I’ve tried to write this blog three times so far. I’ve had to delete it due to length, due to lack of time and due to the situation changing. I have yet to be able to keep this even under 1500 words, so, let’s try a different approach! Something that won’t bore you!
Last week I had a molar extracted. A bone chip apparently can be a side effect, and it was tearing up my cheek. Monday the dentist told me to grab some tweezers and I could pull it myself. Uh huh, sure.
It’s Monday. I don’t plan to leave the house, so my clothes don’t match. This isn’t that pertinent, it’s just an aside to let you know that I go out in public looking awful.
My dad is out of town this week. This week my parents are having their retaining wall fixed/replaced and this means there isn’t a fence around their backyard. And they have 3 dogs. And those dogs have to be taken out.
Lee’s foot hurts. He can’t walk on it, I go over to take care of him and let the dogs out. As soon as I got there the plans change and we are headed to Care Now (doc in the box clinic).
Several hours later, we had the worst doctor I’ve ever encountered. I mentioned the fear of gout and I asked the doctor to make sure she double checked anything that she would prescribe to make sure it didn’t conflict with any of Lee’s existing meds. She told me “I know how to do my job”. Then she diagnosed him with tendinitis and tried to give him an injection that conflicted with his meds. When we brought this up and refused the injection, she then said that she just wasn’t going to prescribe anything at all. Nice hissy fit doc.
Monday night I called the dentist and left a message. I didn’t have any luck in pulling out the bone chip, please call me in the morning and let me know when you can fit me in.
Tuesday morning they called and had a 3 o’clock opening. Great! I’ll take it! Then my mom called. Lee is doing worse; did the doctor say why she wouldn’t prescribe the steroids? Is there something else we can do? Well, Mom, I can call Care Now and ask for a different doctor to review the file – which I did. We got called in to have some blood work done. The new doc wanted to check for infection and for gout. (I sent out a mental “told you so” to the crappy doc from the day before, petty of me, I know!) After the blood was drawn I left Lee at Care Now and drove the 3 minutes to my dentist and had the bone chip pulled. They told me that it was wedged and I wouldn’t have been able to remove it myself. I sent out another mental “told you so” and went back to the clinic.
In the 15 minutes I was gone, the doctor had made it back. I walked in the room and Lee goes “Okay, we have to go to the hospital.” “Why, what did she say?” “I have an infection and some other stuff.” Uh, okay, other stuff isn’t a lot to go on. So, I got the doctor to come back and tell me the results. Pretty big infection and his blood sugar was through the roof, she didn’t feel right treating him due to the heart issues. We’d have the results of the gout test tomorrow.
Now we head downtown to the hospital. I pulled mom out of her meeting and she in turn ended up tracking down a doc who could see Lee. I met up with mom and gave her Lee and then came back home. I heard later that the new doctor confirmed it looked like gout, so he was going to go ahead and give him some steroids and good pain pills. I ended up picking up Mr. T at 6:30 and then making several stops to gather up the scripts and everything else that was needed.
Wednesday I ended up working from their house again taking care of Lee and the dogs. 24 hours comes around and I call to get the results of the gout test. After several transfers and many more minutes I was then told that the results take up to 72 hours. Uh no, that doesn’t work for me. You told me 24 hours, so since it’s not my fault that you gave me misinformation, would you please call the lab? Several more transfers and then I got the clinical manager and he agreed to call the lab. About 20 minutes later I had the results. Lee had gout. I mean he really has gout. Your uric acid levels should be at 7. Lee was at 14.5. Due to his reduced kidney function his body isn’t flushing the acid out like happens in most people. And the fact that his is on diuretics makes it even harder.
Fortunately, his cardiologist said “Okay, I can work with that”, so we have hope. And last I saw Lee, the swelling was going down and the pain was receding. He could actually put some weight on part of his foot again.
Now we are at today. TGIF indeed! After I pick Mr. T up at 6:30, I’ll run him a couple of towns over to spend a few days with some family friends. He gets to do this every spring break and we all look forward to it!
Tomorrow I spend four hours working with my mom at her antique mall booth. After that… can you smell it…? I smell the sweet scent of Freedom!
And look, under 1000 words! Happy Weekend everyone!
Did That Just Happen Blog 