Not So routine

I had contemplated taking a day off from working in the kitchen to break-up the routine because it was becoming well too routine and my feet were hurting from standing in my horrible shoes. Last night I mentioned this to my “Bunkie” and he emphatically responded with a “hell no!” My Bunkie told me as long as he was going in I was going in. He wasn’t being pushy or trying to be a bully he just wanted me to go in so I could make sure he made it in. I am his fail-safe to ensure he wakes up after the initial wake-up tap.

This morning I was awake at 3:30am because my Bunkie was writhing in pain. A few days ago he threw out his back doing exercises and yesterday during the day he made it worse when he was making his bed. Overnight the pain increased and by the look of him the pain was intense.

I have thrown my back out twice in the past and I know how excruciating this can be. I certainly was empathizing with him and was even more concerned when he said the pain was shooting down his left leg. I am certainly no doctor or chiropractor but I do know that having the pain shoot into the legs could be a sign of nerve or disk damage. It was odd because he was able to get up and walk or rather shuffle, but as he moved the pain was very noticeable.

Even though I have only known my Bunkie for a little over 2 ½ weeks I wanted to do everything I could to help him. I went over to the correction officer on duty and asked when the medical opened in the morning. He told me he thought it was 6:00am and would let the next shift know about his back problem. In the meantime the CO suggested that he lie down and relax. After hearing this, I decided not to go into to work because I wanted to make sure my Bunkie made it to the medical area at 6:00am.

I suggested a combination of heat and ice every fifteen minutes which may help alleviate the pain. Also an ibuprofen may help as well. All of these seem like good ideas when the supplies are readily available but in a place like this improvisation is the key. There are no heating or cooling pads available. So I took some towels and ran the hot water over them and placed them on his back. Then I took some more towels and ran some cold water over them for the cold compress. As for the ibuprofen, we asked around and came up with two capsules. Now I was playing nurse, massage therapist, and friend. I really didn’t know what the proper prison etiquette was in a situation like this so I decided to do what comes naturally which is to care for a fellow human being.

My Bunkie was getting no sympathy from the CO’s and in their defense they must be so immune to prisoners faking all assorted injuries and ailments I can understand their ambivalence. Seeing their reaction was frustrating, but again I had to remind myself where I was and what was going on. Over the course of two hours I changed the towels, kept the hot and cold compress on his back, massaged the very tight areas and at a little before 6:00am was able to obtain a bag of ice from the oncoming CO. Also, I reiterated the situation to this CO and he told me he was aware of this. He also told me there was no way he was going to get into the medical office at 6:00am because they don’t see anyone this early but the CO would call over and ensure my Bunkie would see someone.

Having heard this I became even more frustrated and I can go into a whole narrative about the medical care in this particular prison but I won’t. I will underscore the fact that the Federal Government has taken over the medical care in all of the California Prisons due to a lawsuit settled in 2004. I can see why a lawsuit was filed and I can see why the lawsuit was successful. Again I hope and pray I stay healthy while I am here at the reception center. If I do have a health issue I hope it is at a prison which has come into compliance with the terms of the lawsuit.

Now I had to break the news to my Bunkie. He seemed to take it in stride and now I had the bag of ice to place on his back. We were able to pass the next hour and 15 minutes with the same hot/cold routine. During this time all of the inmates went to breakfast with the exception of us. While everyone was in the dining hall, the CO came over and asked me why I wasn’t at breakfast. My response was I wanted to make sure my Bunkie was okay. The CO responded, “Why, it’s not like he is going to die, everyone has back problems.” Then I said, “I understand but I empathize with him and wanted to make sure he was comfortable.” To which the CO had no response and went back to the office.

Finally after chow and going back up to the CO podium for the seventh time and asking when my Bunkie can go to the medical office, he was finally given clearance to go. I assisted him over to the medical office which thankfully was only about 12 steps away from the front of our dormitory. I helped him inside and got him situated with the Medical Technical Assistant (MTA). This person asked a few questions while I was there then dismissed me back to the dormitory. Before dismissing, she asked me if I had eaten and again I told her no and the reasons why. She didn’t seem to understand my reason and told me I should have breakfast. She told me I should go over to the dining hall right now. I was not in the mood to go to breakfast and I knew I couldn’t go anyway because I can only go when everyone else goes. I headed back to the dormitory.

I got back to my bunk and decided to lie down. I wanted to catch a little nap. Well after 5 minutes of arriving back, I rolled over in my bunk and looked up to see my Bunkie standing next to me. Yes, he was finished and unfortunately he did not receive any treatment or medication for his back problem. He was prescribed a dosage of 600 milligrams of Motrin, but this wouldn’t be ready until possibly this evening or tomorrow morning. He couldn’t even get a sample of one or two. He has to wait 12 or 24 hours for a simple dosage. I will refrain from any negative comments, but I was beside myself when I heard this and I can’t imagine how my Bunkie felt.

The advice he was given from the MTA was to rest and apply heat to the area. He was also given an instructional sheet on stretches to help strengthen the back. I looked at the sheet and these were typical exercises. However, my concern was with the pain shooting down his leg causing a visible spasm in his thigh. I am not sure if any medication or exercise can alleviate this symptom. I believe he needs an MRI but my Bunkie is hesitant because he will be transferred to another prison. This transfer would prevent him from serving at the lowest level security prison, Community Correctional Facility (CCF) because there is no medical care at these facilities. He only has 5 ½ months remaining on his term and he will try to bear the back pains until he is released.

All morning and afternoon was filled with the hot compress. The hot compress was upgraded to the hot water being filled into a latex glove and covered by a towel. This seemed to work much better than the towel drenched in hot water. Like I mentioned before improvisation is the key in a place like this. My Bunkie was able to gather up some medications during the day from a few different inmates. He was also able to fall asleep for a few minutes. What was most interesting was the advice given by many of the inmates on how to relieve the back pain. He received offers of cracking his back, also offers of having his back aligned by pulling on his feet and my favorite; adding salt to the hot compress to alleviate the swelling. My Bunkie passed on all these offers except for the salt which he tried because this one shouldn’t cause irreparable damage.

When the workers came back from the kitchen this morning, many of them came up to me and asked why I wasn’t there. I told them the reason and they did understand but they didn’t want me to take any more days off. There weren’t any problems due to my absence. I was told it just wasn’t the same without me. I also received some playful ribbing about my day off and it did feel nice to be wanted. I guess my whole plan about flying under the radar is not working very well which is fine because this program seems to be working well.

Even though today was a not so routine day, it went rather quickly. Sometimes change is good and today was certainly an unexpected change. I did not like seeing my Bunkie in so much pain and I tried my best to help which is all I can ever do. Yes, I didn’t know the proper etiquette in this particular situation, but it appears I have not broken any codes and everything will be fine. I am concerned with my Bunkie because it is only a matter of time before his back goes out yet again and this time he will not be able to move. If this happens, I hope it happens between the hours of 7:00am and 6:00pm or else it will be another long evening.