Yesterday's thread, for anyone who might have missed it:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5170986&mesg_id=5170986And thanks yet again to everybody for their compassion, well-wishes, and support. :grouphug:
I was picked up by Para-Transit on time and made it to my doctor's appointment with no major problems. My doctor wants me back in wound care again, quickly, because of ulcerations on my left leg. I've known about this but have resisted going back to my former wound care facility because the hospital they're related to absolutely sucks. But, I'd really prefer not to lose a leg so we're going to try again with the hospital which is closest to me geographically, and which I have not been to yet.
As for my medications, my doctor told me he's not even getting samples any more. He stated that the drug companies aren't even sending reps by with product any more at this point - basically there hasn't been a rep visit at all so far this year, which up until now would have been unheard of. Because of this, I'm going back on some older, cheaper medications to try and save money.
I have one further anecdote to share about today's visit, that just kind of sums up the stupid, petty crap that makes me so frustrated. Every time I've gone to see this doctor, I have had the same nurse do my intake and my vitals. I've already made it clear that I'm a really big guy, so it should come as no surprise that when it comes to taking my blood pressure, an ordinary-sized cuff probably won't fit my upper arm. Every nurse I've ever dealt with has simply taken my reading around the forearm or wrist instead. It works wonderfully and is generally quite accurate. But not this nurse. Nope, her answer is to get out a
thigh cuff, and try to use it on my upper arm. The first problem with this is that the cuff is almost as wide as my upper arm is long from shoulder to elbow. The second problem is that it doesn't want to wrap very well up there, and often what ends up happening is that the pressure of the cuff is painfully high long before the dial on the machine gets anywhere near 150 let alone 200 which is where they usually stop. So today, it was really maladjusted and even at a reading of 100 it felt like my bicep was about to get crushed. I asked the nurse to stop squeezing the bulb and take the cuff off, and this time to
please take a forearm reading and not argue about it. She refused, saying that she was going to do it her way and there was no argument. I looked at my wife and said, pretty much verbatim, "well... I'm the goddamn patient and I'm only asking her to do what about 100 other nurses have done when I've been hospitalized so yes, there
is an argument!". The nurse just took the cuff off and made a red mark on my paperwork where the blood pressure gets written down. :wtf: She's lucky I'm just going to let it drop and not try and get her ass fired. I have enough to stress out over facing yet another hospitalization and yet another course of IV antibiotics with no veins to put them in. :eyes:
So that was my day today. Could have been better, could have been worse. At least I'll have new pain medication.
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