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Tag Archives: doctors

doctor’s note

13 Thursday Oct 2022

Posted by azahar in coronavirus, covid, health & happiness, home, sevilla

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

coronavirus, covid, doctors, sevilla

doctors note

Since Covid almost all of my medical appointments have been done online or by phone, with the exception of physical tests of course. It’s easier in some ways, frustrating in others. For example today was not just frustrating but maddening. By chance I had a pre-arranged appointment with my GP this morning and so, rather than cancel it, Peter went and took along a doctor’s note. The note stated that I had just tested positive for Covid (it also included a photo of the test) and that I wanted to get a prescription for Paxlovid. I also asked about the upcoming jabs and when I should book them. So when he called me and said “what is it you want?” I already knew this guy was an asshole.

I asked if he’d read the note, then asked him to read it, and then asked about the prescription. He said I didn’t need Paxlovid, muttering something about not doing prescriptions for that, and said he’d write one for Paracetamol mixed with something else. Clearly he had not read my history and knew absolutely nothing about me. Then he said that I should just rest at home and not worry because it was JUST LIKE A BAD COLD. I mean, seriously WTF? An actual doctor is going around telling patients Covid is just like a cold??? We are doomed.

Meanwhile resting doesn’t really seem to be an option as I can barely stay out of bed. Yesterday I went to lie down at 3 pm and didn’t get up again until 11 this morning. Now I’m annoyed with myself that I didn’t press the stupid doctor harder and make him look up my history, etc, but I felt so deflated by his tone and assholyness, and I was still so tired, that I just gave up. Anyhow, back to bed.

medical check list

28 Friday May 2021

Posted by azahar in covid, health & happiness, hospitals

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

covid, doctors, hospitals, sevilla

medical check list

If you’re like a lot of people (and like me) you have probably put off getting a regular check up since the first Covid lockdown. Especially because health centres and hospitals were definitely NOT the healthiest places to be and were also overwhelmed by coping with Covid patients. I did manage to get a CT scan done last September, and a follow up blood test in October in preparation for my oncology revision. Which didn’t happen. Following the protocol, once the scan report is ready and blood test done, we are supposed to call oncology and leave a message asking for a revision appointment. Then I heard that the oncology department at my hospital was being used for Covid patients so I reckoned that I wouldn’t be getting an appointment any time soon. In any case, I’d already had a nuclear medicine doctor friend read the scan report and she told me everything was fine, so no rush. And then I forgot! Until maybe Jan-Feb, so I called to request my revision appointment and… nothing happened. Then a couple of weeks ago I decided to try again, even though we’re told not to leave multiple request messages. FINALLY got a call back this week and got a thorough telling off by the oncology receptionist for leaving it so long. Whatever. I am now awaiting an appointment form for another CT scan (“the last one is useless by now!”), which I’m told will come in the mail. Fine.

Meanwhile, I got to thinking I should probably get a more recent blood test done too and got in touch with my GP. Then I got to thinking about all the niggling health issues I usually only remember at 3 in the morning and decided to make a list. So today I went through the list with my GP and next week I’ll not only get the blood test but also an ECG. I got my blood pressure checked (a bit high), blood oxygen level tested (good) and then the doc had a good listen to my lungs (nothing). I asked him about me GOING BALD and he said after the blood test comes back he’ll have a better idea of what sort of treatment to recommend. I also asked him about my next vaccine jab as there is a huge kerfuffle now about people who had AstraZeneca first now opting for Pfizer second time round, with mixed and confusing messages from the EU and Spanish medical reports. He said just to stick with AZ since it’s all pretty much experimental at this point, and I agree. After that I was given my little urine cup and sent home, feeling like I’d actually GOT SOMETHING DONE. It was a really good idea to take a list with me since I always forget things, and Dr A was very patient with going through each point with me. Now fingers crossed I get a reasonably clean bill of health and proper treatment for anything dodgy they find. I want my hair back!

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?

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