13 November 2006

My Friday Experience in Discomfort

I flew back to Kansas City over the long weekend, and decided that while I was there, I’d see my doctor for my annual exam. Every 2 years, I am screened for cholesterol, and this was the year, so I got to fast before my exam so that they could draw blood for that. (High cholesterol runs in my family.) I had a whole list of things that I wanted to talk to my doctor about, so when she came in, I handed it to her and we went through everything. I got poked and prodded, as always, with a little extra palpitating based on some of the questions I asked. She decided that I needed to have an ultrasound done, and since someone does those there in the office on Friday afternoons, she asked me to try to schedule it for the same day. I got done with the exam portion and headed over to the blood-letting area for my cholesterol screening. I was also due for my once-a-decade tetanus vaccination, and that means I wound up with entrance and exit wounds on my arm. Woohoo. When I went to check out, I was able to schedule my ultrasound for that afternoon, and the lady told me that I had to continue to fast until that appointment, but I needed to have a full bladder for the ultrasound. She said to “drink AT LEAST 32 ounces in the hour or so before your appointment.” So, I re-scheduled my lunch appointment. Being the over-achiever that I am, I started drinking fluids a couple of hours before the appointment and downed close to 50 ounces before the appointment. Here comes the fun part.

On Friday afternoon, there was a really bad accident with a fatality on 435. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with the KC area, 435 is the interstate highway that circumnavigates the city. It is always busy.) Apparently, one of those HUGE highway directional signs—you know, the big green ones that tell you where the exits are?—fell on a car. They had to bring in a crane to pull the sign off the car. It took them about 4 hours. (Something new for the paranoid people out there to worry about, eh?) So, they shut it down. 435. They shut down the highway. For four hours. Closed. None of this one-lane-is-still-open-and-traffic-is-creeping-through stuff. I was ON 435 when they closed it. I HAD A FULL BLADDER on 435 when they closed it. So traffic stopped. That means I stopped. I honestly have never felt that way before, and I’m not planning on repeating the experience. I was driving my brother’s Toyota Tacoma (stick shift) pick-up truck. When your bladder is in danger of exploding and you have to KEEP your bladder full, a vehicle with a manual transmission is not the most fun thing to be driving. All of the traffic from all 4 east-bound lanes was being diverted onto Nall Ave. Fortunately, my doctor’s office is on Nall.

So I finally, painfully arrived at my doctor’s office, half an hour late, and went in. I was able to convey the urgency I was feeling to the reception staff, and they got me right in. (They’re always quick, there, but the kind lady physically went back and retrieved the ultrasound technician for me.) She didn’t even wait for me to change or anything for the first part of it. She just slapped on some jelly and snapped the pictures she needed and ushered me to the bathroom. God bless her sweet soul. I went back in and she finished the procedure on a much-less-uncomfortable me. (She told me that the receptionist was mistaken, and I really didn’t HAVE to fast for the ultrasound… I could have had lunch!) It was funny, though because as she was getting her gear put away she said, “I’m done here, but your bladder’s filling up again. You’ll probably want to use the rest room again before you leave.” Kinda strange to have someone tell you when you’ll need to go potty. Haha.

So I completed my annual well-woman exam, had blood drawn, got a Tdap shot (which means my deltoid is STILL sore, though it’s wearing off, now), breast exam, pap, pelvic, basic physical, and an external and internal ultrasound. When you add to that list the knee injury I’m still battling, you get quite the picture of my comfort levels for the remainder of the weekend. I have officially added “not needing to have a colonoscopy or endoscopy” to my list of things to be thankful for. Hahahahaha! Ain’t being healthy grand??

The trip was good, overall, though, and I had the opportunity to sit in a hot tub for a little while on Saturday night. That went a long way toward making things well again. :D

Much Love.
L~

(BTW, I got a call from the nurse today saying that my cholesterol was within the normal range, but on the high side—nothing to worry about, just make sure I’m eating properly—and that she would call me back when they got my other exam results back.)

1 comment:

Lovey said...

Yeah, that was Friday that I did all that. I went and sneaked into a friend's hot tub Saturday night after all of us left Sidepockets. I had permission, though, so I don't know how sneaky that makes me... Just went by myself. :)