Wednesday, 17 December, 1997 08:33

So... the night was somewhat busier, finally, but I still have to say that this has been the best seven-day shift that I've worked in a long time.

But the excitement today (or rather yesterday) has been Kim... she went into the hospital yesterday and was operated on for a tubal pregnancy. And I'm pretty pissed that they let her hurt for a week before they figgered it out. She'd had a coupla ultrasounds, using the office equipment, and thought that it was a cyst. If she'd had an ultrasound at the hospital, the diagnosis would've been immediate. We don't use cheap outdated equipment at St. Francis.

But... it's all over now. She can look forward to feeling a lot better in the near future. The surgery was done via laparoscopy, so she has a few small incisions which will heal quickly; she should be able to go back to work by next week, at the latest.

And I finally have my doctor's appointment today. I'm looking forward to being cured of all that ails me. Or, hell, even some of what ails me. OK, anything that ails me, I'm easy to please, I am.

Karen is going to take off either Thursday or Friday, so that we can spend a day together; that will be fun! Hopefully, we won't have the grandkids, that would put a kink in my plans...

I have really been lagging at reading my favorite journals lately, and even answering my email. I need to do some serious catching-up, probably tomorrow or Friday, depending on which day Karen gets off.

I just got back from seeing the doctor. I am finally rid of that damned mole on my neck. A little novocaine and a razor blade... yes, a double-sided razor blade, not a fancy three-dollar scalpel... and that puppy was gone, never to bother me again. Why didn't I do this years ago?

The cough: confused the doctor, so he gave me antibiotics. Mentioned that ACE-inhibitors, like the vasotech that I take daily for my blood pressure, sometimes will produce a persistent cough. He said that my lungs sounded clear, but he would get a chest x-ray anyway. And he gave me a couple of Proventil inhalers, which is a broncho-dilator.

The leg problem: he feels, like I do, that the problem is claudication. In other words, the arterial supply pipeline is clogged, especially when I'm asking my muscles to perform... like walking fast, or for a long period of time. He said that he could hear bruits (pronounced brewees and meaning a turbulent sound) over both femoral arteries, and maybe in my abdominal aorta.

He also gently suggested that I quit smoking. OK, OK.

Anyway, I will have my arteries evaluated more thoroughly next Tuesday. My ultrasound appointment is at 10:00, and I'll probably know the results then, but the doc won't, so I'll have to set up another appointment with him. So it will be the first of the year before I need to have anything done, which is good, 'cause that means that I can have it all done at St. Francis.

If the blockage is in the femorals, it will be a piece of cake to get the dilated with a balloon catheter, just like they've done my coronaries twice with... only quite a bit bigger balloons, of course. Anything down lower will need to be stripped out surgically... I really want to get lucky on this one. I can handle the angioplasty via balloon catheters.

More tomorrow, after I get a good night's sleep...