Do No Harm by Inmate #2

The Hippocratic oath instructs doctors to do no harm. That doesn't apply here. They send you here knowing they can't provide the services needed to provide you with even substandard health care - the health care provided here at Carswell is way below substandard. I have been here since Nov 1, 2017. I have MS, diabetes, high blood pressure, a heart murmur, irregular heartbeat, I have had a stroke (2011) after bilateral knee surgery, a TIA (2012) and A-fib (2015). I have neuropathy (very painful neuropathy), kidney function issues and occasional gout which is also very painful. 

The doctors here will not give medication (which your civilian doctors have spent years finding the right combination that works for you) contrary to what you were taking before arriving. They changed my blood pressure medication to an antiquated medication that doesn't work for me and raises my potassium levels. There is no pain medication available - I was taking gabapentin for the neuropathy (which worked) but I was told that I couldn't get that and they want me to try Cymbalta first - which has very adverse liver issues and I had a friend who died (liver failure) after taking the medication. I have MS - Drs don't prescribe medication that affect organs as part of the adverse affects. The last time I stood in the pharmacy line - 4 people in front of me filled prescriptions for gabapentin. I came in on that medication so why can't I get it? 

I also have been in a blood thinner since my stroke (so I don't have another one). I have been here 110 days and have yet to get my blood thinner. They want me to try Coumadin - which my civilian heart doctor said Hell NO! Because I am dietary restricted from the MS already - my regular diet won't support Coumadin so they put me on Eliquis which the BOP says I can't have. They want to try Coumadin to prove the diet won't support it. What the hell! My heart doctor said NO!  So 110 days later i still don't have medication.  I also was on a medication that stops my heart from beating too fast. It reduces the risk of more A-fib. Don't have that medication either. I have had several small episodes of A-fib since I have been here but by the time I get to medical it has ceased as had the rapid heartbeat when I have went (I told them when I arrived at medical my heart was beating too fast and they made me sit in the waiting room for 45 min before I was seen and of course by then it has calmed down some - my sitting heart rate is 15 to 25 beats faster than my civilian Dr wants it to be. But getting medication is next to impossible.

Alberto Garcia the assistant to head of Health Services made me a December appointment to see my Dr. That appointment disappeared. I was told in December that I had a February appointment - guess what - I went today to see when my appointment is and that appointment has disappeared also.  I should be having blood work and Dr appt NOW but it is not going to happen.  I will be lucky if this place doesn't kill me. I have some serious health issues that these people won't address other to tell me they can't help me. 

I was told by their PA that they don't have medications in the pharmacy to prescribe for everyday maladies. They have no antihistamines - they tell you to buy them off commissary - I can't - I took one allergy pill and thought my heart was going to explode and it felt like I was coming out of my skin - there are no alternatives. They don't have allergy pills, sprays, liquids or any form except Flonase which I can't take. So here I sit miserable, sick and unable to get treatment. If an inmate had an allergic reaction, there is no epi-pen to treat an emergency.

I went to sick call because my ear drum burst (I suspect because of blood pressure) but I woke up in the middle of the night with blood coming out of my ear. That was the 3rd course of antibiotics in 90 days - they gave me cotton balls and told me to keep it dry. Pretty much all they can do.

Another tidbit: One of the girls I play cards with lives in a room with a crack in the foundation and every time it rains, her room floods (and Carswell knows about it) also she was in another room that had a crack near the ceiling and water would run down the wall and flood their room when it rained.  Another person was telling me her window leaks and floods her room when it rains - breeding ground for asthma, mold, mildew, colds and a host of other ailments. They gave my friend blankets to put down on the floor along the wall to sop the water but when they get wet it floods the rest of the room - her laundry is soaked, her shoes are wet...what a nightmare. And all they want to do is give her towels (they don't have anymore blankets) and it rained really hard here today. This place is dangerous.