In which Akume is too determined to accomplish things to actually be smart about how to do them.
So today, I had a doctor's appointment - with my general doctor - at 8:00am. Namely because I'd wanted to get it over with and out of the way for the day when I'd made the appointment.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a ride this time. Even better, the buses don't go that way. (Technically I could have taken it like, half a block in the direction I was going, which would have clearly been oh-so-helpful.) I recently learned that my state health insurance has started providing transportation for people who need to get to their appointments, which is *AWESOME*, but I didn't learn until *yesterday* that they needed three days advance notice.
...
-Sigh-
So, I walked. The office I was going to was just over two miles away, which isn't too bad. I got up early and left the house just after 6:30 to make sure I'd have plenty of time to get there, seeing as I've still been feeling a little crappy. According to the thermometer outside the front door, it was already 88 degrees by then.
I got to the doctor's just after 7:30 and sat on the bench, working on the water bottle I keep stashed in my messenger bag for days like this. Read a little from If the Buddha Got Stuck, which cheered me up a bit. Watched other patients rant and complain about the front door not being open yet (despite the fact that the office doesn't open 'til 8:00 and it still wasn't 8:00) and how it was 94 and too hot to be outside like this. I was seriously tempted to tell this lady that 90 degrees is *not* that hot - especially around here - and was she aware that it was supposed to get over 100 today? But they eventually opened up and the nurse apologetically let us inside, explaining that she hadn't realized the door was still locked. (I was the only one who said thank you, which made me feel bad for her.) I was also the first person to get to the sign up sheet, which means I was the first to get brought back, which was awesome.
The appointment was brief, but they usually are. My temperature was up .2 degrees, which I know is like nothing, but I'm usually a perfect 98.7. My doctor said he's pretty sure that I still have the pneumonia because my lungs 'sound a little junky in there', so he prescribed me more antibiotics, ordered a chest x-ray, and told me he wants me to go see my pulmonologist again. (I was thrilled, because this is the asshole doctor I don't like who tried to tell me all the chest pain I've been having is probably a result of 'desert fever'. And he's the one who's furthest away and requires taking the bus to get there. -Sighs-) He also warned me to come back immediately if I feel any worse or the antibiotics don't seem to be doing anything. So basically, I'm still not better, but hopefully I'm getting there.
The order for the chest x-ray they gave me had directions to the walk-in clinics they use on the back. I was looking at it as I left the office and realized the closest one was down the street I was on in the opposite direction. It didn't look that far away, and the alternative was to have to do this walk *again* another day. I said screw it and decided to go ahead and get it done now, since it was only 9:00 and it's not like I had any other plans for the day.
Note to Self: What looks 'not that far away' on a map in Arizona, is actually REALLY FUCKING FAR.
Okay, so it was really like just over a mile. But by this point it was getting hot. *I* was visibly sweating, and considering it has to be in the upper 90's-100's before I do that, let alone actually admit that it's hot out ... The street I was walking down also had very few trees, which made it even better. (I'm pretty sure all that endless white pavement is how my legs got sunburned, since they usually remain white as ever.) And there were restauraunts practically every few feet, which was fun because I was hungry and technically had money on me, but needed to save it for various medical things. It also sucked because I kept trying to sing along to my MP3 player, which is clearly a good idea when you have very little breath control. And anyone who's been in/been in love with music as long as I have knows that when you can't sing/play, it's like losing a limb. ;_;
I did, about another hour later, finally find the damn place. Turns out it was hiding in the back of the parking lot. But they were blessedly air conditioned. I signed in, watched a little boy who was trying to eat his crackers off the floor and and create havoc for his mother before beaming at me adorably and giggling, and idly watched TV while I cooled down. The lady who admitted me was shocked and appalled when I said 'Hot' in answer to her how are you, and then explained that I'd walked there. She entered all my information and insisted that I go cool off some more and have some water from the cooler they had in the corner, which was sweet of her. ♥
The guy who did my x-ray was cute. I liked this place, too. They had lockers for my stuff, and gave me a bagged hospital gown to put on for my x-ray - one of the nice gowns that ties on the side so you don't have to worry about showing the world your underwear. As the guy was leading me toward the room with the machine, he asked me if I might be pregnant, like they always do. I, as always, very firmly told him "Hell, no." From one of the rooms we were passing, I heard this lady crack up laughing and call out "I like that answer!", which made me grin. The x-ray was faster than it is in the hospitals, and he checked to make sure we didn't need any more before he let me go. It kind of hurt, but that's because you have to stand awkwardly during these things, breathe deeply and hold your breath, which is Super Fun when it's still kind of painful to breathe deeply. After that I was free to go, but I made sure to snag a couple more cups of water from the cooler first, since the bottle in my bag was already halfway gone by that point.
Surprisingly, the clinic seemed to have cooled me down enough that it wasn't quite as bad walking back, despite the fact that the walk home was a good three miles. On the way I got a call from this woman who's been trying to get ahold of me for like a week, who claims to be my case worker from my state-issued health insurance. (The idea that I even have one was totally news to me. o.O) She said that she'd noticed I'd been in the hospital recently and just wanted to check up on me and make sure I was okay. -Grins wryly- Which means I got to explain about the pneumonia, and how I was actually walking home from the doctor's office where I'd been following up on it. She was absolutely horrified, insisting that two miles is too far to walk in this heat *especially* when you have pneumonia, and demanded to know if I'd been aware that they do offer transportation now. Which meant I had to explain that I'd missed how much notice they needed, and assured her that normally I would not have picked to do this. (Although I'm kind of curious now to know how she would have reacted if I'd told her that I'd walked about four miles by that point and I wasn't even halfway home yet.) I also assured her that I *did* have water with me when she anxiously asked, and she promised to call me back later after I was home. I think I like her. -Amused-
Brother called a little while after that, and I ranted at him about life, the universe, and why walking around in this heat royally sucks when you already feel crappy for about a mile. I'd feel sorrier for him, but he vented at me about work last night, so. Besides, that's what siblings are for. -Smirks- I finally let him go when I hit Walgreens, shortly after informing him that it was now after 11:00am and 105 degrees, and I was going to go get my medication and lots of liquids now. His response was "*Shit*."
The pharmacist at Walgreens was a sweetheart. Initially she told me my prescription would be ready at 1:00, and I was like "Um ... what? Crap. I kind of needed it sooner than that, 'cause I have to walk home from here." (Namely because the idea of hanging out in Walgreens for two hours was only slightly more appealing than the idea of walking home and having to come *back*. x.x) So she promised she'd try to get it done faster for me. I wandered off to stock up on Mountain Dew and Starbucks and got a giant bottle of water for more immediate needs, then came back to sit and wait. Twenty minutes later, they had it done and ready for me. ♥ I apologized for being a pain, and she assured me that it was no problem. I forget exactly what was said, but basically it came out that I'd been walking around all morning and this was my last stop.She was like ' ... You've been walking around in *this* heat?" with this sort of stunned/horrified look. I shrugged it off and told her I'm used to it, and it was only just over half a mile more to go. She pointed at me warningly when I told her goodbye and warned me "Hydrate!" which made me laugh and assure her that I'd just bought some more water.
From that point it was a slow walk down the street, a brief stop to take a couple of really bad pictures of the duckling in the pond next to our street, and then walking through the park-like area where I took a short break to work on more of my new cold bottle of water and stare longingly at the pool. I was *almost* tempted to go home for my suit and see if I could find a way to break in through the gate, but it seemed like too much effort when I'd only come out half-drowned anyway. (I *can* swim, but water has never been my element. >.<) I checked the mail, and *FINALLY*, five and a half hours after I left this morning, made it home.
I managed to put my stuff in the fridge and took another ice-cold shower. Smeared sunscreen all over my arms in an effort to help my poor skin. My arms - from shoulders all the way down to the backs of my hands - and just below my neck are a shade of sunburnt I like to call 'deep-fried lobster', in which I'm so red that I've started to turn brown underneath the red. (I *already* hurt. REALLY wishing I had some aloe vera lotion right about now. x.x) Meanwhile my face is actually barely even pink except for one slightly red-ish cheek, mainly due to the fact that I had on sunglasses and a hat to keep my hair off my neck, and my legs have turned a couple of shades redder (judging by my sock line), with two bright red spots on top of my knees. I managed a Facebook post to let the people I'd been ranting at over text messages when I left the house this morning know that I'd made it home and was now planning to die, and then collapsed in bed with a fan on my face and slept for three hours.
So in summary, I'm probably still sick. The chest x-rays should or should not confirm this in a couple of days. Luckily, I just have to call a phone number to get the results instead of making another appointment, because my doctor's office is awesome like that. ♥ I am also exhausted, cranky (Although rosabelle and challon86 are swiftly cheering me up. -Scowls at them- ♥), and sunburnt to a shade of painful that made purplestripe66 actually stare at me and say "Whoa." with wide eyes.
Now I'm debating if I should end by day by torturing some Sims, taking TylenolPM and collapsing, or attempting to read for awhile. I'd try to write, but IMing with challon86 has already proven that I'm still not thinking very clearly at the moment. Either way, I am sooooo tired. x.x
Also, the Ball of Death is evil.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a ride this time. Even better, the buses don't go that way. (Technically I could have taken it like, half a block in the direction I was going, which would have clearly been oh-so-helpful.) I recently learned that my state health insurance has started providing transportation for people who need to get to their appointments, which is *AWESOME*, but I didn't learn until *yesterday* that they needed three days advance notice.
...
-Sigh-
So, I walked. The office I was going to was just over two miles away, which isn't too bad. I got up early and left the house just after 6:30 to make sure I'd have plenty of time to get there, seeing as I've still been feeling a little crappy. According to the thermometer outside the front door, it was already 88 degrees by then.
I got to the doctor's just after 7:30 and sat on the bench, working on the water bottle I keep stashed in my messenger bag for days like this. Read a little from If the Buddha Got Stuck, which cheered me up a bit. Watched other patients rant and complain about the front door not being open yet (despite the fact that the office doesn't open 'til 8:00 and it still wasn't 8:00) and how it was 94 and too hot to be outside like this. I was seriously tempted to tell this lady that 90 degrees is *not* that hot - especially around here - and was she aware that it was supposed to get over 100 today? But they eventually opened up and the nurse apologetically let us inside, explaining that she hadn't realized the door was still locked. (I was the only one who said thank you, which made me feel bad for her.) I was also the first person to get to the sign up sheet, which means I was the first to get brought back, which was awesome.
The appointment was brief, but they usually are. My temperature was up .2 degrees, which I know is like nothing, but I'm usually a perfect 98.7. My doctor said he's pretty sure that I still have the pneumonia because my lungs 'sound a little junky in there', so he prescribed me more antibiotics, ordered a chest x-ray, and told me he wants me to go see my pulmonologist again. (I was thrilled, because this is the asshole doctor I don't like who tried to tell me all the chest pain I've been having is probably a result of 'desert fever'. And he's the one who's furthest away and requires taking the bus to get there. -Sighs-) He also warned me to come back immediately if I feel any worse or the antibiotics don't seem to be doing anything. So basically, I'm still not better, but hopefully I'm getting there.
The order for the chest x-ray they gave me had directions to the walk-in clinics they use on the back. I was looking at it as I left the office and realized the closest one was down the street I was on in the opposite direction. It didn't look that far away, and the alternative was to have to do this walk *again* another day. I said screw it and decided to go ahead and get it done now, since it was only 9:00 and it's not like I had any other plans for the day.
Note to Self: What looks 'not that far away' on a map in Arizona, is actually REALLY FUCKING FAR.
Okay, so it was really like just over a mile. But by this point it was getting hot. *I* was visibly sweating, and considering it has to be in the upper 90's-100's before I do that, let alone actually admit that it's hot out ... The street I was walking down also had very few trees, which made it even better. (I'm pretty sure all that endless white pavement is how my legs got sunburned, since they usually remain white as ever.) And there were restauraunts practically every few feet, which was fun because I was hungry and technically had money on me, but needed to save it for various medical things. It also sucked because I kept trying to sing along to my MP3 player, which is clearly a good idea when you have very little breath control. And anyone who's been in/been in love with music as long as I have knows that when you can't sing/play, it's like losing a limb. ;_;
I did, about another hour later, finally find the damn place. Turns out it was hiding in the back of the parking lot. But they were blessedly air conditioned. I signed in, watched a little boy who was trying to eat his crackers off the floor and and create havoc for his mother before beaming at me adorably and giggling, and idly watched TV while I cooled down. The lady who admitted me was shocked and appalled when I said 'Hot' in answer to her how are you, and then explained that I'd walked there. She entered all my information and insisted that I go cool off some more and have some water from the cooler they had in the corner, which was sweet of her. ♥
The guy who did my x-ray was cute. I liked this place, too. They had lockers for my stuff, and gave me a bagged hospital gown to put on for my x-ray - one of the nice gowns that ties on the side so you don't have to worry about showing the world your underwear. As the guy was leading me toward the room with the machine, he asked me if I might be pregnant, like they always do. I, as always, very firmly told him "Hell, no." From one of the rooms we were passing, I heard this lady crack up laughing and call out "I like that answer!", which made me grin. The x-ray was faster than it is in the hospitals, and he checked to make sure we didn't need any more before he let me go. It kind of hurt, but that's because you have to stand awkwardly during these things, breathe deeply and hold your breath, which is Super Fun when it's still kind of painful to breathe deeply. After that I was free to go, but I made sure to snag a couple more cups of water from the cooler first, since the bottle in my bag was already halfway gone by that point.
Surprisingly, the clinic seemed to have cooled me down enough that it wasn't quite as bad walking back, despite the fact that the walk home was a good three miles. On the way I got a call from this woman who's been trying to get ahold of me for like a week, who claims to be my case worker from my state-issued health insurance. (The idea that I even have one was totally news to me. o.O) She said that she'd noticed I'd been in the hospital recently and just wanted to check up on me and make sure I was okay. -Grins wryly- Which means I got to explain about the pneumonia, and how I was actually walking home from the doctor's office where I'd been following up on it. She was absolutely horrified, insisting that two miles is too far to walk in this heat *especially* when you have pneumonia, and demanded to know if I'd been aware that they do offer transportation now. Which meant I had to explain that I'd missed how much notice they needed, and assured her that normally I would not have picked to do this. (Although I'm kind of curious now to know how she would have reacted if I'd told her that I'd walked about four miles by that point and I wasn't even halfway home yet.) I also assured her that I *did* have water with me when she anxiously asked, and she promised to call me back later after I was home. I think I like her. -Amused-
Brother called a little while after that, and I ranted at him about life, the universe, and why walking around in this heat royally sucks when you already feel crappy for about a mile. I'd feel sorrier for him, but he vented at me about work last night, so. Besides, that's what siblings are for. -Smirks- I finally let him go when I hit Walgreens, shortly after informing him that it was now after 11:00am and 105 degrees, and I was going to go get my medication and lots of liquids now. His response was "*Shit*."
The pharmacist at Walgreens was a sweetheart. Initially she told me my prescription would be ready at 1:00, and I was like "Um ... what? Crap. I kind of needed it sooner than that, 'cause I have to walk home from here." (Namely because the idea of hanging out in Walgreens for two hours was only slightly more appealing than the idea of walking home and having to come *back*. x.x) So she promised she'd try to get it done faster for me. I wandered off to stock up on Mountain Dew and Starbucks and got a giant bottle of water for more immediate needs, then came back to sit and wait. Twenty minutes later, they had it done and ready for me. ♥ I apologized for being a pain, and she assured me that it was no problem. I forget exactly what was said, but basically it came out that I'd been walking around all morning and this was my last stop.She was like ' ... You've been walking around in *this* heat?" with this sort of stunned/horrified look. I shrugged it off and told her I'm used to it, and it was only just over half a mile more to go. She pointed at me warningly when I told her goodbye and warned me "Hydrate!" which made me laugh and assure her that I'd just bought some more water.
From that point it was a slow walk down the street, a brief stop to take a couple of really bad pictures of the duckling in the pond next to our street, and then walking through the park-like area where I took a short break to work on more of my new cold bottle of water and stare longingly at the pool. I was *almost* tempted to go home for my suit and see if I could find a way to break in through the gate, but it seemed like too much effort when I'd only come out half-drowned anyway. (I *can* swim, but water has never been my element. >.<) I checked the mail, and *FINALLY*, five and a half hours after I left this morning, made it home.
I managed to put my stuff in the fridge and took another ice-cold shower. Smeared sunscreen all over my arms in an effort to help my poor skin. My arms - from shoulders all the way down to the backs of my hands - and just below my neck are a shade of sunburnt I like to call 'deep-fried lobster', in which I'm so red that I've started to turn brown underneath the red. (I *already* hurt. REALLY wishing I had some aloe vera lotion right about now. x.x) Meanwhile my face is actually barely even pink except for one slightly red-ish cheek, mainly due to the fact that I had on sunglasses and a hat to keep my hair off my neck, and my legs have turned a couple of shades redder (judging by my sock line), with two bright red spots on top of my knees. I managed a Facebook post to let the people I'd been ranting at over text messages when I left the house this morning know that I'd made it home and was now planning to die, and then collapsed in bed with a fan on my face and slept for three hours.
So in summary, I'm probably still sick. The chest x-rays should or should not confirm this in a couple of days. Luckily, I just have to call a phone number to get the results instead of making another appointment, because my doctor's office is awesome like that. ♥ I am also exhausted, cranky (Although rosabelle and challon86 are swiftly cheering me up. -Scowls at them- ♥), and sunburnt to a shade of painful that made purplestripe66 actually stare at me and say "Whoa." with wide eyes.
Now I'm debating if I should end by day by torturing some Sims, taking TylenolPM and collapsing, or attempting to read for awhile. I'd try to write, but IMing with challon86 has already proven that I'm still not thinking very clearly at the moment. Either way, I am sooooo tired. x.x
Also, the Ball of Death is evil.