Tag: doctors

Hamster wheeling

Although some of this is planned, I have been on the medical hamster wheel now for a month. Dermatologist, pharmacy, endocrinologist with blood work, ophthalmologist, pharmacy, dentist, dermatologist again, CT scan, and more blood work. Most of this is routine or follow up to last winter’s medical madness. So far there is good news and bad news.

On the good news front, most of the blood tests done by my endocrinologist came back negative (i.e., normal). One came back positive so I repeated that test yesterday at a lab in a grocery store. (Right next to the dairy case. Seriously.)

My CT scan confirmed that the thingie on my adrenal gland is not growing, as my endocrinologist expected. However, the scan discovered some odd fatty mass in my gut (a wayward apple fritter?) and now I have to go back to my internist to follow up. This isn’t all that bad. I get the chance to explain to him how my left knee, elbow, lower back, and arm are all FUBAR.

To combat my left fubaritis, I have begun doing a shit ton of yoga and physical therapy, I did 45 minutes today. I do every exercise that I know of and am capable of. I can only do beginner’s yoga poses. And if it involves pulling my foot up to my buttocks, fugetaboutit. My body refuses to cooperate. Also, balance-oriented asanas are not exactly my forte. (Timber!) Any time I see an exercise that looks useful, I add it to the routine. I’m up to 22 poses and stretches. When I am done each pose  three times, I go back through them all, one after another, without stopping.

Boring AF!!! I cannot comprehend that people pay to go to classes to do this.

My back feels a little better, and my thighs are no longer filled with concrete. My left side issues not so much. I’ll keep at it.

In other news, Kryptonite is not replacing my broken lock. They say I should be squirting light-weight oil into the mechanism. I’ll give it a try. I’m not crazy about getting oil on the key though.

This coming week looks pretty eclectic: bike advocacy, doctor, reflexology, concert (maybe), coffee club, and bike races in a garage.

AMA Man of the Year

Every winter, I makea to-do list. Get the cars fixed. Get some stuff done around the house. Deal with medical and dental issues. I figured I could pick off one of these a week. I got new tires for my car. I got body work done on my son’s car. I took my wife’s car in for its inspection. I had a plumber install shut off valves for the outdoor faucets.

In early February, I had a an electrician come to do some work on some light switches. In the process I helped him test whether certain circuits were live. I went to pull the tester out of a socket and my back went out. So it began.

I figured my back would correct itself after two weeks. Not this time. I’ve tried everything I know. I’d already been doing daily physical therapy for my back for 20 years. Rest didn’t help. Light exercise didn’t help. I even tried icing my back for hours each day by putting an ice pack in under by belt all day at work for three or four days. No luck.

I was hoping that switching to my recumbent would help. It did but then a chain link got bent and I had to switch back to a conventional bike. 

I also went to the dermatologist to remove a cyst from my finger. The dermatologist ended up freezing a couple dozen lesions off my face, arms and legs. She gave me a cream to essentially strip the bad skin off my face. That was fun. After a second round of freeze offs, I was refered to a hand surgeon. It took a month to get the surgery done, and now my middle finger is on the mend but still oddly both sore and numb.

Last Monday, I took some Advil for my back and rode to work. At around 9 in the morning I started having cramps in my intestines. Six days later I am still having them. The upside is that I do not have diarrhea or vomiting. The bad news is I am bloated and constipated.

I am currently scheduled to go back to the hand surgeon in four weeks and the dermatologist in June or July. I hate going to doctors almost as much as I hate shopping for clothes.  On Monday, I am calling my doctor and requesting referals to a gastroenteroligist and a physiatrist (pain specialist for my back). I’m sick of this crap.

Funny thing is, the one thing I can do without pain, is ride my bike. Go figure.