though I’m disappointed that I couldn’t produce more. I signed up for sick call, but my appointment isn’t scheduled until Thursday, so I’ll have to cope with the symptoms until then.
Despite the allergies, I eked out eight miles on the track this morning, bringing my tally to 1,945 miles. I would have liked to have run the final two miles, but I had to cut the run short in order to sign up for the sick-call appointment. These rigid schedules are a part of prison life. Even so, I now have run 221 consecutive days, and I expect to continue exercising each day until my release. I don’t think a thousand days will pass, but that is a possibility if my release date doesn’t change.
Follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter
Michael G. Santos
Promote Your Page Too
Books by
Michael G. Santos
Inside: Life Behind Bars in America
About Prison
Profiles From Prison
Subscribe