Akume has no sense of direction, and why doctors continue to suck.
My store has these really nice walking sticks for sale as you walk inside. They're very pretty polished wood, about a good four feet long. Some of them have a small compass set in the very top of the stick.
I need one.
I had an appointment with my newest doctor today, a pulmonary specialist - i.e. lung and sleep specialist. I got up on time, got ready, and checked my bus book one last time, grabbed my all-day pass, and headed out the door. I caught my bus, and settled in to wait for the stop I needed to catch the next bus that would take me to my appointment.
About the time we were driving past the freeway, I realized something was wrong. When I hit the mall where purplestripe66 works, I was pretty much going 'Aw, fuck. >.<'
So I asked the driver how to get the street I needed. He told me I was going the wrong way, waved a hand vaguely at the three buses parked ahead of us and said that any one of them would take me there. And then he told me he was going on his lunch break.
It took me about fifteen minutes to find and translate the list of buses and stops for where I was and figure out what I needed and where. Right as I did, one of the ones I could take drove off. -_-;; So I hesitantly went to the other bus, and asked the driver if it was going to the street I needed. He assured me it was, but it wouldn't leave for another fifteen minutes but I was welcome to sit down on board while I waited for him. I thanked him profusely.
Of course, while I was waiting, the bus I'd first been on drove past, heading back the way I needed to be going. >.<+++
I did, eventually, find my way to where I was supposed to be, although I was a good forty minutes late to my appointment. The office assistants were very nice about it, telling me 'oh you poor thing!' when I explained where I'd come from and where I'd ended up. They'd thought I was being funny when I exclaimed 'I finally found you!' as I walked in the door. They were very sympathetic once they understood I wasn't.
My appointment itself on the other hand, was ...
.<'>First, the assistant took my vitals and had me do a PT Test. Apparently this is the test where they have you hold this thing up to your mouth and breathe into it several times. Then they spray this nasty stuff into your mouth and make you do it again. It made my chest hurt a little after I was done, 'cause deep breathing has never been one of my strong points.
Roughly another ten to fifteen minutes later - I was busy entertaining myself by taking random pictures with my camera of the closet they'd stuck me in instead of looking at my watch - my doctor came in. My first impression of him was that he reminded me of Weird Al Yankovitch in the Amish Paradise music video. -Feels bad- I think it was the beard. And the baldness.
We talked for a few minutes. Apparently my PT Test was great, and my breathing and vitals were all good. We were going over the medications I take - or don't take as of yesterday - and I ended up having to explain why I was on seizure medication, how my seizures started, and why I'm not on it anymore. He seemed to think my neurologist was an idiot, although he didn't say it in so many words. I tried to explain the reasons I was there: first, because of the pulmonary nodule in my lungs, and second, because of the intense chest pain I've gotten three times now without reason. He brushed off the nodule, saying it was probably a scar from Valley Fever which ... I have never heard of. And he didn't explain when I asked. (Ruby later told me it's a local disease that has something to do with dust and varies from something like a cold to hospitalization. Seeing as I moved to this area last August, I'm kind of skeptical that this is what it is.) He ignored the chest pain too, talking more about my seizures and if I'd had a sleep study done before. We even discussed the torn ligament in my knee and how I got that. Then he grinned when he recognized the name of my general doctor, saying he was a good guy.
By that point I was getting annoyed, so I said 'Yeah, he's really great at talking me into things I don't want to do.' He gave me this amused look and said 'Like eating right?' I kind of stared at him, and said 'Actually I was thinking of when I had that chest pain I was talking about while I was sitting in his office waiting for my ride home, and the office assistants noticed something was wrong with me and made me come back so he could take a look. He talked me into letting them put me on oxygen and call an ambulance, and then he helped the EMTs talk me into going to the ER. That's where they gave me that test with the iodine that hurt a lot, which is how they found the nodule.'
He went back to talking about my test results. >.<
As of right now, I have a prescription for that medication they gave me during the PT Test, although I'm not real crazy about taking it, and I think the only reason he gave it to me is because I was trying to argue that my chest still kind of hurt from the PT Test since he was ignoring everything else I had to say about my chest pain. I also have a prescription for some bloodwork to see if I've had Valley Fever (Yay, another visit to the vampires ... ), and in a couple weeks, someone's supposed to call me about setting up a sleep study. Which I'm not entirely sure is because I mentioned I've been told awhile ago that I have sleep apnea, because of my seizures, or because he thought I was whining too much about my health problems, because he seemed kind of irritated by that point. I also have another appointment with him set up for June, to see how the medication is working and how the tests came out.
Honestly, I'm not sure if I want to see this guy again. I don't know who I'd talk to about it (especially considering the state health insurance I have limits who I'm allowed to see), but I really don't feel like he was taking me seriously at all. He seemed to brush off all the stuff I was concerned about, and I *really* don't like that. That's how I ended up with half the problems I have. >.<
I don't know, though. I'll have to think about it.
Either way, my chest still hurts. >.O
I need one.
I had an appointment with my newest doctor today, a pulmonary specialist - i.e. lung and sleep specialist. I got up on time, got ready, and checked my bus book one last time, grabbed my all-day pass, and headed out the door. I caught my bus, and settled in to wait for the stop I needed to catch the next bus that would take me to my appointment.
About the time we were driving past the freeway, I realized something was wrong. When I hit the mall where purplestripe66 works, I was pretty much going 'Aw, fuck. >.<'
So I asked the driver how to get the street I needed. He told me I was going the wrong way, waved a hand vaguely at the three buses parked ahead of us and said that any one of them would take me there. And then he told me he was going on his lunch break.
It took me about fifteen minutes to find and translate the list of buses and stops for where I was and figure out what I needed and where. Right as I did, one of the ones I could take drove off. -_-;; So I hesitantly went to the other bus, and asked the driver if it was going to the street I needed. He assured me it was, but it wouldn't leave for another fifteen minutes but I was welcome to sit down on board while I waited for him. I thanked him profusely.
Of course, while I was waiting, the bus I'd first been on drove past, heading back the way I needed to be going. >.<+++
I did, eventually, find my way to where I was supposed to be, although I was a good forty minutes late to my appointment. The office assistants were very nice about it, telling me 'oh you poor thing!' when I explained where I'd come from and where I'd ended up. They'd thought I was being funny when I exclaimed 'I finally found you!' as I walked in the door. They were very sympathetic once they understood I wasn't.
My appointment itself on the other hand, was ...
.<'>First, the assistant took my vitals and had me do a PT Test. Apparently this is the test where they have you hold this thing up to your mouth and breathe into it several times. Then they spray this nasty stuff into your mouth and make you do it again. It made my chest hurt a little after I was done, 'cause deep breathing has never been one of my strong points.
Roughly another ten to fifteen minutes later - I was busy entertaining myself by taking random pictures with my camera of the closet they'd stuck me in instead of looking at my watch - my doctor came in. My first impression of him was that he reminded me of Weird Al Yankovitch in the Amish Paradise music video. -Feels bad- I think it was the beard. And the baldness.
We talked for a few minutes. Apparently my PT Test was great, and my breathing and vitals were all good. We were going over the medications I take - or don't take as of yesterday - and I ended up having to explain why I was on seizure medication, how my seizures started, and why I'm not on it anymore. He seemed to think my neurologist was an idiot, although he didn't say it in so many words. I tried to explain the reasons I was there: first, because of the pulmonary nodule in my lungs, and second, because of the intense chest pain I've gotten three times now without reason. He brushed off the nodule, saying it was probably a scar from Valley Fever which ... I have never heard of. And he didn't explain when I asked. (Ruby later told me it's a local disease that has something to do with dust and varies from something like a cold to hospitalization. Seeing as I moved to this area last August, I'm kind of skeptical that this is what it is.) He ignored the chest pain too, talking more about my seizures and if I'd had a sleep study done before. We even discussed the torn ligament in my knee and how I got that. Then he grinned when he recognized the name of my general doctor, saying he was a good guy.
By that point I was getting annoyed, so I said 'Yeah, he's really great at talking me into things I don't want to do.' He gave me this amused look and said 'Like eating right?' I kind of stared at him, and said 'Actually I was thinking of when I had that chest pain I was talking about while I was sitting in his office waiting for my ride home, and the office assistants noticed something was wrong with me and made me come back so he could take a look. He talked me into letting them put me on oxygen and call an ambulance, and then he helped the EMTs talk me into going to the ER. That's where they gave me that test with the iodine that hurt a lot, which is how they found the nodule.'
He went back to talking about my test results. >.<
As of right now, I have a prescription for that medication they gave me during the PT Test, although I'm not real crazy about taking it, and I think the only reason he gave it to me is because I was trying to argue that my chest still kind of hurt from the PT Test since he was ignoring everything else I had to say about my chest pain. I also have a prescription for some bloodwork to see if I've had Valley Fever (Yay, another visit to the vampires ... ), and in a couple weeks, someone's supposed to call me about setting up a sleep study. Which I'm not entirely sure is because I mentioned I've been told awhile ago that I have sleep apnea, because of my seizures, or because he thought I was whining too much about my health problems, because he seemed kind of irritated by that point. I also have another appointment with him set up for June, to see how the medication is working and how the tests came out.
Honestly, I'm not sure if I want to see this guy again. I don't know who I'd talk to about it (especially considering the state health insurance I have limits who I'm allowed to see), but I really don't feel like he was taking me seriously at all. He seemed to brush off all the stuff I was concerned about, and I *really* don't like that. That's how I ended up with half the problems I have. >.<
I don't know, though. I'll have to think about it.
Either way, my chest still hurts. >.O