Disgusting People

Busy days mean eating what you can, when you can. I had just shoveled in a large meal from Taco Bell when we got a call for a sick person. My stomach rolled as we navigated the streets to a small cul-de-sac on the other end of town. A woman is standing outside smoking as we arrive. Dispatch was busy so we got no info. "Are you my patient?" I ask, hopeful this will be an easy call. She shakes her head no and starts explaining how its not her fault. What is not her fault? I don't really care so I walk past her pretending to listen and in the front door. The smell assaults me as I walk in. The house is dirty. Not 'I haven't folded my laundry' or its been a few days since I vacuumed' dirty but years of filth and neglect dirty. The cobwebs in the corners have dirt hanging off them. There is literally no more room on the kitchen counter for another empty container, dirty dish or half rotten food. It is a scene from the show Hoarders, only with a path wide enough for his electric wheelchair to go through.

Sadly this is not the first house I have seen in this condition. The wheelchair is emitting an odor I know well too. Gangrene. My stomach rolls again. The woman at the door now says it has been two weeks since he has taken his shoes off. Hesitantly my eyes roll down to his feet. Among the misshapen toenails and different colored flesh I see an open wound on the top of his foot that is oozing. I look around the room a little more carefully. Blood and pus have been smeared on surfaces, doors and the TV. Two weeks? The woman replies it may have been more like a month. My stomach is losing the battle. I retreat to outside because I "forgot something" in the ambulance, my partner hot on my heals. We take some deep breathes and grab bandages. I put them on loosely and from as far away as I can. We help him to our bed and vacate the house as soon as possible. I figure his health is generally poor judging from the house and the kitchen. I start an IV and breathe through my mouth. "So two weeks?"I ask the poor old man. "You haven't taken your shoes off that long?" He shakes his head. "So, uh, does that mean you haven't showered in that long too?" He smiles at me, a huge grin.Food particles and who knows what else are caked on his teeth at least halfway up his teeth.

My stomach lost its battle.