I wrote in yesterday’s blog that we planned to spend the day at home getting some work done, and I had hoped to figure out how to insert the page numbers on Terry’s cookbook Miss Terry’s Kitchen
I had an appointment scheduled with my primary care provider at the VA hospital on Thursday for my annual checkup, but I got a call yesterday morning telling me they had a last minute cancellation and asking if I could be there by 2:30 p.m. That would give them time to find another vet who needed care for my original time slot on Thursday. I told them no problem, I’d be there.
We actually arrived about 2 p.m. and I only had to wait a few minutes before they called my name. After a nurse took my vitals it was in to see the doctor. The goods news is that I’m pretty healthy for a fat old guy and it looks like I’ll live another year. The bad news is, I’m not going to get any better looking.
For the last few years the pain in my hands has been getting worse and worse, but until now the doctors have just prescribed aspirin or ibuprofen. This time around my doctor decided that maybe we need to look harder at it, since I have family members with rheumatoid arthritis. So once I was done with her, she sent me downstairs for a blood test to measure my Sed Rate, as well as x-rays on my hands. By the time all that was done it was about 5:30 when we left the hospital.
We decided that since the day was shot already we’d run by cousin Beverly’s apartment for a while. We took her to dinner and then used the laundromat at her apartment complex. It was about 10:30 by the time we got back home, with just enough time to answer a backlog of e-mails and get the blog written before bedtime.
It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time to kick off a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Dog’s Run, my latest mystery. Set in a small town in Ohio in 1951, it’s grittier than my Big Lake series, but everybody who has read it says it’s my best work yet. I tend to agree. All you have to do is click on the Free Drawing link and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
Today we’ll stay at home and try to get the work done that we had planned to do yesterday. Unless the telephone rings.
Thought For The Day – Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is because you’re stupid and make bad choices.
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Nick Russell
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I ought to change my VA care to the Tucson hospital. I have tried for the past two years to get my doctor to take notice of my RA (my dad and grandma had it pretty bad) but have only gotten the ibuprofen diagnosis. I have quite a few signs. I will try in Portland one more time. If ignored again I will take advantage of the fact that my house is on wheels. Keep us informed on how your Tucson care progresses.
Gary T
We are impressed with and grateful for the excellent care we get at the Tucson VA Medical Center. But I would love to learn how you manage to get the Dr’s Office to call you if there is a cancellation! Our schedules are VERY flexible, and we would do that in a heartbeat … but every time I ask if they care to do that, I am told that it is just not something they do. Ah, well …..
Carol, I make it a point to be very friendly to the folks in the outer office, I get to know their names and call them by name, ask how their day is going and tell them I appreciate their hard work keeping things running smoothly for everybody. That, and I’m just so darned cute that I’m hard to forget! 🙂
I’m curious as to what your docs come up with concerning your hand pain. I use ibuprofen, but it’s losing it’s power to handle the pain. I had to have my wrists fused, the left in 2002 and the right in 2009, because of extreme pain and swelling. Now it’s the thumbs.
Really enjoy your posts.