Wassup, doc, in the MMP?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Semi-annual followup with my doc (OK, PA-C) this morning, My blood work last week was aces (Labcorp sent me a link the day after I was bled.) I’m not expecting any surprises, but I did put a list on my phone of things I want to remember to address with her.

I can’t believe how many doctors I’m seeing. Apart from our family practitioner, I have a neurologist, a cardiologist, a dermatologist, a dentist, and an optician. OK, the last 2 have been around for years. Oh, and I saw a podiatrist a year ago. And an orthopedist a few years back. I’m afraid to ask what else.

Which brings to mind a t-shirt I saw once upon a time: “If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself!”

Do you have a cadre of doctors? Do you line up your meds next to your breakfast plate every morning?? (We watched some geezers do just that eons ago when we were on vacation.) Do your conversations involve much about meds and scans and suchlike? Does this look infected to you?? :health_worker:

Happy Moanday, anyway!!

:rofl:

2

First! Because I have been up tending to my lovely wife, who spent yesterday in quite a bit of pain. We called in and got her something or other, not an opiate, that seems to have relieved the nerve pain for now, and with luck until she’s healed.

I’m working on decreasing my meds. Every time I open the box, I’m actively happy that there’s no tamoxifen. I hope soon to have titrated off the whopping dose of melatonin they’ve had me on for 11 years. Perhaps my next A1c will allow me to decrease my metformin.

I don’t line up my pills. I toss 'em back all at once, because I am tough.

3

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 73 Amurrkin out and drizzly with a predicted high of 88 and cloudy with rain possibly late afternoon. Rain is predicted throughout the week, so we shall see. No big items on today’s agenda other than haulin’ the neighbor’s and our biiiiiig trash cans all the way back up from the road once trash pickup happens. We will be our usual RDOS selves. The executive decision to go to Sonny’s for today’s main need to feed was made last night. They have a sammich, side and drink special goin’ on today and it’s been a while since we’ve gone there.

I don’t have a cadre of docs really. I have my PCP and PA (I see either one), a dentist, and an eye doc. The only specialist I have seen recently was for a colonoscopy, if that counts.

Lily glad lovely wife has gotten some pain relief. Hope she heals up soonest. Like you, I toss back all my pills at once.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.

Happy Moanday Y’all!

4

I have a primary care physician, a cardiologist, a urologist, an oncologist and an ophthalmologist. I take sixteen pills a day and sort them into a pill keeper like this. Two weeks from today I have been led to believe that I will no longer need to take the six pills a day for the prostate cancer treatment.

(No dentist. My teeth are all fake)

5

I have the usual entourage (PCP, dentist, ophthalmologist), an oncologist, and I’m looking for a new dermatologist. With the hysterectomy, I’m released from gynecology unless something out of the ordinary hsppens. I could cease to see the oncologist, but why?

6

Optometrist, not optician. Sheesh, it’s early!

Anyway, back from the Dr - she wants me to get more exercise. I probably should. I’ll start by getting some yard work done this morning. After I change into grubbies…

Plus I need to schedule a tit-squishin’ because it’s been over a year. So I’ve got that going for me.

7

Goo horked up a very wet hairball on the bed this morning at 04:40. I’m washing the sheet now.

8

In addition to my GP, I have a gynecologist, an ophthalmologist, an EENT, a dentist, and a dermatologist. I take (counting . . .) eight pills a day: three in the morning and five at night.

My husband doesn’t go to the doctor and hasn’t had a prescription med in twenty years. He looks at my assortment and makes scornful noises, because he thinks I’m a hypochondriac. No, I’m seventy years old and minor medical conditions sort of add up at this age.

Today is a Costco run and I’m going to indulge in some steaks, if I don’t have to take out a bank loan to do so. We haven’t had a good one in a couple of months at least. And I must pull and replace a few herbs in my herb garden in pots - it looks like the old ones are getting root-bound. Also, a trip to our local stone fruit orchard is in order, as apricots are in season and I want to make apricot jam.

Who said I’d be bored in retirement?

9

I guess I’m in the minority. I have a PCP, but other than a dentist that’s it. There was the guy who did my knee surgery, but I haven’t seen him again. Made a trip to the ER when my sight went wonky one morning, and I saw an audiologist because of hearing loss. But nothing in the past year. I take (I think) seven pills a day for BP, blood sugar, and reflux. One of those is twice a day. At 79, I think that’s a pretty good profile.

A rainy morning in MSP. Good for fires and for plants. We’re expecting a niece visit on Wednesday, which is always nice. She’s bringing sandwiches; I’ll be making a Waldorf salad.

Sadie had fun pouncing on The Evil Thing That Lives Under The Blankets this morning. She’s now zonked on the carpet in the living room and twitching from some kitty dream.

Breakfast will be a toasted everything bagel topped with avocado and tomato. Then on to exercise.

The AC functioned well over the weekend, so here’s hoping they’ve got the glitches ironed out. I think there may be a rebellion brewing over the new “chef”. The idiot in charge (IIC) tends to hire the first person who walks in for an interview. I don’t eat the food from the kitchen, as I had my fill of institutional grub when I was in the military, but I’m hearing dark mutterings from some residents. I dread the day when I have to turn in my spatula.

My eldest’s daughter/son had her/his big bash over the weekend. We didn’t attend, as the drive out there is exhausting, but I send a hefty check. Sounds like she/he isn’t having much luck with grant/scholarship apps, so we’ll likely be forking out cash to help with tuition.

10

I got a Facebook message claiming to be from a Doper. (I think I know who he is.) The trouble is that the picture was the wrong gender. I asked if it was really he, and was assured it was. Then there I was asked if I was ready to claim my payment. I asked the sender’s username. The sender gave me the Facebook username. I said ‘Wrong,’ and the sender said ‘he’ didn’t know what I meant.

I went to the Doper’s Facebook page and saw his avatar. He definitely didn’t send the message. So I sent him a screenshot of the imposter. Then I changed my password, logged out, and logged back in with the new password.

11

Pills? Oy, do I have pills! 3 drugs keep the symptoms of Parkinson’s at bay. One keeps my glaucoma from making me blind. 2 drugs stave off high blood pressure and high cholesterol. One prevents GERD. 3 separate drugs valiantly fight depression, which is a side-effect of Parkinson’s. I have gummies for multivitamins, gummies for calcium, and gummies for turmeric.

Weather today will top out at 85 ferrets, with shattered grumbleshowers.

Breakfast is ready.

12

Morning all. Up about 7am and have done all the necessaries, the day is cloudy and the Weather Wizards are promising heavy storms starting around noontime, so this will be a good day to be inside. Temperature is only getting to about 80F so the AC shouldn’t have to work too hard. Not a busy week on the schedule, my next planned medical appointments are not until August (audiologist) and September (dental), although I am still thinking about seeing a podiatrist (the toes were doing better and then got worse yesterday, so we’ll see how they are the next couple of days). And still just two pills a day in the morning, I know darn well I’m lucky compared to most folks, but hope it continues for awhile longer.

FCM, you can still get a T-shirt with that saying on it from a variety of sources (might even get one myself). And reading your notes on the MMP, I rather think you get more exercise per day than the doctor gets…

lucky, it’s his call, but sounds to me like husband is playing with fire. Hope he doesn’t get scorched.

lily, best wishes to lovely wife, pain is no fun at all.

Hippie, fingers crossed that those treatment pills go away for you.

Flyboy, good job on the imposter, have not gotten anything like that, but will keep an eye on my Facebook account.

Knots, that’s a lot of pills of they are doing yeoman work for you. And I’m quite taken by the term ‘grumbleshowers’, may have to steal that one.

And onward into the week I go. Have a good one all.

13

I have one doctor, my PCP, and a dentist. I also only take two pills a day, but I take a handful of vitamins to make up for it. I should probably make an appointment for an eye check-up. I’m not going to use the doctor who sent me for cataract surgery because I feel that if I have a 1300 appointment, I should be seen by 1330 at the very longest. The waits for him were always over an hour.

I’ve got three lawyers though, does that make up for the lack of doctors? (One civil rights attorney, a real estate lawyer and our elder law specialist.)

We didn’t get the promised thunderstorm last night, so they are teasing us with the promise of rain tonight to make up for it. I don’t trust these weather-guessers any more than I did the ones in AZ so I’m certainly not holding my breath.

Speaking of AZ, I’m hearing rumors of a calf in Tucson was found with screwflies. If you have the money, stock up on beef cause things are going to get worse before they get better.

14

Good morning everyone. It was supposed to rain this morning, so I ignored my walking alarm, even though I didn’t hear anything outside. My bladder alarm went off twenty minutes later, and I could hear a lot of rain and some thunder in the distance, so good call.

Pills - I take three a day. Four, if you include allergy medicine. I take a minoxidil in the morning and evening and my Bupropion in the morning. I was taking it at 300mg/day, but since I’m addressing the root cause of my MDD and insomnia, I’ve been able to cut down to 150/day and no longer have to take Trazadone. I’m kinda hoping to add a weekly injection to the mix in a couple of months.

In the provider column, I see my GP/PAC for GP/PAC type things. She has recommended that I see a rheumatologist every couple of years because I have high ANA. I have my orthopedist for my back, an ophthalmologist for my eyes, a dentist for my teeth, a dermatologist to count my moles and fuss at me for not wearing a hat outside, and finally my counsellor (Hi, Nora!). If things go as I expect (hope?), I’ll probably have to add in an endocrinologist[1].

Sorry, but I’ll still probably continue to do stupid things.

Lily - I hope your wife feels better. Nerve pain is the worst. Mrs Magill has only two years of tamoxifen left. That alone will reduce her pill load by quite a bit. In addition to the tamoxifen, she has like seventy-three other pills to address the side effects of tamoxifen.

  1. First try! ↩︎

15

I only have 3 prescription meds - BP, Cholesterol, and Seizure. I take a low dose aspirin every other day, and Vit B-complex, D3, and E every morning. My optometrist, cardiologist, dentist, and dermatologist are all once a year to keep an eye on things. Neurologist is still monitoring things after my seizure, so dunno how much longer I’ll be seeing her. Family Practitioner is twice a year to keep an eye on everything. So while it sounds like I’ve got a lot going on, I really don’t. Most is preventative. So far.

I just spent about an hour futzing in the yard, and I’m taking a break. I’ll head back out shortly to resume work. Maybe it’s time to do some transplanting. I did manage to take out half of a raised bed frame, so there’s that. Once upon a time, I’d have been able to work 3 or 4 hours straight. No more - at least not this heavy physical stuff. But I can still do it - that should count for something.

OK, a little more water, then back at it.

16

Good morning.

It’s 52F and cloudy outside. The clouds will turn to morning showers, and by afternoon, steady rain, with a daytime high of 58F.

I take a multi-vitamin. That’s about it. I have a PCP, but I haven’t seen her yet. I don’t really go to the doc unless something is wrong, and that’s rare. Oh, I guess I have an ophthalmologist, too, but that’s just because I’m due for cataract surgery next month. Once the follow-ups are done, I probably won’t be seeing him either.

Hippie, hope you get to stop taking those pills.

Lily, I’m sorry your lovely wife was in such pain. I hope the new meds do a good job of keeping the pain at bay.

Bright Tree, you mentioned watching movies or shows with dubbing vs. subtitles. I much prefer the subtitles. The dubbing never seems to fit the actor or the emotion. In fact, if something is dubbed, I turn it off. I tend to watch a lot of foreign movies or series. French, Nordic, Icelandic, German, Polish, Korean, Spanish (like from Spain), and more. I really like the Nordic stuff, and I’m slowly running out of good stuff to watch.

I spent a good amount of time in the garden yesterday. I widened and extended an existing garden bed, spent some time pulling baby weeds, and watered anything that needed it. Stuff still in the nursery pots tends to dry out pretty quickly. I laid out some plants that I intend to put in the new bed, but their placement may change, and I may make it even larger. I dunno, cutting out sod is hard work, and I still have to finish the bed in front, too.

I was going to transplant my Bananas and Cream daisies, too, but I ran out of steam. Those daisies have been in a very nice dark blue clay/ceramic pot for about three years, and I believe they’re becoming root-bound. I’ll need to find a bigger pot or transplant them somewhere in the ground.

I also gave the birdies fresh water in both the stationary and hanging bird baths.

I’m thinking of getting a farm/stump-jack to remove the shrubs that need to be removed. Plus, I still have the stumps from the three arborvitae that I cut down last year. The thought of digging out three stumps (well, multiple for the arborvitae) and four twenty-three-year-old shrubs/bushes is a bit overwhelming, to be honest.

Well, I suppose I should get my day started. You all take care of yourselves, please.

17

There have been two cases of screw worm in calves in local news in the last couple of days. Canada has stopped the import of livestock from Texas for the duration.

To answer the OP, I have a PCP, a dentist optometrist, podiatrist, dermatologist, starting with an infectious disease doctor. More meds than you can shake a stick at.

Up, caffeinating, dogs tended to, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. Sis and BIL should be home this evening. I’ll be so glad to get home!

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

18

Thanks, all. My lovely wife is now having what she characterizes as “about the level of pain I was exopecting.” She’s working on reducing the meds.

Best wishes to her. I took 3,563 +/- 1 of those over 10 years. Many of the side effects improved with time; some didn’t.

I take HCTZ for nominally high BP, a divided dose of metformin, and supplements, as well as the melatonin I’m tapering off of and a weekly Mounjaro injection. Much better than, say, 10 years ago.

19

I appreciated the heads up. I haven’t been hacked in a long time. I logged out and changed my password.

20

I see my PCP whenever I need to. I see the gyn and allergist a few times a year for check ins. ENT, cardiologist and pulmonologist are once a year. I am on good terms with the ortho PA for my shoulder and other arthritic joints that need periodic shots. I take 5 RX meds plus an inhaler daily. All my maladies are under control and I intend to keep them that way.

Going to the movies this afternoon to see Pressure. I have a coupon for a free popcorn and pop. Looking forward to this. I bought my ticket online yesterday and so far I am the solo patron.