I raced out of a meeting this afternoon, so I could be on time for my appointment with my physician. Stephen. I have blogged about him before, when he saved my life.
Well, maybe not that dramatic. When he made me slow down and stop stressing over things I could not control. That's what he did. Well, that and some medications for hypertension. And now, over two years later, I am doing much better. I haven't even had lab work done since 2008.
As Theresa led me to the exam room, she asked when my last labs were done. Then she looked it up in my chart: November, 2008. “That's too long ago....” she said. I just shook my head in agreement.
I sat in the exam room, waiting for Stephen, for over half an hour. I could hear him, in the next room, talking to the woman about her diabetes. I had to smile. I don't mind waiting my turn if he is taking his time with his patients. After all, isn't that what we all want from our physician? His time? And answers to our questions?
I did wait in there for quite some time. In fact, I had time to play Sudoku on my iPhone for awhile. Then, when I got tired of that, I downloaded Facebook to my phone, went to my Home page, read what everybody was doing, and posted my own message on my “Wall”......Sitting in the doctor's office.....for more than half an hour! Glad I brought my iPhone!
Of course, he walked in just as I posted it, so I had to let him read it.
And so, we talked. For an hour. He was telling me about “the earliest medical record”......and then, the “arpanet”.....all the while, he was taking my blood pressure. “What did you get? For my blood pressure?” I would ask him. He looked on my chart. No, he didn't write it down. And he took it again.
When he finished listening to my pressure, he took off again on the subject we were discussing. Again, I asked what my blood pressure was, and again he frowned at me and picked up the cuff to take it again.
Finally, the third time he took it, he wrote it down. We both frowned: 150/80. That's high, for me. I smiled at him and told him it was because he kept taking my pressure and forgetting to write it down. He said “you're probably right.”
Finally, we got down to brass tacks. My back has been bothering me, for about a month. Not my spine, the muscles over my right flank. He asked what I have been doing and I told him: taking care of patients in low beds in their homes....I have had three patients with wound vacs, requiring about 45 minutes of bending over the patient in the bed, three times a week.
“Do you want some time off work to let it heal?” No
“Do you want an MRI?” No
“Do you want to try physical therapy?” No
“Okay, what DO you want?” Pills, Stephen, I want pills.
I don't want to miss work, or go on “light duty”, I just want my back to quit hurting. And, if I can break the pain cycle with a muscle relaxant, I think that will do it. Well, that and heat and massage, all of which I am already doing.
He gave me samples of a fairly commonly used muscle relaxant. I am supposed to take it four times a day. I told him I won't do that: I have to drive a car all day and I can't afford to be sleepy. So we agreed: I will take them at night only. For now.
I am hoping it works. Getting drowsy at night is fine, during the day, not so much. And the other common side effect is irritability. But that won't be a problem, I don't think. I never get IRRITABLE!
Oh, and labs, Stephen. Theresa and I agree: I need to have labs done!
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