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There and back again--eventually
May. 8th, 2004 11:12 amBack in December I went to see Gyno Guy for the Annual Perpetration of Indignities, at which time he was all shocked that I hadn't had any bloodwork done since April 2002 [which confirmed the arthritis diagnosis]. Some more was done in mid-December, & we got the results a month later.
When I went to see Arthro Guy in March, I showed him the lab work, & he nearly blew a gasket. Apparently, 10.97 is high for a C-Reactive Protein test. He put me on one baby aspirin a day to help with that. The problem is, it counteracts the celebrex; where I had been able to cut back to one celebrex a day for several weeks, with the aspirin, I'm back up to two a day & still having stiffer hands [yes, even before signing up for this website ;)].
Since Rheumo's Guy's office had failed to call to confirm the appointment the day before, I called them yesterday morning. Although they tried to tell me the appointment had been at 9, the office reluctantly conceded that it was actually for 11.
Packing the new Deirdre Flint cds and the Patricia Wrede _Enchanted Forest Chronicles_ [a 4-in-1 omnibus, sayeth one wise in the ways of doctors' offices' waiting-rooms], I fared forth & found more adventure than initially looked-for.
"The gas is low in the blue car," said Himself the night before, "but it should hold you there and back." Yeah, right; tell that to the gas light I only noticed upon pulling into the parking lot [that was some *yummy* music!].
Some 50 pages later, I was called back. The weight was down a couple of pounds, but the blood pressure was up: 140/70, & we *know* it was a resting pulse. Since I'm more used to numbers in the 98-120 range, that was vaguely alarming.
What with the eye exam, the labwork & the aspirin, I had more to tell Rheumo Guy than usual. When he mentioned that the C-RP had been 1.76 only two years previously, that was specifically alarming. He ordered another C-RP test [to see if anything had changed in the last 4 months] and a liver test [to see if the celebrex I've been on for two years has damaged it]. That was the fastest brush-off I've ever gotten there.
The office person didn't have an address card for the lab place & gave only vague directions--"the red brick building behind the QuickTrip" indeed! Still, near a gas station sounded *real* good at that point.
I made it to the gas station & didn't run out of gas, even when multiple people jumped in line at the pumps. Then, trying to pay, one person held up a whole line of almost 10 people, because she wanted cigarettes, & the clerk had to go to the back to get them. Once Madame Smoker was taken care of, half a dozen of us in quick succession paid down our cash & were out of there.
Although there were many "red brick buildings behind the Quick Trip", I eventually found the right one. Actually, I was in and out of there amazingly fast, considering what I'm used to. Then came the realization that, in his haste to brush me off, Rheumo Guy had forgotten the plaquenil prescription. I got to go back & wait around 15 minutes or so for it.
Since it was right on the way, [ever notice how, no matter where you are, it is *always* "right on the way"] I stopped in at the library to reserve some books & thence to the post office to mail some things & pick up himself's mail from the PO box & finally home. All that running around, & it had still taken less time & left me with more to show for the time that Tuesday's traumatic eye exam.
Best of all, I'd gotten to hear most of the "Then Again" cd. I plan to listen to the rest & the other Deirdre Flint cd en route to and from the Atlanta Science Fiction Society meeting today. They're a fun group to socialize with. Some of us usually go to a nearby buffet for dinner afterwards, which will also be fun, especially if [Bujold] listie Dawn Benton is involved.
I'm also in hopes of lab results in the next few days. If the number has gone down in two months on the aspirin, that'd be the most fun of all.
When I went to see Arthro Guy in March, I showed him the lab work, & he nearly blew a gasket. Apparently, 10.97 is high for a C-Reactive Protein test.
Since Rheumo's Guy's office had failed to call to confirm the appointment the day before, I called them yesterday morning. Although they tried to tell me the appointment had been at 9, the office reluctantly conceded that it was actually for 11.
Packing the new Deirdre Flint cds and the Patricia Wrede _Enchanted Forest Chronicles_ [a 4-in-1 omnibus, sayeth one wise in the ways of doctors' offices' waiting-rooms], I fared forth & found more adventure than initially looked-for.
"The gas is low in the blue car," said Himself the night before, "but it should hold you there and back." Yeah, right; tell that to the gas light I only noticed upon pulling into the parking lot [that was some *yummy* music!].
Some 50 pages later, I was called back. The weight was down a couple of pounds, but the blood pressure was up: 140/70, & we *know* it was a resting pulse. Since I'm more used to numbers in the 98-120 range, that was vaguely alarming.
What with the eye exam, the labwork & the aspirin, I had more to tell Rheumo Guy than usual. When he mentioned that the C-RP had been 1.76 only two years previously, that was specifically alarming. He ordered another C-RP test [to see if anything had changed in the last 4 months] and a liver test [to see if the celebrex I've been on for two years has damaged it]. That was the fastest brush-off I've ever gotten there.
The office person didn't have an address card for the lab place & gave only vague directions--"the red brick building behind the QuickTrip" indeed! Still, near a gas station sounded *real* good at that point.
I made it to the gas station & didn't run out of gas, even when multiple people jumped in line at the pumps. Then, trying to pay, one person held up a whole line of almost 10 people, because she wanted cigarettes, & the clerk had to go to the back to get them. Once Madame Smoker was taken care of, half a dozen of us in quick succession paid down our cash & were out of there.
Although there were many "red brick buildings behind the Quick Trip", I eventually found the right one. Actually, I was in and out of there amazingly fast, considering what I'm used to. Then came the realization that, in his haste to brush me off, Rheumo Guy had forgotten the plaquenil prescription. I got to go back & wait around 15 minutes or so for it.
Since it was right on the way, [ever notice how, no matter where you are, it is *always* "right on the way"] I stopped in at the library to reserve some books & thence to the post office to mail some things & pick up himself's mail from the PO box & finally home. All that running around, & it had still taken less time & left me with more to show for the time that Tuesday's traumatic eye exam.
Best of all, I'd gotten to hear most of the "Then Again" cd. I plan to listen to the rest & the other Deirdre Flint cd en route to and from the Atlanta Science Fiction Society meeting today. They're a fun group to socialize with. Some of us usually go to a nearby buffet for dinner afterwards, which will also be fun, especially if [Bujold] listie Dawn Benton is involved.
I'm also in hopes of lab results in the next few days. If the number has gone down in two months on the aspirin, that'd be the most fun of all.
