Appointments by the million...

Appointments by the million

I've got to see lots of people who are going to take care of me over the next, I hope, 20 years.  So it's time to be seen by them.  The first wise decision I made (other than letting Susan have her way about calling 911) had been to sign up for Medicare part D a few days before all this lot started.
The first wise decision I made after coming home was to have Susan come to my appointments with me.
First I went to see my family doc who wasn't at all put out that I had pipped him at the post in getting this diagnosis - he had left a voice mail on the phone at home to say "make an appointment for an abdominal scan ASAP" so he was on the ball.
Next, Susan & I rolled up at the dauntingly named "Cancer Care of WNC" to meet the other doc I'd seen in hospital (I don't know if it's acceptable to call him by name so I'll refer to him as "Mike" which I don't do to his face because he is called Dave).  We spent an hour or so waiting (it had snowed and we had changed the appointment at the last minute so I'm not complaining) and then a further hour going through the treatment - lots of big words and drug names.  It looks like I am in for a regimen (a word I have never used before) of injections that make me want to puke, pills to make me not want to puke and pills that make me ravenous, preferably not all on the same day.  All this starts on Feb 8th, 10 days from now, so all I have to pop meanwhile is a twice a day shingles preventative and my usual daily peeing pill.  They've taken me off Nadolol which was supposed to lower my blood pressure with the result that my BP is now measured in scientific notation (math nerd joke).  I had been taking that for the last 20 years or so to prevent migraines - I can live without them coming back, thank you.

Having my picture taken

Body scan xrays yesterday - I think she used a whole roll of film on me as I have been xrayed from every possible angle so that they have pictures of all my bones that have a decent amount of marrow in.  It was nice to get comfortably dressed for the occasion, not just the usual bare-arsed gown.  In fact I had a pair of scrub pants, a bare arse gown in bare arse orientation and one the other way round all of which was much appreciated as the xray table is sodding cold.  I wonder if they'll let me use one for my Facebook profile picture.
No - it's not the bloody machine they xrayed me with

I now have 10 days until my next appointment by which time my Medicare part D will have come into effect to cover part of the cost of the drugs.  You hear ghastly tales of drug costs but, thus far, nobody has said any numbers that have me thinking of selling my titanium dental implants for scrap.

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