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Tag Archives: doctors

anatomy lesson

16 Monday Dec 2019

Posted by azahar in cancer, hospitals, sevilla

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

cancer, doctors, hospitals, oncology

So there I was, at the hospital, armed with a copy of my CT scan report (in both English and Spanish) and my list of questions, which mostly pertained to everything mentioned in the “conclusions” part of the report. I felt nervous but prepared. Unfortunately, none of my (3) bilingual friends were able to come with me, so I was there on my own (not the best situation for me), nonetheless I was determined not to lose focus and forget to ask my questions.

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self help

19 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by azahar in cancer, health & happiness, hospitals

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

cancer, doctors, health, hospitals, massage

So remember my recent “lost Saturday” spent at Emergency due to scary lower abdominal pain? The doctor decided that it was probably “something muscular” and not cancer-related, so I was sent home, still in pain and none the wiser. But during a subsequent email conversation with the amazing Kate (aka Sledpress), she also told me it sounded like a muscular problem that may (or may not) be related to the excrutiating shoulder and arm pain I’d also been experiencing. In fact, both of those started around the same time and just seemed to be getting worse. I didn’t mention the shoulder/arm pain to the emergency doc because, although it hurt like fuckity, it wasn’t in a “scary” location, and I didn’t think they were related.

Anyhoodle, time went on, the pain kept on, nothing was changing… until I went to Málaga! Since Kate had me convinced at this point that the abdominal pain was muscular I started looking for triggers, daily repetitive movements that might be contributing to my discomfort. Then, as if by a miracle, after two days in Málaga my belly pain was easily halved. What? I couldn’t believe it, and I also had no idea why. But it became clear after I got home and went to shower. You see, the new Casa Azahar has a lovely walk-in shower with beautiful tiles. I love it. But there is no bathtub. Meanwhile, at the Málaga apartment there is a bathtub/shower. Difference? Well, at a risk of TMI, I realised that having a bathtub provides a handy footrest when *ahem* trying to reach certain body parts. Just having a flat shower floor requires a different sort of twisting and bending and… BINGO. I found the source of the problem. Or at least so it would seem. I think it will take awhile for the pain to disappear completely, but it’s amazing how much better it got just after two days of NOT DOING THAT (repetitive stress movement). And as soon as I got home I bought myself a plastic shower stool, so I hope that will help with a full recovery.

Meanwhile, Christmas came early while I was away, and I received these two mysterious looking items from Kate. Luckily you can look these things up online and there are even videos to show you how to use them. Because honestly, would you have the slightest idea? And once again, after just two days of using that coat rack looking thingy up there (actually called the Theracane) my shoulder/arm pain has been much reduced. Like whaaat?? For almost two months it’s been frozen solid in PAIN and sleeping was almost impossible. Now I can feel it getting a bit better every day. Incredible.

Of course I need to keep the treatment up, and start doing more preventative self-massage stuff. For example, that little 4-way knobbly thing up there is perfect for when I’m sitting at my desk to release pressure build up in my lower back (well, along with regularly getting up and moving around, natch). It’s been two years since Kate sent me the Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, and I haven’t used it nearly enough. But that stops now.

So the lesson here girls and boys is that we really should be more proactive when it comes to our own health care. Because who knows our bodies better than we do? Both the emergency doctor, and later my GP, just prescribed some scary pain meds (possible side effects: anaphylactic shock!!), which I decided not to take. Because I thought the pain was there for a reason I still hadn’t understood, so I didn’t want to just numb it. I wanted to know why it was there.

Of course both doctors and medical treatments have their place. I wouldn’t be here today if not for the top surgeons who saved my life, and the others who made sure I got the best cancer treatment (almost) ten years ago. And many chronic illnesses are often best treated with drug therapy. But this time I am glad I didn’t go with the simple painkiller option.

Also, I’m not criticising doctors who take the “take two aspirin and call me in the morning” route, because they are so overworked – I’m told that GPs here are only allowed about 4 minutes per patient to stay on schedule, and hopefully they are good enough diagnosticians to point you to the right specialist if you need one. I also agreed with my Emergency doctor that she had done her job (no emergency here, let’s move on). Which then left it up to me to figure out what was going on. And thanks to Kate, and a quick trip to Málaga, it seems things are now getting better.

 

getting my head examined

09 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by azahar in health & happiness, hospitals

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

doctors, health, xrays

head examinedAbout three months ago I got a wicked sinus/ear infection that just wouldn’t go away. In fact, over a month after it originally hit me I ended up taking some crazy scary anti-biotics to try and get rid of it, which didn’t work and left me with a sun-sensitive rash all over my arms.

Finally it was decided that I should get my head examined! Well, that I should have an xray done to determine if the eardrums were being blocked from the other side, in which case I would need to have some sort of operation. Great. So this morning I went back to the health centre for both a head xray and a hearing test. I’m happy to report that the xray showed that my passages weren’t blocked anywhere anymore, and the test results were better than expected – it turns that my hearing is well above average.

So then why are my eardrums still crackling and why do they still hurt?

Nobody seems to know. Though the doctor today said that my sinuses were much clearer than last time so maybe it was just a question of time and he said that I should keep using the steroid spray he’d prescribed earlier (that I keep forgetting to use).

I mean, I’m thrilled that they didn’t find something scary in my head – as usual I was worried it might be cancer-related – but it’s actually not very comforting that nobody seems to know what’s wrong. Well, perhaps the sea air will help?

go figure…

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by azahar in cancer, hospitals, tapas tours, work

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

cancer, doctors, hospitals, tapas

stethoscopeYou may recall back in 2008 when I was told by my then oncologist that I had maybe a year to live… and it turned out she hadn’t even checked my latest biopsy results! Well, it wasn’t long after that incident that I switched oncs and, thanks to Ricardo, started seeing Dr Ana, who happens to be deputy director of the oncology department at the hospital. Which was certainly a step up, and I felt in much better hands, but I still felt Dr Ana was a bit cold and so I kept our conversations as short as possible and talked to Ricardo about anything that I was really concerned about. Though Ana did ask me after awhile if I was back to work, which is how she came to find out about my tapas tours, but I thought this was just professional interest in my general well-being.

And so imagine my surprise when, during today’s appointment to organise my next PET scan, she turned to the trainee doctor sitting in and said… “You wouldn’t believe how incredible this woman is. First she was out of work after during and after her treatment and desperate about what to do next, but she picked herself up and started her own business, and now look at how successful she is! I am so proud of her!”

Huh? I mean, I was stunned. Guess it just goes to show that you never really know what people think of you. Though it took having a ‘third party’ in the room for Dr Ana to say this, but I got the feeling she was also saying it to me, and I  know that from now on I’m going to feel much more at ease talking to her. Cool, innit?

hospital day

17 Tuesday Nov 2009

Posted by azahar in cancer, health & happiness, hospitals

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

cancer, ct scan, doctors, hospitals, pet scan

doctor cat Well, an afternoon really.

I have my check-up with the oncologist later on today and either before or after that I’ll be going to get my port flushed, and then go to emergency to get my eyeballs looked at. That weird flashing prism thing happened again on Sunday evening, though it didn’t last as long as the first time. Agustín had told me to go directly to emergency if it happened again, but since I had to be there today anyhow I decided to wait.

I should find out when my next scan is going to be, and whether it will be a CT or a PET. I don’t have many hospital buddies anymore, so Nog is going to come with me for the oncologist appointment and hopefully won’t have to leave before we get in. The appointment is for 5.00 and he has a class at 6.30, so if I’m lucky there won’t be too much of a wait. But I’ll probably end up doing the port and going to emergency on my own. So watch for me on Twitter!

I really really hate hospitals, especially when I’m alone.

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