Every Friday Michelle Polacinski, a Floxie as well as the Director and Producer of ‘Floxed,’ sends out a newsletter to those who have subscribed to the ‘Floxed’ newsletter. The Floxed Friday updates are always interesting and thoughtful, and Michelle has given me permission to share them here. 
 
If you would like to receive the Floxed Friday updates directly from Michelle, please subscribe to the Floxed Documentary email list. You can subscribe through THIS LINK. Subscribing also helps Michelle to gain funding for the Floxed Documentary, and she doesn’t send out spam. 
 
The following was written by Michelle: 

I almost missed the Floxed Friday update this week because for the past few days, we have been applying to grants to finish post-production (and scheduling the rest of production – very exciting!) and I’ve been tending to my grandmother with her recent dementia episode.

Because of this, I’ve been in-and-out of the hospital, working from my phone. After getting floxed myself, I had PTSD, triggered any time I entered a hospital or even thought about a hospital. If you haven’t read my floxie story, it’s here, but TL;DR: (“too long, didn’t read” for those of you unfamiliar with internet culture), I had a horrendous experience admitted to one of the worst hospitals in Los Angeles while neurotoxic. Thanks to a ton of work with an amazing PTSD therapist, I am no longer triggered by hospitals. Still, it isn’t fun for anyone to spend three days in-and-out of one.

While waiting for a prescription antibiotic the other day (yes, I checked – it wasn’t a fluoroquinolone), I overheard someone at the window say “levofloxacin” to another patient. Although I’m not afraid of hospitals, anything with “-floxacin” makes my heart beat a little faster. I immediately questioned what to do.

Should I say something? We are in a hospital, it could be prescribed appropriately, but outpatient? Would saying something change anything or just make things worse? Would they believe me? Is it too late anyway? I didn’t even see who it was.

Sitting with my uncle, who had previously told me that a coworker of his takes Cipro regularly “with no side effects” and yes, he did tell him what happened to me, I figured that saying anything (which would violate HIPAA anyway) may not matter at all, so I sat in silence, impatiently tapping the chair. I’m already doing something. We’re making a film about this. It’s okay. They are explaining the side effects. Relax.

It’s frustrating to feel helpless in scenarios like these, especially considering you don’t want to be seen as the “crazy person” yelling at a complete stranger, telling them about that one drug that ruined your life with words like “mitochondria damage, tendonitis, and neurotoxicity,” even if that’s the first instinct. Yelling, making scenes, and applying a sense of urgency to your tone rarely makes anyone listen. Dare I say, it may hurt the cause.

Thankfully, during an interview with Dr. Joe Ketcherside, MD last week, we discussed possible solutions to end antibiotic misuse once-and-for-all. I want to tell you guys everything we discussed because as a former neurosurgeon, Joe has a lot of experience with antibiotics and a passion for change. He had a lot to say and even gave me a bit of hope. However, you will have to wait until the film is out!

Until then, we will be searching for funding so we can finish this thing and I will still visit hospitals regularly… unfortunately. If you would like to help in any way, feel free to email us.

Have a great weekend!

Best,

Michelle Polacinski
Floxie, Director, and Executive Producer of ‘Floxed’

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