Yet another hospital report
May. 29th, 2008 03:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayToday I saw Dr S, my rheumatologist, for what will hopefully be my last visit before my move. He has given me a number that I can call nearer the time to get copies of my notes to take with me so that I can terrify lots of Canadian doctors.
As for the appointment...
It all went surprisingly well. Mostly. My neck, shoulder and knee are all the results of me being me and having EDS. For the first time, Dr S actually used the EDS thing when discussing me. He did lots of checks on my skin and so on for reasons that became apparent later. I also asked him about the tiredness thing. He said that it's perfectly normal (being so tired every day that I fall asleep while driving is normal?) so there's nothing I can do about that. Hopefully the change in life-style that comes with the move will help me to shake all of this off.
The exciting part of the appointment came when he was checking through my notes and asked when my last echocardiogram was.
Um?
Apparently I should have been having one every few years. He listened to my heart, checked my skin stretchiness and level of stretch marks (that would be lots) and how well (or not) my skin heals. Then he mentioned the EDS thing (hoorah! I'm not just "a bit bendy") and wrote me a referral for my first ever echo. It's checking for mitral valve prolapse, which I am at higher than normal risk for, but there's nothing actually worrying if I do have MVP. I just need to know about it and take extra precautions for surgery and so on.
Me being me, I checked the referral note before I handed it to the receptionist and he'd written "slight murmur", something he hadn't mention to me, so either he wants to make sure that I get checked or there really is a slight murmur. Heh. Whatever it is, I'm getting an entirely new test that I'm sure is going to be tons of fun (not).
The weirdest thing about the entire appointment was the time it took. Or rather, the time it didn't take. I set out really early expecting there to be no parking at the hospital and the next nearest car park is nearly a mile away.
There was parking. So I arrived half an hour early.
I sat in the coffee shop until I was a little less early and then reported to reception. Usually the waiting room is heaving, today there was hardly anyone in there. I settled down with my book prepared for a long, long wait...and got called in at the time my appointment was supposed to be.
I was out of the hospital just over half an hour after my appointment scheduled start time. I'd paid to be in the carpark for three hours and barely used an hour of it. Why isn't it always like this?
I have spent the afternoon working from home. I got a decent amount of sleep last night and while I don't feel great, I do feel better than I did yesterday, except that my digestive system has woken up from five days of dormancy and I resorted to the anti-spasmodics to get through the hospital appointment. Gah. But otherwise, I feel a bit better. One of my mouth ulcers has even decided to start healing today!
My sister is coming home for the weekend. She may make an earlier than anticipated appearance tomorrow because she is currently very sick with the cold from hell that won't go away. I think she's looking for a bit of mothering and my mother is just the person to apply it. My sister is also having a birthday in a couple of days so I need to make her a card!
As for the appointment...
It all went surprisingly well. Mostly. My neck, shoulder and knee are all the results of me being me and having EDS. For the first time, Dr S actually used the EDS thing when discussing me. He did lots of checks on my skin and so on for reasons that became apparent later. I also asked him about the tiredness thing. He said that it's perfectly normal (being so tired every day that I fall asleep while driving is normal?) so there's nothing I can do about that. Hopefully the change in life-style that comes with the move will help me to shake all of this off.
The exciting part of the appointment came when he was checking through my notes and asked when my last echocardiogram was.
Um?
Apparently I should have been having one every few years. He listened to my heart, checked my skin stretchiness and level of stretch marks (that would be lots) and how well (or not) my skin heals. Then he mentioned the EDS thing (hoorah! I'm not just "a bit bendy") and wrote me a referral for my first ever echo. It's checking for mitral valve prolapse, which I am at higher than normal risk for, but there's nothing actually worrying if I do have MVP. I just need to know about it and take extra precautions for surgery and so on.
Me being me, I checked the referral note before I handed it to the receptionist and he'd written "slight murmur", something he hadn't mention to me, so either he wants to make sure that I get checked or there really is a slight murmur. Heh. Whatever it is, I'm getting an entirely new test that I'm sure is going to be tons of fun (not).
The weirdest thing about the entire appointment was the time it took. Or rather, the time it didn't take. I set out really early expecting there to be no parking at the hospital and the next nearest car park is nearly a mile away.
There was parking. So I arrived half an hour early.
I sat in the coffee shop until I was a little less early and then reported to reception. Usually the waiting room is heaving, today there was hardly anyone in there. I settled down with my book prepared for a long, long wait...and got called in at the time my appointment was supposed to be.
I was out of the hospital just over half an hour after my appointment scheduled start time. I'd paid to be in the carpark for three hours and barely used an hour of it. Why isn't it always like this?
I have spent the afternoon working from home. I got a decent amount of sleep last night and while I don't feel great, I do feel better than I did yesterday, except that my digestive system has woken up from five days of dormancy and I resorted to the anti-spasmodics to get through the hospital appointment. Gah. But otherwise, I feel a bit better. One of my mouth ulcers has even decided to start healing today!
My sister is coming home for the weekend. She may make an earlier than anticipated appearance tomorrow because she is currently very sick with the cold from hell that won't go away. I think she's looking for a bit of mothering and my mother is just the person to apply it. My sister is also having a birthday in a couple of days so I need to make her a card!
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-30 12:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-31 05:57 pm (UTC)It was weird to have such an easy time of the appointment, but also good. Why can't all appointments be so good? Then I wouldn't need to buy four hour tickets and worry that it still isn't going to be enough!
no subject
Date: 2008-06-01 01:00 am (UTC)See, the moment you bought four hour tickets, Murphy's Law arranged it so they wouldn't be necessary. *glowers at Murphy* ;) Still, it's always best to be overprepared. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-06-01 10:58 am (UTC)I hear horror tales of people who go to the hospital for check-ups and end up being there longer than planned and then end up with huge fines for out-staying their parking tickets. So I always try to overcompensate a little. I just wish that hospital car parks operated a pay on exit policy so that you didn't have to attempt to predict how long you'll be in there. Of all the places anyone can go, a hospital is one of the least predictable in terms of knowing how long anything will take!
no subject
Date: 2008-06-02 01:01 am (UTC)Most of my hospitals here in my city (Everett) have free parking. I can't speak for other hospitals, but when I've gone to the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle (38 miles south), they had paid parking that you paid for after the visit. I drove through an automatic toll booth on the way to the parking structure, and it dispensed a parking ticket I'd keep. I'd then pay for the time spent at a ticket booth on my back to the car, unless I was there there for an overnight stay or I'd stayed after 7 p.m. After 7, the parking was free. Btw, I wasn't there for myself, but driving my former roommate to his appointments. I wish I had that kind of insurance. The Uni medicine is very good.