It occurs to me that it’s been a while since I actually wrote about the current state of my health. With all the things going on with my immediate family (and today you can add the fact that my mother needs a pacemaker and will be staying with us as soon as the surgery is performed), I realized I’ve moved away from the reason I started this blog in the first place. Believe it or not, it wasn’t because I like writing about myself (honest!), but because I wanted to chart my progress over the first year after my dental revision. It seems that maybe the main idea has gone off track or been compromised by personal problems, though those too have been a pertinent part of that ‘year after’ my first trip to Texas. Now though, maybe it’s time to get back to the basics: How do I feel, and what’s been going on recently?
So, returning to the reality ranch, I have to talk about what happened this morning: I went to have my first blood test since I’ve been off my lose-dose antibiotics. In a way, this morning was the first step (a proverbial one, not a physical one!) that I’ve taken in several months to find out more exactly what’s going on with my health, and what has changed for better or worse. There was a reason that hasn’t happened before now, of course, because I was told to wait until I’d finished that antibiotic before I had my blood retested. And, of course, Paul (my driver) was still in Florida when I completed them. After Paul returned last weekend, and after he went away for work on Tuesday and Wednesday, today was the first time I was able to get an appointment to see my usual doctor. If you recall, the last time I had my blood taken in Texas (in May) it hemolized, and they were not able to get any test results from it. I was put on Vitamin E to combat that problem, but was told I might as well finish the course of the antibiotic before we tested again. Hence the visit this morning.
This visit had the potential of being tricky though, because I really only had one question I needed to ask my doctor: Did I really need to see her (and pay extra) each and every time I needed a simple CBC so I could send the results to Dr. Huggins in Colorado? Still, after learning that I wanted the results sent to a doctor in another state (doctors are so touchy about that!), she agreed to that request when she realized that I wasn’t asking for any unusual tests and that she would also be apprised of all my results as well. After a few pointed questions about what I was doing and why, she made no more objections and sent me off with script for a nearby lab in three months, where I would not need an appointment each time.
Happily, the nurse also found a vein immediately this morning, and the blood draw was simple and quick. It is my hope that the test results will be equally pleasant, though there’s no way to know for sure. As I think about the last two months since we returned home, I wonder what the blood will have to say. How am I feeling? Will I need to go back on the antibiotic? It’s weird, how I feel pretty well mentally, but there’s been no real improvement in my walking. I was warned it might take longer this time to feel a change, and they were right. I’m still having trouble with many of the things that had begun improving last October, and there’s no way to change that now. Still, I was told it might take four to six months to see an improvement this time, and two have already passed.
Looking on the bright side, I hope that means I could be half way to feeling better again!