Category Archives: Health

More Tales from the Doctor’s Office

Posted on by

Dr. Awesome’s nurse lacks basic people skills and today, I finally had it with her.Â? She seems to be in a really foul mood much of the time and today was no exception.Â? She refused to let me finish a sentence when she was asking what I was being seen for; she got totally affronted and b*tched me out when I asked if all my records had been faxed to Dr. ENT (which was a good question because one chart note WASN’T because it hadn’t been dictated yet and it was with Dr. Awesome’s husband Dr. Fabulous); and when I told her that part of the visit was because I was hellishly depressed (as happens when I’m severely sick/injured), she asked me nastily if I was taking my medication.Â? (No… I went off it cold turkey.Â? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK, B*TCH?!?!?!?!?!?)

I told Dr. Awesome about how irritated I was at her nurse and she handed me a piece of paper with the name and phone number of the clinic administrator.Â? (I talked to her later this afternoon and she apologized for the nurse’s behavior, asking me to put my complaint in writing so it could be documented for said nurse’s file and gone over with her.)

Meanwhile, my quarterly bloodwork (the main reason for the visit) came back crappy (not unexpected) and instead of making me change meds, Dr. Awesome agreed to let me get my diet/exercise (which has been bad due to being so freaking sick) back under control and re-evaluate in three months.Â? She did look in my ears (which feel like someone is stabbing into them) and my nose/throat and while everything looked normal, she did tell me that she had no doubt that I was in pain.Â? For the depression, I asked for samples of my med at half the dose so that I can take the extra while we’re getting the sinus crap worked out and she gave me 5 weeks worth (I’d asked for two weeks so I’m happy).

As Jon and I are pondering the idea of having kids, I brought up the question of what to switch out my meds for if/when I get pregnant because a bunch of my stuff is schedule C.Â? She actually went to her office, brought out her pharmacopeia book, and spent another 15-20 minutes going through it with me.Â? I feel guilty because I know I knocked her off-schedule but I really appreciate that she took that time to work with me on it.Â? (She’s also certified as an OB so if I do get pregnant, I don’t have to find an additional doctor.)

So… I’m back on the gorilla-dose of antibiotics (in the words of Dr. Fabulous who I would also totally see for an OB and would see if Dr. Awesome wasn’t there) and God-willing, my ENT (who I actually worked with two years ago at the clinic) will find out what’s making me so sick and miserable.

And now… back to lying with my head on a hot water bottle.

Sigh…

Posted on by

This should be common knowledge but…

You really shouldn’t comment on a woman’s pregnancy unless you know for certain that she’s pregnant.Â? Just sayin’.

(Of course someone didn’t comment to me yesterday about the reason I looked sick being that the first pregnancy is always the hardest.Â? Nooooo… And of course I didn’t have to resist the urge to throw one of the clinic chairs at them.)

On the other hand, my sinuses are finally decongesting and I’m not pondering the idea of stabbing them out with screwdrivers at the moment.Â? (My ears on the other hand…)

Some Sage Advice

Posted on by

I’m having issues with my laptop so I called my tech support person (a.k.a. my mommy) who gave me the following words of encouragement:

“There is no computer problem that cannot be solved with 300 feet of salt water.”

How true.

Meanwhile, I’m going to go stab my sinuses out with a screwdriver.Â? Carry on.

Happenings in Life on the Prairie

Posted on by

I haven’t updated all that much lately because I had (well… still have) a sinus infection that has pretty well drained me of all my energy, caused nausea, caused insomnia, and has just made me feel like someone hit me with a Mack truck.Â? I missed half of last Friday after I started vomiting uncontrollably at work and had to get my tail down to the clinic and I missed yesterday because I woke up (after 9 hours of sleep) feeling congested and nauseous.

So… here are the things happening lately that seem to be on my mind.

[+] To those who are going nuclear about Barack Obama’s comments on small towns: Unless YOU live in a small town, spare me your self-righteous indignation until he actually insults YOUR way of life. I mean, seriously, people might find his comments “elitist” but… I’ve read comments from people in Pennsylvania towns who actually AGREE with him. (I can agree with much of it given where I live.) Hilary actually comes off as “Pollyanna-ish” to a lot of people which makes it seem like she’s less understanding of the issues we face in small towns than Obama is.

[+] I’ve been listening to a lot of really great podcasts from Speaking of Faith lately that have been intellectually stimulating and have given my brain something constructive to do while I work. Some of the better ones have been conversations with Ingrid Mattson and Leila Ahmed on Islam, Joe Carter on African-American spirituals, Jimmy Carter on his faith life, Chaplain John Morris on the soul of war, and Krista Tippett herself on how her faith life. They have podcasts on other issues of ethics and faith but I’ll admit I have just stuck to ones that interest me or ones that match my beliefs.

[+] Apparently Mother Nature is displeased with those of us in Big Sky Country (well… the Pacific Northwest in general) because we’ve got a winter storm tearing through and we’re supposed to get 6-12 inches of snow here on the prairie.Â? I was skeptical at first but it might actually happen given the rate of snowfall at the moment and the lack of visibility out the window of my study.Â? This is going to probably wreck my commute on Monday but into every life a little rain snow must fall.

[+] Dooce.Com has introduced me to another snarky ex-Mormon blogger in SLC: Sarah Nielson.Â? She’s definitely less vitriolic than Heather but still sarcastic in a brilliant way.Â? I guess she’s another one to add to my Bloglines?

I Am Ninja! Rawr!

Posted on by

Pretend that there’s a lovely picture of Edda, OK?

For the last two weeks or so, I’ve been getting up at 6 and doing taebo.Â? I started with the Basic tape again and switched back to Advanced after a couple days — Basic is a good workout but Advanced is more fun.Â? 🙂

The interesting thing is that if I don’t drag my butt out of bed and do it, I miss it and I can’t wait until the evening when I can do a Basic one.Â? It’s funny because I HATE getting up and yet I’ll drag myself out of bed to do this before work.

Oh yes… 3 weeks without soda.Â? My A1C had better darn well be good this time!!!!

Praying for Me

Posted on by

Jenny, bless her heart, left me a comment on my last post asking how she could pray for me. That was pretty humbling given that she’s going through some pretty tough stuff as well.

As far as praying for me, I’m doing OK right now — bad weeks happen and like all things, they too shall pass.Â? If you want to pray, pray that my meds keep working and that the shadow times are few and far between.Â? When I’m in the midst of those times, just pray that I see God’s presence close to me and don’t despair.