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This post is not medical advice. Trigger warning: medical misogyny and neglect.
I swear most drs when they see a female patient do not care if we live or die. In fact every years millions of women die or are seriously injured due to medical misogyny and neglect. Unfortunately, I have another story.
I recently had emergency dental surgery. I had a molar crack at the root and it go infected. The oral surgeon was probably one of the kindest most educated on POTS and other disorders in a dr that I have ever seen. He was excellent.
He did warn me that even though I would be on antibiotics (and I took them the day before) I can still get an infection. He told me what to look out for and also told me the symptoms of cellulitis and that of that happens it is a medical emergency and I need to go to the ER. This was also in the discharge papers and is standard medical advice.
I was doing ok until day 2 when I noticed the side of my face was red and hot. I was also told that day 2-3 would be the worse in terms of pain and inflammation so I watched and waited. When the redness spread on Friday I knew it was likely cellulitis. By the time I realized it (I was sleeping most of the day) it was Friday night.
I do not like hospitals and due to decades of medical gaslighting I usually wait to see a dr whenever anything new pops up. I am not likely to be believed anyway even when tests "prove" my symptoms. I lost count how many times tests have proven my symptoms only to be ignored.
So I sent a photo to my out of state immunologist/infectious disease dr. He said it was dental cellulitis and I needed to go to the hospital and get IV antibiotics immediately. The infection was in the lymph nodes and also spreading up close to my temple.
So I followed both my oral surgeon and immunologist's instructions and went to the ER.
I had a classic presentation of cellulitis. Textbook. Nothing unusual. Guess what? They didn't believe me. Half my face looked sunburned. The triage nurse (male) was an asshole and basically rolled his eyes. Keep in mind the site of the cellulitis was 103-104 degrees. I checked at home. They never checked the temp at the site or even touched my face. My overall body temp showed a 2 degree fever.
The PA that was assigned to me said it was "impossible" to be cellulitis because I was on amoxicillin(not amox clav) and amox was the strongest drug for cellulitis.Both of these statements are false. Dental cellulitis often requires amox and something like flagyl to treat.
I then asked if he read my CBC results. I knew my WBC and white cells were elevated. He said no he hadn't read them yet but it didn't matter because it was"impossible". Again this is not true .
Then he read the CBC which pointed to infection(yeah no shit). He literally huffed and puffed and said "Fine. I'll order a CT scan to rule out cellulitis". Again I couldn't have a more textbook case. Ok doc prove me wrong.
So about an hour an a half-2 hours later I get the CT scan and guess what they found? It's cellulitis. My lactic acid was also high.
When lactic acid is high and there is a confirmed infection, and inflammatory markers are high it is likely to be sepsis which can and does kill. I had all these things.
So the PA comes back and say "It's cellulitis" I couldn't help myself and I asked "But I thought that was impossible? That's what you told me, that the scan would rule it out". He then said my other labs were off, my vitals were unstable and said he may admit me. But I did not get any treatment for the cellulitis. I did get some IV minerals and fluids for the lactic acid.
Then another 2 hours later he discharges me and says to just keep taking the amoxicillin and follow up with the oral surgeon on Monday. It was Friday night. Also , obviously the amoxicillin was not working or I wouldn't have the infection to begin with.
This is not standard of care. If I were a man I would have been admitted and given IV antibiotics. I know this for a fact because I do know a couple of men who got cellulitis after surgeries and they were in the hospital for several days. I got nothing.
I contacted the immunologist Saturday morning. He did call in something stronger to take and he's not happy (at the hospital)
I could have died. I still am not in the clear. If the oral antibiotics don't work.... I can't go to the ER because they didn't treat me even after confirming the cellulitis and all the other abnormalities in my blood. This is negligence all because two male health care providers saw an ambulatory wheelchair user ( a person who uses a wheelchair but is not paralyzed. Very common)who was female so I must be hysterical or attention seeking.
It is getting a little better and I can follow up with the oral surgeon this week but this is dangerous. I should be in the hospital being cared for instead I am once again playing the part of my own doctor and hoping I don't die.