How to Survive an Italian Hospital

---

June 20-28, 2010

Since I had spent so much time over in Italy, Americans were always so curious about the healthcare system and I had no answer for them because I had never experienced it. Then one sunny June afternoon, I fell ill...

---

Day 1:

It started on a warm Sunday afternoon. Just after lunch, I was starting to feel a little chilly as I watched a movie in the living room. At the end of the movie, I was also feelin naseous and shortly after the movie finished, I went to the bathroom to vomit. At that point, I retired to my room for the rest of the afternoon/evening/night with a fever and headache.

Day 2:

The next morning, I still had the same symptoms but I also noticed a small red rash about the size of my fist just above my right ankle on the inside of the leg. It didn't itch but it was very warm to the touch. It was a Monday but I called in sick and slept through most of the day. When my roommates, Dylan and Josh, returned home from work, the symptoms remained constant but the rash had increased in size and had become a darker red. We discussed my options but we weren't really sure what to do. Finally Dylan's girlfriend Valeria returned around 11pm and she suggested calling the ambulance. They would take a look and decide whether or not to recommend a visit to the hospital.

They arrived just before midnight, took a quick look, and asked a few questions that I expected so I was able to prepare a reply in italian. Hospital was the recommendation so they loaded me into a wheelchair and took me down to the ambulance. Valeria rode with me in the ambulance and Dylan met us at the hospital.

The initial diagnosis was a poisonous spider bite (punto di ragno). The nurses took down my symptoms and information with Valeria helping with translations. I tried to tell them I was "malato della testa" (sick in the head) instead of "mal di testa" (headache). This shocked the nurse but fortunately, Valeria was there to correct me. They took a quick x-ray of the rash on my leg and then Dylan and Valeria went home while they took me to my room in the ward of infectious diseases. The nurse immediately hooked me up to an IV and started an antibiotic drip. I was finally asleep by 2am.

Day 3 (Day 1 in hospital):

I was awoken the next morning with breakfast and a choice of coffee or tea. Shortly after breakfast, a doctor came in and began asking me questions in italian. I was not ready for these questions and asked him to speak english. He obliged and I gave him the full story so far. He explained that the working theory was a spider bite. I received another antibiotic dose and some alka seltzer tablets for my headache. Dylan arrived shortly after with a big grin on his face. He also brought me a change of clothes and my laptop. Apparently, the nurses had been discussing for a long time how to pronounce my last name and when he arrived and pronounced it, they were very excited to have their answer. When the nurses came in to give me an antibiotic dose or to bring me lunch, they would generally call me "Spider Scott" since my last name was still too difficult to pronounce.

Later in the day, the doctor returned with a barrage of medical students. He asked me if there was anything new and I told him I still had the headache. He asked me to pull my shirt up and then proceeded to draw a square around my belly button with his finger. He observed this invisible square for a moment and then discussed quietly with the students. Then he told me he'd get me something for the headache and they left left the room. I still have no idea how a finger drawn square around my belly button can indicate anything about a headache but it got me some meds so I suppose it worked.

In the evening I received some visitors who brought me snacks which were very welcome since the hospital food in Italy was not very appetizing. Special thanks to Dylan, Valeria, Sven, Bjoern, Anita, and (I think) Josh who all visited me at some point; I don't remember exactly when each one visited me. Side note on the room: The room itself was very plain with no television. Other than the two beds, there was a wardrobe for clothes, a table, and a chair. If there was air conditioning, it was not turned on. We were also going through a heat wave so it was quite stifling in the middle of the day.

Day 4 (Day 2 in hospital):

The fever finally broke this morning. It was refreshing to get away from the mix of humidity and fever. The headache still persisted so when the doctors made their morning rounds, I complained again and they decided to do a lumbar punture to rule out meningitis.

Shortly after lunch, the procedure began. I sat indian-style and hunched over while clutching a pillow. Since it was a learning hospital connected to the university, a student performed the procedure. She put the needle in six times. I could feel it go in and then come out with not much pain. The head doctor conversed with her after each try and then eventually took over. When he put the needle in, however, I could definitely feel it! He was hitting plenty of nerves! Apparently, the first try wasn't enough so he had to do it again. This time, he hit a nerve that sent spasms of pain shooting up and down my left leg! My eyes were wide open and then the edges of my vision were starting to darken and just as the darkness almost completely closed in, he pulled out the needle and said, "OK! All done here!" The darkness quickly receded and the pain in my leg faded. I laid on the bed for a couple hours in shock at the feelings I had just felt.

Later in the afternoon, I received a roommate. He was a middle-aged man with a spider bite infection similar to mine. He brought in his own television and hooked it up to the cable in the room since the World Cup was going on and he didn't want to miss a match.

Day 5 (Day 3 in hospital):

Turns out my new roommate snores...loudly. It seemed that no matter what position he was in, he would loudly saw logs. This combined with the heat/humidity and the guy down the hall screaming bloody murder every few hours resulted in my difficulty sleeping.

This morning marked the first day without a headache! It was finally gone. I now only had the leg to deal with. The rash on my leg had turned a dark purple and the skin was beginning to die and scab over. It now hurt to have my leg vertical and even more so to put weight on it. The only place I could go was to the bathroom and so I would have to hop over to it and balance on one leg the entire time.

Dylan and Valeria visited me to watch the World Cup match between Slovakia and Italy. My roommate's wife was also visiting and watched it with us. Italy lost a heart-breaker 3-2 and thusly missed moving on to the round of 16. USA had won the night before in stoppage time, winning its group! Valeria left in sadness with Dylan in tow.

Day 6 (Day 4 in hospital):

Today my leg felt much better. I was starting to put some weight on it and it didn't hurt so badly in the vertical position. I was taken to get an ultrasound to check on the veins in my leg to make sure they weren't damaged. After the ultrasound, they applied a cream to my leg and wrapped it up tightly. I spent the rest of the afternoon hoping for good results so they would send me home before the weekend because I was starting to feel the cabin fever.

Day 7 (Day 5 in hospital):

With the leg in a bandage, I was able to start walking around on it so I started walking outside to the smoking area where there were benches for sitting. It felt nice to get out and walk around a bit.

In the afternoon, my roommate was discharged. Apparently, his condition was not as bas as mine. I knew at that point, there was no way I was going home until Monday since I assumed the doctors all took Sunday off.

Day 8 (Day 6 in hospital):

I was able to sleep a little better with my loud roommate gone. The neighbor would still scream every few hours but it was rare enough to catch enough consistent sleep. It was all I could do to stave off the boredom.

Day 9 (Day 7 in hospital):

Today the doctors came back and discussed releasing me. I was still receiving three treatments per day of an antibiotic. They took off the bandage and examined the progress over the weekend. More cream was applied and the leg was rewrapped. Apparently the second antibiotic was working because it looked much better. The skin was now dead and scabbed over. In the afternoon, they gave me some of the antibiotic to take home and keep taking and told me to come back in a week. Dylan managed to convince our project manager Luigi to come pick me up in his car. It felt good to finally be out of there and back in the apartment!

Day 16 (one week later):

I went back to the hospital for a checkup. The doctor unwrapped the bandage and by now the scabbed skin was trying to fall off. He approved of the progress and told me there was one more thing I could do to help the skin fall off: go swimming in the sea.

After the (successful!) appointment, I stopped at my apartment to get my swimwear and towel, and then briefly at the office to check on things. I was wearing shorts and I had forgotten that the customer was there that day to see the progress on the project (my part was obviously lacking). I had worked from home the previous week so I could let the leg continue to recover. I felt a little embarassed but not much.

I met some friends down at the beach and with my leg finally free, I went swimming! After getting out, the dead skin was flaking off very easily. I felt back to normal.

Epilogue:

Even now, the skin where the rash was is slightly discolored. I asked another doctor about it and he told me it was probably post-traumatic hyperpigmentation. Makes sense. The ankle is also still slightly swollen. A couple months after breaking my other ankle, some people couldn't tell which one I broke. As for the ankle breaking, that's a different tale that's more of an epic saga since it is still on-going after nearly 14 months.

---

Photos

Day 2
My leg just before going to the hospital.

Day 4
My leg after two day in the hospital.

Day 5
My leg after three days in the hospital.

Day 9
My leg on the day I was released from the hospital.

Day 16
My leg just after being told to go swimming.