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Good thing I'm not afraid of needles.
Jul. 10th, 2002 04:26 pmAll day today was spent dealing with doctors.
First the eyedoctor...nothing exciting; there's a weird nerve in my right eye she said...and she also said I had a cataract-probably since I was born and it's not causing any problems now but it needs to be watched and so on. And, I've been checked for glaucoma for the first time. I'm only 27...I thought I was too young for it.
The the infectious disease doctor. First off, the nurse was wonderful, but the doctor herself was brusque and disinterested. I didn't care for her, didn't feel like she was listening, and so on. First off, her questions made it clear that she hadn't even looked at my other records, what information my gp had provided her with. But that's an aside. She looked at the series of test results, and decided that it's not toxoplasmosis as originally thought, but that it's something else, and I should go have more blood drawn. More blood.
Four rounds of bloodwork in a month. That's enough.
Today's bloodwork horror story: Normally, they draw blood in my right arm, on the outside. It's an odd spot, but I have a vein that's pretty easily visible and they like it. So, I offered my right arm, and phlebotomist number one thinks she found a good spot, so she sticks me with a needle. Only...no blood. So phlebotomist number two comes over wiggles the needle around, and I'm clearly hurting. Finally they give up, and phlebotomist two sticks me in my left arm (almost the identical spot, other arm.) Still, no blood. Phlebotomist number three comes over. She starts wiggling the needle, trying to get blood to come through. No luck. Finally they pull that needle out and tape it up. Finally, they stick a butterfly needle in the back of my hand. Vial after vial of blood...five or six I think, and a blood culture for bacteria.
We're now into the fourth round of bloodwork. I'm still running fevers. I'm increasinly fatigued. That's getting worse, not better. I'm not worrying...that's not going to help. But I am frustrated. And angry. And tired. Tired of feeling too tired to do things I want to. Tired of doctors and blood. And tired of feeling like I can't get through my day.
It's just about naptime here.
*************************************************************************
Update...
Around 8 o'clock, the NP who started this whole route called me. She asked how the visit with the ID doctor had gone...and commented that the ID doctor was as baffled as she is. I also have to go have a cat scan to look at what's causing the weird nerve in my eye.
I'm glad to have the NP on my team.
But I'm still angry/frustrated/depressed about feeling this way...and feeling this way for so long.
I'm okay with it being something that they can't fix. Really. But I want to be able to treat the symptoms and move on.
And I want to feel better and feel like me again.
First the eyedoctor...nothing exciting; there's a weird nerve in my right eye she said...and she also said I had a cataract-probably since I was born and it's not causing any problems now but it needs to be watched and so on. And, I've been checked for glaucoma for the first time. I'm only 27...I thought I was too young for it.
The the infectious disease doctor. First off, the nurse was wonderful, but the doctor herself was brusque and disinterested. I didn't care for her, didn't feel like she was listening, and so on. First off, her questions made it clear that she hadn't even looked at my other records, what information my gp had provided her with. But that's an aside. She looked at the series of test results, and decided that it's not toxoplasmosis as originally thought, but that it's something else, and I should go have more blood drawn. More blood.
Four rounds of bloodwork in a month. That's enough.
Today's bloodwork horror story: Normally, they draw blood in my right arm, on the outside. It's an odd spot, but I have a vein that's pretty easily visible and they like it. So, I offered my right arm, and phlebotomist number one thinks she found a good spot, so she sticks me with a needle. Only...no blood. So phlebotomist number two comes over wiggles the needle around, and I'm clearly hurting. Finally they give up, and phlebotomist two sticks me in my left arm (almost the identical spot, other arm.) Still, no blood. Phlebotomist number three comes over. She starts wiggling the needle, trying to get blood to come through. No luck. Finally they pull that needle out and tape it up. Finally, they stick a butterfly needle in the back of my hand. Vial after vial of blood...five or six I think, and a blood culture for bacteria.
We're now into the fourth round of bloodwork. I'm still running fevers. I'm increasinly fatigued. That's getting worse, not better. I'm not worrying...that's not going to help. But I am frustrated. And angry. And tired. Tired of feeling too tired to do things I want to. Tired of doctors and blood. And tired of feeling like I can't get through my day.
It's just about naptime here.
*************************************************************************
Update...
Around 8 o'clock, the NP who started this whole route called me. She asked how the visit with the ID doctor had gone...and commented that the ID doctor was as baffled as she is. I also have to go have a cat scan to look at what's causing the weird nerve in my eye.
I'm glad to have the NP on my team.
But I'm still angry/frustrated/depressed about feeling this way...and feeling this way for so long.
I'm okay with it being something that they can't fix. Really. But I want to be able to treat the symptoms and move on.
And I want to feel better and feel like me again.
