Technically, my stress test isn’t until 10 am tomorrow, but I feel like it has already started because it’s already causing me stress.
I really don’t want to run on a treadmill.
Because I’m pretty sure it will hurt.
And I don’t like pain. It hurts me.
And I hate treadmills. They are the definition of futility. If I have to walk, I better be getting somewhere, god damn it.
They offend me aesthetically.
More pertinent is this growth I have on my foot. It’s dry and hard now, and that is what lets me walk around on it, albeit with some pain.
But if I go running on a treadmill, it will definitely crack open and start to bleed and god knows what else.
I think I may have a medically legitimate reason to call and cancel. Or at least to call and ask about it. Imagine that.
Time to make a phone call.
Appointment canceled. Which is a relief. But also feels weird, because I do legit want to find out if there is something wrong with my heart.
But doing the stress test now would likely fuck up my foot pretty bad, so, no dice.
The cardiologist (or her receptionist – a lot of doctors are answering their own phones these days) said that the treadmill is definitely still part of the test, but she said I could walk instead of run.
And I thought about it. I haven’t run in a very long time, so walking does appeal. But I am still too worried about the growth on my foot.
I told the cardiologist and/or receptionist that I had an appointment with a podiatrist, which wasn’t technically true. Yet.
So I call up the podiatrist that shares offices with my GP to make an appointment, only to be told that podiatry is not supported by MSP and the first appointment would cost me $115. So um….. no.
Until that moment, I thought a podiatrist was a legitimate foot doctor. A specialist, just like a cardiologist or a endocrinologist.
That was a long word to type.
But the lady on the phone said podiatry was more like being a chiropractor or traditional Chinese doctor, and hence not covered.
Wild. So what the fuck do you call a legit medical foot specialist?
A pedalogist? Hmmm. That sounds… um, wrong.
I just Googled it. It’s an orthopedic surgeon, or orthopedist. D’oh! Of course.
Which leads me to the next step in our journey, because after I got off the phone with Mister Expensive Foot Fuckery, I called Doctor Chao (my GP) to get an appointment with him, but nobody answered.
I figure at this point it is time to go back to the beginning and see my GP. He can figure out where to take my poor messed up foot next.
The wound care clinic can’t help me because there’s no wound.
The podiatrist is, apparently, kind of fake.
So back to the GP I go.
This medical merry go around is enough to make a fella sick.
But at least it gives me something to write about.
More after the break.
Pasta Part Deux
Having Part The Second of my Pizza hut pizza feast from last night.
The Meaty Marinara pasta, natch. That’s my go-to, my fave. The Creamy Alfredo is pretty good, too, but I just go nuts for rich, beefy dishes.
They are so delicious. And feel so nourishing.
Probably got lots of B12 too.
Speaking of which, I realized recently I had completely forgotten my plan to get loads more Vitamin B12 in my diet.
Totally spaced on it. Haven’t had a supplemental injection in a while either. Eep.
I assume my levels are rock bottom again right now as a result. Which might just explain my run down feeling.
So, it’s time for another meaty order from Sav-on. Get myself lots of tasty animal products to encourage me to eat meatier fair and get my B12 up again.
It’s not like I have anything against meat. I’m no vegan or vegetarian.
But somehow I got out of the habit of eating meat except when I am eating out. I don’t know how that started.
Maybe as a cost saving measure?
Then again, I have never been all that carnivorous. I mean, I like meat. Meat is both tasty and good.
But I have always been able to take it or leave it. A meal without meat doesn’t bother me at all. I’ve enjoyed the heck out of vegetarian cuisine.
And I never bought in to the whole “every meal needs a meat” jive that North American culture lays on people.
In fact, come to think of it, until fairly recently I did not know that meat and other animal products are the only way to get Vitamin B12.
I suppose that somewhere in the back of my mind was a hazy idea that meat was entirely option and a person could just go without.
Um, nope. You got to get that B12 somewhere. And if you don’t get enough of it, you end up feeling like crap.
Makes me wonder how many of my fellow depressives could benefit from a good B12 supplement. Or a steak.
The best dietary supplement is always food. Food is what we evolved to derive nutrition from. Jury’s still out on pills.
Don’t get me started.
I still can’t quite believe I had a medically sound reason not to take the stress test. I keep going over it in my mind, looking for the fatal flaw, a loose thread if you will, that will reveal that it was all a delusion my brain cooked up in order to get me out of something I really didn’t want to do.
But nope. It’s legit. The growth on my right foot would undoubtedly have cracked open under the pressure of treadmill treading, and that is bad.
So until I get that mofo fixed, no stress test for me.
I’m actually a tiny bit disappointed.
I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.