I tried going to Urgent Care today like I was supposed to do (yesteday).
Really I did.
The plan was that J&J would drop me off there and then go to Costco while I got myself looked at by actual doctors.
The dropping off part worked. The new building is very nice. Has that super clean feel to it that buildings that have not yet soaked up years and years of human odors have.
I walked up to an intake desk and started to explain my case, but the nurse interrupted me to tell me I I had accidentally cut in line before this Asian lady.
Oops! She presumably got out of my way (as one does when an ox is on the move) so adroitly that I didn’t even realize she was there.
So, slightly abashedly, I sat down to wait my turn.
When I got to the desk, the first thing the intake nurse told me was there would be a wait time of at least three to four hours.
My jaw dropped. Says what now?
I guess at that time, it was a Not All That Urgent Care Center.
I instantly decided that there was no way my body was ready to sit in a waiting room for three hours minimum. So I had to ask to use the phone to contact J&J.
We did the whole “tell me the number and I will dial it” thing.
I then had to tell Joe they needed to come pick me up again already. And they were almost at Costco at the time.
Sorry guys. Shit happened.
So now I am back home, as sick as ever. Dammit.
At least there has been no more incidents of sleep incontinence. So it’s possible it was a transient problem triggered by factors as yet unknown.
Still a horrifying thing to have happen, and I would really like it to never ever happen again, please. Which means I would like to know why it happened in the first place..
But at least it’s so far, so good. Knock on wood.
Take one tablet….
Closing in on buying meself a tablet.
Got some recommendations from some fuzzy friends. Cool beans. Apparently you can’t go too far wrong with Samsung products and they have stuff in my price range.
One problem is that I don’t really know what my needs are. All I want is to be able to browse the Web and do SMS texting.
My buddy Niva pointed out that if I went with my plan of using a third part text messaging app to do my texting, I would only be able to send and receive texts when I had a WiFi connection.
So I am back to looking for one with an SMS chip. Probably.
I could put up with the Wifi limitation but I would rather avoid it as I want to be able to contact people in an emergency, wherever.
Given my poor health, emergencies could happen at any second.
Hell, I might have to use the thing to contact 911 and/or the roomies from this very bedroom if I take a bad fall.
Oh right. Because I didn’t do the UCC (Urgent Care Center) thing today, I am going to call Doc Chao’s office and try to make an in-person appointment with him.
The whole reason he wanted me to go to the UCC was so that someone (not him, of course) would see me sooner than he could.
Well that ship has sailed. I might try the UCC again when they open tomorrow at 8 am if I can summon up the ambition, but otherwise, the ball is back in Doc Chao’s court.
Let’s see if he manages to do something with it this time. Fucker.
More after the break.
Oh I could not love this more :
Another hurtful landing
Jesus, just the trip from the living room to this computer of mine hurt like hell.
There is basically no distance too short for my suffering. If my leg joints take my weight for any length of time measurable by human science, I am in pain.
Still pissed off about the lack of progress on my case. I am going through hell here and worried sick about losing my legs – or worse – and I have been in this state for two and a half months and absolutely no progress has been made toward a diagnosis.
Let alone a goddamned treatment.
And Doc Chao doesn’t care. In his mind, when a patient leaves his office, they stop existing. As far as he is concerned, he listened to your concerns and then sent you off to do something and that is the length, width, and breadth of his duties.
Maybe he’ll look at your file before you come in. But probably not. Instead, he will only look at the tiny bit of it that is immediately relevant to your complaint and he will do that while you are sitting right there in front of him and not one femtosecond earlier.
Because otherwise, he would have to think too hard! And remember stuff! He’d have to have a sense of who you are and what your medical history is and stuff!
Clearly that’s not on.
Once more, I think longingly of the ER. They’re not perfect but at least they get shit done. If I had just gone to the ER right away, I would have been examined half a dozen ways by now and they might even have some idea what the fucking problem is.
They, unlike Chao, have a sense of urgency.
I get the feeling the only thing Doc Chao does quickly is get you in and out of his office.
I would ask him to refer me to a specialist but it can take aaaaaaages to get an appointment with one.
I should probably see a neurologist. Or maybe a neuromuscular specialist.
I dunno. Some who is actively interested in my welfare and really wants me to get back on my feet again.
That would be nice.
I will see you nice people again tomorrow.