Medical follies, and not so much

Last Monday, I went into see my doctor. He wasn't a whole lot of help, or hasn't been yet. He wasn't sure what to say about the flare up, but he at least wasn't ready to stick me on the restrictive diet. I suggested that it was time to test my thyroid, and asked about doing a full workup to see if something else was going on.

Then we talked about my ankle. He started talking about acupuncture, and it's ability to help energy flow. I gave him a look, and he settled down to talking about a "bio conductive sock". I took the sock, it was supposed to help energy flow in the ankle, maybe it did, but that didn't take the pain in the ankle away.

The nurse that took the blood started with my left arm. No blood came out. This usually means that someone missed the vein. She figured I was dehydrated. I drank a bunch of water for her, and she started in on the other arm. Again, no blood. I made a joke about knowing what the problem was with me, no blood, but she didn't take the bait. She poked the needle in more, and out came the blood. (finally.) For the second vial, she pulled the needle out a little, the blood stopped. I told her to push back in, she eventually got enough.

New sock on foot, I left. I was supposed to call Wednesday afternoon to get the results, but remembered 5 minutes too late. I called Thursday, a different nurse was there. She pulled my chart and called me back. She started giving me results from January, I told her to look at the date. No current lab results, and the doctor was out until Monday. (today)

I called today, the nurse said she would pull my chart and get back to me. I am still waiting for the call. I am sure I will call tomorrow, and will be assured that they will pull my chart and call me back. At that point, I will let them know that was what I was promised the last two times. In the meantime, my right arm started bruising yesterday at the vein that was poked. 8 days, a bruise, no results.

My ankle continues to bother me, and is really slowly getting worse. I have an appointment to go in and see an orthopedic surgeon, but there was a long wait. I called on Thursday or Friday, but there were no sooner openings than the day I already had scheduled. It hurt pretty good today, I finally decided to head over to the urgent care office. There were some sick looking people there. One kid came in, not sure what was wrong with him, but they quickly put a mask on him and took him around a back way. (I didn't see any Soylent Green signs, hopefully the kid will be ok...)

The Xray person was having trouble with the xrays, sort of. I guess the things get digitized there, she was having computer trouble more than anything else. When the doctor came in, the first thing he said was "You look very familiar..." (But not Osmond like, I guess.)

The doctor said that my ankle looked very ratty. He didn't really see evidence of new problems, and wanted to refer me to the surgeon that I have an appointment with next week. I guess that is a vote of confidence for the guy I will be meeting, but not much for what to do in the mean time. The doctor thought the surgeon might have a better idea on what to do, and suggested that he might be able to shave down the jagged parts.

In the meantime, I have been given a walking boot to help keep the ankle immobilized during the day. It's shorter than the old one I have, but I think it is actually a bit better. Short enough that I don't think I can justify shorts at church, but big enough to give some stability. 8 days until I get in to see the surgeon.

If I don't get the blood results back tomorrow, I plan to camp out at the doctor's office on Wednesday. At least until the time when I need to meet someone to talk about windows for the house....