It's offensively overdue, but I managed to arrange for an honest-to-god physical today. I had to--I'm running out of meds and they won't give me anymore until I do. When I went to medical school, I lost the legit health insurance of yore and have had a lot of trouble getting a reasonable replacement that will actually let me have preventive care and prescription coverage. I recently took on the university's minimum requirement insurance, which does let me have an office visit for $20 and covers many prescriptions. The other fly in the ointment is that my rotations are not scheduled in advance. This wreaks havoc on trying to live some facsimile of a normal life. If you don't know where you'll be in 4 weeks, how can you schedule doctor appointments, tickets to the theatre, family events, etc.? Thankfully I'm working in family medicine right now and I negotiated with one of the doctors to do a physical and labs for me before the end of this week, since I have no idea where my next rotation will be (PS it starts in 2 weeks). I've already been sprung to Newport and Portland, so why not Tacoma next?
The morning started with a blood draw for fasting lab work. As per usual, said draw was not straightforward and required multiple butterfly sticks before they could get a return. For my part, I tolerated this quite well. The nurse who was working on me traditionally has a strict policy not to draw from doctors because they make her anxious. After much cajoling from me, she made an exception because I'm "not quite real yet." SCORE. However, it quickly became obvious that for once (maybe ever), I was not the nervous one.
Fast forward to the end of the day when I actually suffered the real physical. I say "suffered" because I'm a whiny little ingrate of a patient, but don't misunderstand: the doctor was exquisite. My first D.O. My vitals were out of whack: HR 107 (that's a bit of a record, even for my hummingbird heart) and BP 124/78 (that one I'm not digging AT ALL. Very unusual. I can only attribute it to my unstable life of late and that my diet has gone to hell for the last 2 months while I've been bouncing from host to host).
The zenith (sarcasm indeed) of this experience came when I agreed to a flu shot (yes it's time to get those already) and a booster for tetanus/diptheria/pertussis. The poor nurse came through (yes, the one with the strict policy) to stick me, offering to disperse the pain across both shoulders instead of focusing on one. I assented, deferring to her professional opinion. Then that terrifying moment came when I could feel the bevel of the needle edging ever closer to my poor, vulnerable epidermis and I immediately blurted, "I don't want it!" And before I could even finish my complaint, it was over. "Oh," I said, sitting up and testing out my newly inoculated deltoid, "Well that was kind of...fine."
Now, however, a mere 5 hours after-the-fact, both of my deltoids are screaming at me, and I am befuddled as to how exactly I'm supposed to fall asleep tonight with such a tremendous ache. Damned shots.
I don't want it!
PS: Be responsible. Go get your flu shot.
Question: I thought getting my flu shot in October was considered on the cusp of early since flu shots only last so long. (4 months is what I was told, must be wrong) How long?
ReplyDeleteP.S. Take an Advil or Tylenol for your arm pain. Just saying......once again. Hugs.