Today was the day for my annual gynecological visit. I don't mind this, since given my medical history, I am happy that drs are paying attention to how I am doing. Plus, having to only have an annual appointment seems a treat, since for so many years, I had to go fairly often.
My gynecologist is a wonderful woman, too, so that helps. She is personable, but also very thorough and really pays attention - not just medically, but otherwise. Except for the obvious medical part of the visit, it's like checking in with a friend. I know when I had surgery, one of the nurses told me that she was a patient, and that a lot of the other nurses went to this gynecologist as well. Seems to me that a recommendation from nurses is a pretty good thing for a doctor, right?
Fortunately, today I got a good report, and unless something unexpected happens, I don't have to see her again until next summer. I'll take it.
The down side was making my way there in the heat and humidity. Because I know that I have a hard time with it, I try to take my time getting from one place to the other in weather like this. I had my sunscreen on, and my humongous hat and sunglasses. I'm sure people who saw me thought I was a celebrity ...
The other thing I did was take a bottle of cold water with me. By the time I got to the dr's office, it was nearly empty, but it definitely helped. Most people think that winter is hard, since you have to wear so many layers of clothing, but it takes me just as long to get organized to go in the severe summer weather!
The other good news is that I don't have another appointment with any drs until September, so the rest of the summer I don't even have to think about it. And that is the best news of all!
Stay cool, and don't forget to take care of yourself.
Showing posts with label medical-stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medical-stuff. Show all posts
20 July 2015
20 June 2014
Karma
Now that the weather is getting warmer, it's time to pack away my tights until next year. I know some people still wear them during the summer, but I am so incredibly heat sensitive, I would pass out if I wore them.
I have pantyhose, but a) they are not comfortable in the summer either, and b) apparently they are a big NO as far as style. Not really a problem as far as I'm concerned, since I am all about being comfortable when I think the weather isn't.
Every year though, I feel really self-conscious about my legs. Not because they aren't perfect as far as shape, size, etc., but because I have so many varicose veins. I used to try self-tanner, but then decided that it was too much work to use it all of the time, when I was not necessarily wearing shorts or dresses all of the time. (Laziness kicks in quickly for me.) I have worn shorts or dresses a lot with my pasty-white, bruised, and varicose vein-y legs and lived, but I do feel very self-conscious about it, particularly when I am going to work or out someplace.
So this year, I decided that for the most part, I would do my best to just "own" it, and for the times I was going out or going to work, and wanted to wear a dress, I'd try this:
I'm willing to make the effort now and then, just not every day. This seemed like a reasonable attempt on my part to somewhat calm my self-consciousness. So I bought a tube at a local CVS this past Monday.
That evening, I took Dug the Doodle Dog out for his evening walk, and it was so pleasant, with a nice breeze. We were going along on our way home nicely. Then all of a sudden, I woke up and I was lying in the middle of the street, with him sitting next to me. I sat up, and saw that my glasses were broken, and I was covered in blood, and bleeding. A woman brought a towel over, and was trying to help me, and a young man came up and asked if he could call someone for me (I was with it enough to give him the number for The Tim at work). Another lady was kind enough to drive me and Dug home for The Tim to meet us there.
So when he got home about two seconds after I did, we headed over the ER at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, which is really near our house. They of course took me back to a room immediately. Since I couldn't remember anything about what happened, they wanted to keep me overnight for observation and do a bunch of tests. I got ten stitches in my upper right lip, some inside, some outside. I broke off part of a front tooth. There were no observation rooms available, so I spent the next 24 hours in my ER room. I had approximately 1,000 tests of all kinds, was poked, prodded, questioned, had blood drawn and my temperature taken approximately 100 times, and finally they let me go home.
Coming home and taking a shower - washing off the dried blood and cinders from the street - was one of the best things ever. I still hurt, I missed a week of work which pains me since I already planned to be out next week, but I am OK. I look much better than I did a few days ago, but would still likely frighten small children.
And though I will feel self-conscious about some of my injuries for a while, I think I should be fine. However, I don't think there are enough tubes of the product above in existence to cover my "flaws" now!
And that, my friends, is called Karma. :-)
I have pantyhose, but a) they are not comfortable in the summer either, and b) apparently they are a big NO as far as style. Not really a problem as far as I'm concerned, since I am all about being comfortable when I think the weather isn't.
Every year though, I feel really self-conscious about my legs. Not because they aren't perfect as far as shape, size, etc., but because I have so many varicose veins. I used to try self-tanner, but then decided that it was too much work to use it all of the time, when I was not necessarily wearing shorts or dresses all of the time. (Laziness kicks in quickly for me.) I have worn shorts or dresses a lot with my pasty-white, bruised, and varicose vein-y legs and lived, but I do feel very self-conscious about it, particularly when I am going to work or out someplace.
So this year, I decided that for the most part, I would do my best to just "own" it, and for the times I was going out or going to work, and wanted to wear a dress, I'd try this:
I'm willing to make the effort now and then, just not every day. This seemed like a reasonable attempt on my part to somewhat calm my self-consciousness. So I bought a tube at a local CVS this past Monday.
That evening, I took Dug the Doodle Dog out for his evening walk, and it was so pleasant, with a nice breeze. We were going along on our way home nicely. Then all of a sudden, I woke up and I was lying in the middle of the street, with him sitting next to me. I sat up, and saw that my glasses were broken, and I was covered in blood, and bleeding. A woman brought a towel over, and was trying to help me, and a young man came up and asked if he could call someone for me (I was with it enough to give him the number for The Tim at work). Another lady was kind enough to drive me and Dug home for The Tim to meet us there.
So when he got home about two seconds after I did, we headed over the ER at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, which is really near our house. They of course took me back to a room immediately. Since I couldn't remember anything about what happened, they wanted to keep me overnight for observation and do a bunch of tests. I got ten stitches in my upper right lip, some inside, some outside. I broke off part of a front tooth. There were no observation rooms available, so I spent the next 24 hours in my ER room. I had approximately 1,000 tests of all kinds, was poked, prodded, questioned, had blood drawn and my temperature taken approximately 100 times, and finally they let me go home.
Coming home and taking a shower - washing off the dried blood and cinders from the street - was one of the best things ever. I still hurt, I missed a week of work which pains me since I already planned to be out next week, but I am OK. I look much better than I did a few days ago, but would still likely frighten small children.
And though I will feel self-conscious about some of my injuries for a while, I think I should be fine. However, I don't think there are enough tubes of the product above in existence to cover my "flaws" now!
And that, my friends, is called Karma. :-)
On the bright side, I did get to wear every armband available ...
15 October 2013
No, Really
Remember this post? Well, today was the day. I have fasted for TWO days (apparently I have an extra long colon, so it needs more time to "clean out"), and made myself sick drinking the prep mixture they gave me.
And you know what? I threw up four times last night, but that was all. Which meant that I had to cancel the whole thing first thing this morning. Which means I fasted for two days, made myself sick, lost lots of sleep, and missed a day of work for what turned out to be a non-event.
Eventually, things started "moving" as they should, but not in any way that makes it helpful for someone trying to have a colonoscopy. Let's just leave it at that, as far as descriptive things go, shall we?
When I called to cancel, the nurse said she would talk to the doctor and they would get back to me as to how we should proceed. Frankly, I'm not interested in doing this until it finally "works." The last time, it took six different attempts before there was a successful one. And then, I had to fast for FOUR days, and use a different prep each night. Yes, it worked, but I missed work after that for a week, since I was sick and weak from the whole prep. I don't really want to go down that road again (plus after having shingles, I have no more sick time), so I hope there is some other option.
You would think with all of the advances in medicine, there would be some simpler way to have someone get ready for this particular procedure. I've been wondering, for instance, if there is some alternative/natural prep that could be tried.
In the meantime, I'm annoyed and frustrated.
However, life goes on, so next time I'll try to have something good to talk about!
And you know what? I threw up four times last night, but that was all. Which meant that I had to cancel the whole thing first thing this morning. Which means I fasted for two days, made myself sick, lost lots of sleep, and missed a day of work for what turned out to be a non-event.
Eventually, things started "moving" as they should, but not in any way that makes it helpful for someone trying to have a colonoscopy. Let's just leave it at that, as far as descriptive things go, shall we?
When I called to cancel, the nurse said she would talk to the doctor and they would get back to me as to how we should proceed. Frankly, I'm not interested in doing this until it finally "works." The last time, it took six different attempts before there was a successful one. And then, I had to fast for FOUR days, and use a different prep each night. Yes, it worked, but I missed work after that for a week, since I was sick and weak from the whole prep. I don't really want to go down that road again (plus after having shingles, I have no more sick time), so I hope there is some other option.
You would think with all of the advances in medicine, there would be some simpler way to have someone get ready for this particular procedure. I've been wondering, for instance, if there is some alternative/natural prep that could be tried.
In the meantime, I'm annoyed and frustrated.
Kinda like her.
However, life goes on, so next time I'll try to have something good to talk about!
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