More Appointments

i trust that you all had a wonderfully long weekend. it went by too quickly for my liking.

last week was quite interesting. returning to work was more challenging than i thought. my head begins to hurt after lunch. i am able to cope with it.

i was able to speak with my GI doctor. i have an appointment with him next Tuesday. he has some options for me. i have no idea what that means, but i will find out. i plan to speak with my neurologist this week. at this rate i should have all of my medical stuff in order. i just need to get my body in order. :)

Stupid Heart Monitor

yesterday i was fitted with the stupid heart monitor. it truly gets in the way. luckily the nodes are fixed fairly strongly to my chest. the monitor has gone flying when i take off my shirts. at least i only have 5 more hours to wear it. i cannot wait to take a shower. i cannot get the monitor wet. i am dying to bathe. spraying cologne on and taking sponge baths is for the birds. i am dying to take a long hot shower. if you see me today, beware of my funk. :)

i received my blood test results. everything was negative. i do have slightly elevated LDL. i better exercise more. it is tough when you have limited energy and cannot play the ports that give you pleasure. oh well. i better bike more. i do not know what to think since all of the tests came back negative. now what? i cannot wait to see my neurologist to see how he will determine what the cause of my tingling is. the tingling does not occur often. i still want to know what is going on.

Back to Work

today was my first day back in seven weeks. time has flown by and much has changed since my last moments in the office. it was wonderful to get back to see my staff. i did not enjoy coming back to over a thousand emails and countless phone messages. i will not get into the crises that need to be addressed. i spent much of my time speaking with my colleagues and hearing what is and has been going on. i missed a lot. the staff did a wonderful job addressing situations that arose while i was out. i am lucky to have them. being in a work environment was a lot more taxing then i remember. it ended up giving me a headache. that being said, it was good to be back

i also had a doctors appointment. i had a TB test and they had to see if i had a reaction to it. obviously, i did not. that was a wasted test and wasted my time. tomorrow i go in to be fitted with another holter heart monitor. i hope it is only for a 24 hour period and not longer. we shall see. i still do not know why they insist that i do this again. i have a slow heart rate. get over it. oh well. what is another co-pay

it was the last Friday before i return to work. of course, it is finally getting nice out. seven weeks have flown by. i have to say i am feeling much better. i am a bit apprehensive about returning to work and being in meetings and such. it will be a radical transition.

i spent much of the morning with my primary care physician. she checked me up, down and all around. she was supposed to have received information from my neurologist but she had not. she inquired with the records department, but there was nothing. i really cannot believe that they did not send anything to them. they were very good in getting information to my GI and ophthalmologist. at least this time i brought all of the letters and documentation i received from all of the doctors. together we pieced what type of blood work i should have done. i had 8 test tubes of blood drawn, tetanus shot and a TB scratch. needless to say, i am tired of needles. i should have the results next week and i am able to access them online. i have to say that it is pretty slick even though i have no idea what some of the tests are or what is good or bad.

it is my hope that all of the mother's out there had a wonderful day. i spent most of the day with my mother.

my intestines are still not very good. i have a couple of appointments with the doctor this week. i hope that i have a greater understanding of what is going on. we shall see. i just got off the phone with the heart doctor and he wants me to wear a heart monitor again and see him shortly there after. i was not expecting that. i figured since i had not heard form them in quite sometime, that i was free and clear on that one. i guess it could be to check me out again since i do have such a low heart rate. that is all speculation

Oh So Tired

i was unable to get a wink of sleep last night. i was up all night going to the bathroom because of my stupid intestines. my GI nurse neglects to return my phone calls. unfortunately, the tingling in my arms came back with a vengeance. my neck is exceptionally stiff. i feel like i have taken a step backwards.

needless to say, i am exhausted. it is my hope that i will be able to nap today. we shall see

The Many Looks of Patrick

i awoke to an extremely stiff neck and a headache. i decided that i needed a change. i shaved some of my facial hair. i figured i have not posted any pictures in quite some time. here they are.

Health Care Cronicles

today was another day attempting to understand how anything in health care gets done. after learning that i have to track down my various doctors to have blood work done, i left messages with my gastroenterologist and neurologist. my neurologist got back to me (i wonder if it is because i used to cut his grass as a kid). he was dumbfounded that my GI doctor did not call the labs in. he agreed to send all of his records to my primary care doctor for my labs next week. my GI doctor has not returned my call. he is usually pretty good at getting back to me, but not of late. when i spoke with his nurse last week they told me that my primary care doctor needed to call it in. if i was not on top of all this, nothing would get done. i hope to speak with my GI doctor tomorrow in order for him to send his files on me to my primary care physician. we shall see.

Wasted Trip

my stomach and intestines are still not doing that well, but they are much better then last week. i am glad i have my doctor's appointment.

i had an appointment with my primary care physician. i needed some blood work done and also to find a new internal medicine doctor. due to changes in my insurance, i had to find a new doctor. i have only had to primary care physicians in my life. the clinics and individuals i wanted to be seen by were not accepting new patients for quite some time. i called a clinic near my home and got an appointment today. my appointment today is with a female physician. i have never had a female primary doctor. i have to admit i was a bit nervous about seeing one. not that i think that she would not be good. it has all to do with the comfort factor of telling her about any male issues i might be having and having. after seeing her, my apprehensiveness was ill founded. she was delightful. however, i need to return next week to have the blood work done. she did not have the proper information of what tests to order. i have to contact my neurologist to have them relay to her what i need done. i thought this was going to be easy, but obviously it is not.

On the Road Again

my range of motion is improving each day. nevertheless, my neck is still stiff. it feels as if there is not enough skin back there to allow me to move properly. i know the muscles are tight and not used to moving. i do experience some sharp pains toward the top portion of the incision. i cannot complain. my headaches have not been severe in quite some time.

although my head has been okay, my stomach and intestines have been giving me problems. the last few days, it has been my stomach that has given me the most problems. i am not sure if it is something i ate, but if that is the case, it should have gone away by now. i have an appointment with my primary care physician to have my blood work done. i will ask her what on earth is going on if it is still bothering me.

i have started to drive a bit on the side roads. beware drivers! :) even with a stiff neck, i am better them most of the terrible Minnesota drivers. i had no problem adjusting back to driving. everything is a bit more labored, but it feels so nice to have some semblance of control. i felt like a sixteen your old after passing the driver's examination. freedom of movement without the curfew. the potholes do not feel good on the neck, but it is nice to be able to run to the store if i want to.