07 Wednesday May 2025
Yep, I’ve turned into one of THOSE people who sort their pills into a days-of-the-week box. I mean, two of them have the days marked on the back but the one I have to take twice a day doesn’t. And I just know I’m never going to remember what I took when because even with the BP meds I sometimes go to take Wednesday’s pill and see I forgot Tuesday. Also, in case I EVER TRAVEL AGAIN, this will be a better way of having everything together. Arrgh.
02 Friday May 2025
On Tuesday afternoon, after Peter had returned the Holter to the hospital that morning, I got a call from the Cardiologist. He said that based on his findings he was prescribing two drugs for me to take and they were already on my medical card. Okayyy… I said I would pick them up in the morning and he said… no I needed to start them NOW. Wut? Peter was about to leave for a tapas tour but popped over to the farmacía and came back with just one of the prescriptions, saying they told him the other one wasn’t available for three days. Again… wut?
Anyhow, these are the two drugs I was prescribed. Apocard 100mg (Flecainide) which is used to treat tachycardia. The other, Luxiana 60mg (Edoxaban), is a blood thinner. You can see above that he also prescribed a blood pressure med Bisoprolol, maybe without checking that I was already taking Losartan for that (???). Obviously I can’t/won’t take both. But can I get in touch with him again to clear this up? Nope.
I mean, you know me. I hate taking meds unless absolutely necessary. But as I already had the Apocard and since it was apparently URGENT that I start taking these meds NOW, I started it on Wednesday. Twice a day. And I was able to get the Luxiana yesterday so am now taking that once a day. Along with the Losartan that I’ve been taking now for a couple of years.
But there was no explanation. Just that I was at high risk for having a stroke. And when I tried asking him more he switched to English saying it didn’t seem like I was understanding him in Spanish. Again… wut?? His English wasn’t all that great and he thought I wasn’t “understanding” him because I had to keep asking him to repeat the drug names. So frustrating. But until I can get the heart ultrasound done – and who knows when that will be – this is supposed to prevent me from dying of a stroke in the meantime.
Not exactly feeling instilled with confidence about all this because I don’t know if this Cardiologist is taking into account that I’ve had tachycardia issues since I was a young and thin 25 year old (I did tell him on Monday) or if he’s just going by the protocol for treating fat 68 year old ladies. Have any of you taken any of these meds?
28 Monday Apr 2025
23 Wednesday Apr 2025
After the fear-filled fiasco of yesterday’s aborted MRI, today I headed out for my biannual mammogram. I am in The System as a woman of a certain age so every two years I get a notice for the next appointment. Except today I ended up at the wrong place at the right time. After a chat with the helpful staff at the hospital I was given a number for the new mammogram clinic location. Uffff. Okay, while it did affect my morning and general plans for the day at least there was no prep and, well, no all-day fear. I mean, mammograms hurt like fuckity, but they’re over and done with just before it reaches intolerable.
Waiting to get the bus back home I called the new number and they acknowledged that I did indeed have an appointment with them today and also said “but we’ve moved!”. No shit. Anyhow, what the hell, I made a new appointment with them for May 16th and saw that my trusty 32 Bus will get me there in 45 hellish minutes (honestly that bus is always so packed, but at least I know I can always get one of the seats reserved for handicapped folks). That’s all really. Just another day. Now I am going to drink wine and cook… still perfecting my “whisky” sauce.
22 Tuesday Apr 2025
Today I finally went to get the MRIs (plural) on my shoulder and back. I’d had to postpone my appointment twice due to NON STOP COUGHING and was finally well enough to go and – hopefully – be able to lie still during the scan. You know me, I’ve been through countless PET and CT scans over the past 17 yeats and, while a bit uncomfortable, they were fine. In fact, But somehow I woke up dreading today’s MRIs. Everything awful I’d heard about people getting all claustrophobic and panicky inside them suddenly started flooding my imagination and by the time it was time to go to the clinic let’s just say I wasn’t feeling my calmest.
Decided to taxi there, though I kept an eye out for sneaky supplements, and 10 euros later I was at my destination. So far so good. Well, other than the hour long wait… apparently the person before me had had “complications”. Yep, was feeling more anxious by the moment. And then it was my turn. The 12 year old nurse asked me if I was claustrophobic and I said OH YEAH, BIG TIME and the smile left her face. I told her I was familiar with other scans, and had MRIs done on my knees, but this would be new for me.
Anyhoodle, into the room I went, fully prepared wearing nothing metal at all (was even wearing a slip on house bra with my back up bra in my bag for when I left). Ok then, they put me up on the platform, got me in position, told me it would only be 15 minutes but if I felt uncomfortable at any moment I had my panic button in my hand. All set, in I went…
Guys. I lasted maybe ten seconds. I MEAN it was like being shoved into a mechanical coffin, nothing at all like a CT or PET… it was so closed in and tight, I couldn’t have moved if I’d wanted to, and I think was the deal breaker. I COULDN’T HAVE MOVED IF I’D WANTED TO. I can’t even begin to tell you what that triggered inside me other than within seconds I was yelling “get me out of here!!!”.
Gotta say the staff were great, said it happens all the time, even to people who have had no problems with previous MRIs… one day suddenly they can’t. And so they suggested I make a new appointment for their “open MRI” but they couldn’t guarantee it would be better for me because, instead of 15 minutes, it would take close to an hour. Of not moving. Inside a machine. Also, often results from the open machine aren’t as precise.
I don’t know what to do. I made the appointment for the open machine for May 4th but meanwhile will talk with my GP (we already have a phone appt set up for next week). This is all about chronic shoulder and arm pain that has been going on for years, right shoulder and arm. Sometimes I feel almost normal, other times I want to cry it hurts so much, and there is now an almost constant tingling sensation in my right arm and hand. GP thinks it’s a nerve. Sucks, but if it means going back into that metal coffin… I honestly don’t think I can do it.
So I will wait and see what other info and options I get. This is not the worst of my present health issues, but ironically it’s the one that got seen to first. Meanwhile, been waiting to see the orthopaedic surgeon SINCE FUCKING OCTOBER. But next week I am going to get a Holter strapped onto me. And tomorrow is Mammogram Day. The fun never stops around here.
casa azahar 