Just Cyd.

Wednesday I gave up, took half a day PTO, and went to urgent care. it was the swollen tonsils that finally did me in, not being able to swallow without pain. my job is talking, and it was misery. Eyes still slightly goopy, still coughing up crud, maybe running a fever (none of my thermometers will register anything remotely normal on me).

Got into the Crumbl-adjacent urgent care quickly, and the checked me over. I was wildly uncooperative for the strep test (reflexes! I swear!), and agreed that "sinus infection" sounds like a solid diagnosis. got a shot of steroids to help with various inflammation, and three Rx for treatment: antibiotics, fluconozole because antibiotics, and cough syrup that knocks me on my ass.

Picked up soup and dumplings from the Asian place and a giant Diet Dr Pepper on my way home, and then crashed out. I felt too gross to want to stop in Crumbl; they didn't have my Pink Cookie this week, and the other offerings didn't appeal to me. roused myself long enough to get my drugs before the place closed, ingest some of everything, and crawl into bed. Ended up calling off Thursday, too, and spent it in a cough-syrup-induced coma, which was badly needed. not drinking enough, but WOW did uninterrupted sleep feel good.

All of this has dug up all manner of issues regarding illness and going to the doctor and the need for therapy to work this all out. I could type it all out, but I'm not really up for that just this moment. I think it's something I'll have to work out in bits, sit with it and separate what's my own formed opinion and what was forced on me.

feeling much better with drugs on board, and hoping to keep this trajectory so I'm delicately phlegm-free come mid-april.

Back to the eye doc today for non-dilation testing: The Octopus. I've faced this beast a bunch, but it's usually just the blinky-light portion. Today I got the blinky-lights, plus the Space Invaders Centipede as well.

The good news is that things look pretty good, especially when compared to 10 years ago when things went sideways for a while.

The not so good news is that there's still some vision loss in the lower/inner quadrant of my right eye, but nothing like before. So what the tests show don't match up with what I'm describing. Spot is at roughly the 10 o'clock position in my right eye, not the 7 or 8 o'clock position.

Because these tests thus far are negative, I'll be back in 4-6 weeks for another round, and then we'll see if an MRI is necessary. No, I'm not pushing for it now, because 2024's deductible is a LOT lower.

in other vision news, my glasses are not ready. Doubt I'll see them before the new year even though I was promised two weeks. It also involved three phone calls because the lady couldn't find me in the system. i'm curious how my vision will be with progressives that have the bifocal starting at the proper spot rather than ridiculously low.

There's a lot of things I've not been properly prepared for, and navigating my own health care has been one of them.

I got lucky that when I moved back to Ohio in 1996, I was able to return to my family practice I'd been using when I moved away in 1993. Not having to re-invent the wheel with my medical history was nice, as uncomplicated as it was then. When things started getting interesting, this doc was able to refer me to the necessary specialists (and when that first one was a raging asshole, they found me another one).

What I was NOT prepared for, however, was reaching the point of being older than my doc. At least, with Dr M., his baby face gave the perception of him being much younger, when he's actually a year or two older. He still has the baby face, but a few grey hairs at the temples is helping him gain clout with his elderly patients. I see him on Tuesday, and I'm taking the whole day off for it. pupil dilation sucks.

Another thing I was never prepared for? My family doc retired. she's not that much older than me, but enough older, I suppose, to retire. or, as my mom did, "choose not to work"?

So while I'm badly dealing with the shit insurance I have, on Friday I'll see the PA (or NP?) in that same practice, and hope like hell we can keep things as-is with all the drugs I'm on.

Why can't something be easy??