After another 24 hours of silliness in that hospital, during which we were desperately trying to locate another suitable hospital to take her to (we did, but it was hours away and they hadn't any space in their critical care ward), I made the decision to take Mutti home. I could take better care of her there, AND we weren't paying thousands of dollars to get reamed up the butt sideways without lube. We also have a bunch of medical equipment from my dad, I know how to use it, and we could scrounge up any medications my mom needed.

My mom started getting better as soon as we made that decision. The whole vibe in the room changed, I wasn't wigging out anymore, the doctors wouldn't be coming back to bother us (that's right ... didn't even check on her before we signed her out AMA - Against Medical Advice), and there wasn't any screaming back and forth between my brother and I against the "medical professionals" (their MD actually means Motherfucking Dickheads).

We've been taking her to our ER/clinic (where we've been going 30 years) for IV antibiotics and a daily infusion of vitamins/electrolytes/Ringer's lactate, and CBC (bloodwork). She's doing better. A lot of the values are still pretty piss poor, but she's doing better. (The hospital docs were refusing to do any more blood work at all).

As for me, I had a doc (and what a PIGLET too) review my recent medical history, checkup, and another CBC myself. GOOD NEWS! Only slight fever (I'm sure it's due to wigging out and no sleep and total ridiculousness the last few days), and platelets/hemoglobin/hemocrit/serum ferritin (red blood cell type stuff and iron) are ALL LOW NORMAL!!! The leucocytes (white blood cells) and the breakdown of types thereof still leave much to be desired BUT all the values are slightly better than they were before, and are frankly not untypical considering what I'm still recovering from.

I had bought Mutti an Ironman Melbourne cap when I was abroad, and gave it to her at the hospital as a "getting sprung from jail" gift. She loves it!

Also, today, our office staff had a BIRTHDAY CAKE and FRUIT BASKET delivered for me!!! It's the first birthday cake I've had this year!

And best of all, they ordered me a MEAT LOVER'S PIZZA because they heard I needed iron-rich foods. I must admit, my whole iron-rich, awesome-nutrition, natural-healing, healthy-lifestyle has gone completely in the toilet the last few days.

I may have gobbled down a slice. Or two or three or, uh ...

P.S. My mom's dog is still alive. She perked up a lot more when she was actually being properly fed and watered. Haven't been to the vet with her yet, poor thing ... but get in line, dog. :)

The good news is: well, what I had to say in yesterday's entry WAS the good news.

Then it got bad.

And compared to how it is now, the "got bad" would be good news.

This is some kind of nightmare, and I can't even imagine how it is for my mom. I am really, really scared for her.

I'm in terrible shape. I am shaking and have fever and chills again. I will not physically be able to hang on much longer, although of course I will since there is no other choice.

Okay, there is actually a lot of good news, just not in relation to my mom's condition, care, or prospects, but of course we're gonna try until IT HAPPENS. Because for that, too, there is no choice.

And emotionally ... well, I've been worse.

---

After begging and arguing with her attending physician for nearly an hour to repeat the typhoid test (since they don't show up positive until a few days into the illness), and him consistently spewing completely incorrect facts and diagnostics about typhoid (and this argument was about ONE TEST and ONE ASPECT of her care ... we argued about many others as well ... no, motherfucker, you do not give NSAIDS to someone who may very well have a hemorrhagic fever ... no, motherfucker, Ultram is NOT contraindicated for elderly people with Alzheimers, but Haldol sure is, which you prescribed ... which is an antipsychotic that takes time to build up anyway. ???)

... after all that, he still refused to order one simple little blood test for typhoid, because it would be IMPOSSIBLE for her to have typhoid. And even if she did, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for it to show up on a test. The test doesn't work that way. (Yes, it does, you moron).

So we spoke to his superior. He took the same line, but after another half-hour of arguing with him, too, finally my brother and I literally stood on either side of him and bullied him into signing the order. He was sure pissed, but not as pissed as us, and we got a pyrrhic victory in that pissing contest ...

The results came back. IT'S TYPHOID FEVER, YOU STUPID CRETINOUS MOTHERFUCKING SONS OF BLASPHEMOUS SERIAL KILLING WHORES.

Of course, that's awfully offensive to stupid cretinous motherfucking sons of blasphemous serial killing whores. My apologies to them.

[insert every swear word in every language]

x100

Come to Jakarta to find that no one in the hospital has been taking care of my mom the last three days. They're not regularly checking her temperature and vital signs; they're not trying to control her fever; they're not paying attention to her pain; nearly 90% of the tests, procedures, care and medication they claimed to have given her never actually happened.

Nurses refuse to let me have access to any of my mom's information, test results, or files. I make a scene and throw them the business card of the National Chief of Police (my uncle). They hand it over.

Spend the afternoon there taking care of my mom MYSELF--I found her with her limbs tied to the bed with strips of a ripped-up bedsheet, and with a fever between 104 and 105, she's bundled up in socks, gowns, sheets and blankets. No one has noticed that her IV is pouring solution into her skin, creating a big painful bruised bubble. Finally I just start ordering tests, ordering doctors, ordering medications, ordering routine care.

That's the short version.

Then I come back to the house.

Nobody's fed the dog for three days and she's been left out in the rain. Her water bowl is slime and rainwater. Her food bowl is green slime with rainwater. She's shivering, coughing, and has pus coming out of her eyes.

Then I talk to my dad, whose comment on everything is, "Your mother doesn't have it as bad as I do. She should not be a burden to me by being sick like this."

We have TEN staff at the house, including two maids, and no one had prepared my room (yes I called in advance) and when I got back from the hospital, no sign of dinner anywhere.

Awesome.

It's back to figuring out who to beat, who to fire, and who to murder.

I cooked and served myself dinner and am running a hot bath. Then it's back to the hospital to throw staff out the fourth-story windows.

What's scary is ... there isn't a better hospital here. And as bad as this one is, it's less than a kilometer from the house. Anywhere else would be impossible to get to in Jakarta traffic.

Well, the birthday blessings continue. Spent the day with my superstar sis and her friendly furry husband-person, and also, curled up snoring in their spare (my old) bedroom.
Still in Bali, flying out early tomorrow to go see my mom. She's a little better, but still not coherent or recognizing people. (Ah, but maybe she just doesn't want to recognize my bro or dad, ha ha!) But she's more responsive, and it doesn't look like she's fried her brain or stroked out from fever or the illness. Still no firm diagnosis though.

A wonderful day with my sis and getting some rest, but still exhausting on the phone thru my brother and dad's assistant back and forth with various doctors and me trying to come up with good medical recommendations. I just feel like I'm not old enough to do this, y'know? And where's my fucking MD degree?

Anyhow ... let's wrap up a piglet birthday from yesterday!

This is my lovely DJ piglet ahem friend, who's been so sweet and supportive, and was the very first to text me right at midnight on my BURFDAY!

He's a marathoner, (sometimes pesca)vegetarian, and must be the only piglet in Bali who doesn't smoke or drink (especially for being in the party scene!).

http://www.robsoundz.com

Here he is with Patrick on the way to my birthday dinner--Patrick has a bad back and Rob was, uh, "sympathizing."

Picking out fresh fish to be grilled on the spot!

They have live fish ... crabs too ... and apparently, free range children.

We ordered ELEVEN POUNDS of seafood: squid, shrimp, and red snapper.

 I'm workin' on that Twilight look. It's pretty much the only one I can carry off right now.

I thought I could eat ... I bet you thought I could eat, too ... but that boy can EAT. Most of that went down his hatch.

We had a lovely, lovely evening ... it was so good to be out on the beach, eating good food with good friends.

Now, milking the celebrations straight on into today! At my sister's house for more prezzies.

And a SPIDER RING!!!!! I LOVE IT!!! I do miss my old pink tarantula Rosie ... I had to leave her in the U.S.

And off for a ridiculously iron-rich lunch! (My sis is rockin' the Dracula complexion, too).

You know ... there's always room for ice-cream, but no rest for the weary as I am on my sister's Crackberry with my brother, who is with my mom and her doctors.

Even a little ice cream for Paco, my sister's Argentinian Dogo (think a cross between a pit bull and a Great Dane).

What a birthday. My blessings are manifold; my cup runneth over. Unfortunately, it's not just running over with Nutella-flavored hot chocolate, but my life is rich.

On the challenging side, my mother is in the hospital after having collapsed with 40C fever; she is delirious and appears to have a lung infection and spasms/minor seizures. I'm somewhat strained to the limit and it is exhausting to remember, research and make these complicated medical decisions (and try to coordinate ones already made, including a lot of bad drug-interaction errors) from a distance. The ER docs keep changing, they do not have her history there and are not writing down what I tell them. Then they call me and ask me what to do. So far no specialist consult has been called in.

So I've been playing neurologist, cardiologist, pulmonologist, tropical medicine specialist, pharmacologist. I'm dying trying to assimilate the information (thank you, NIH MedlinePlus), highlight the important parts, relate them to her history and presentation (and changing conditions), and translate a bunch of it into Indonesian.

God help me. I'm so tired and the fever (mine!) is between 100 and 101 again. She's probably not going to die between now and tomorrow morning, otherwise I'd have been on a plane before this, but geez Louise. However, this is exactly why I returned to Indonesia, and thank God I am here and CAN do this. The timing's just a bit off with me still recovering, and my sister also from dengue/typhoid herself.

But I still had a beautiful birthday, and after all, Mutti is the reason I get to have one ... here are some highlights in a photo essay.

Midnight: Queen Biscuits assumes her rightful place in the melons. Also, I get my first birthday wish of the day from a delightful DJ. More later.

I desperately need to run some money errands this afternoon (thankfully close by) and I had a beautiful brunch smoothie with a dear friend at her organic cafe. I bought Manuka Honey at their deli (along with iron-rich foods), that, garlic and ginger are my natural-remedy antibiotic mainstays. No photo, sorry.

I never have nails due to tri training, so I thought I'd paint them for my burfday. :)

I GOT AN AWESOME PREZZIE!!! My sister bought me a COUCH! It's in that big box with legs sticking out. Not sure where it's going to go, but we WILL make room! I love it!!!

Time to go to dinner! It was a gorgeous day and the view coming down the hill from my house--that's Bali's main volcano and it's clear across the island. You could see the whole island from atop my hill. And it is *not* a small island--about 70mi by 100mi wide.

So tired ... will have to phinish this photo essay tomorrow. Haven't even gotten to the juicy piglet parts ;)