I have more drugs!
Jan. 20th, 2011 11:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreSaw my pulmonologist yesterday. Dr. Butcher is a wonderful woman and a great doctor. Eternally optimistic, which I needed. We reviewed the events of the past two months, identifying the bad cold I caught in December as the cause of all this misery. The things I learn. Turns out with my kind of asthma, one really bad day can have repercussions that last for months. Mainly due to all the damage I've done to my lungs in the past.
She laughed when she saw that the Santa Clara ER had diagnosed me with pneumonia. Her exact words: "Yeah, one diagnostic indicator out of eight. I'm going to sign my name to that right after I buy that beach house in Kansas." She's given me a new drug to try, and the inhaler is so James Bond it hurts. I have to open this egg-shaped box, flip up the actual mouthpiece, put a little capsule into the chamber, lower the mouthpiece (piercing the capsule) and take three or four as-good-as-possible pulls on the mouthpiece. Then I need only wait for the Baron Harkonnen to come close enough... The stuff is called Spiriva. I also got a refill on my Prednisone. If the Spiriva isn't the show-stopper Dr. Butcher hopes it will be (I'm giving it a couple of days to work with my Advair) I go back on the Prednisone, and the two daily inhalers plus the Combivent for crisis moments. Which I have many of these days.
I like doctor appointments where I don't have to disrobe. Dr. Butcher took a quick listen to my lungs, saying the usual crackles and wheezes were in the usual places, she didn't need another X-Ray, since it would look like the last seven, and we need to focus on getting me clear "with a hammer" so we can go back to trying to maintain a livable existence. I thanked her, made a joke about baseball season, and collected my mom who was kind enough to give me a ride as I'm still really not comfortable driving like this. Dr. Butcher had told me that my scrip would be in the 2 North Pharmacy, just a few steps from the pulmonary office. We went in, sat down, and waited for my name to come up. During this time, an elderly man came up, sat down next to us, and began listing off all his ailments. He didn't mention halitosis, but I figured that one out on my own. In the mean time, we had been sitting there a good twenty minutes and same two names were on the ready screen. I looked at my visit paperwork and saw 1 North Pharmacy listed. It gave us an excuse to escape.
Now I had actually been having a pretty good breathing day. Mom kept the car warm, and since heat soothes so many lung problems, that office is always a bit warmer than a normal doctor's office. But to get from 2 North to 1 North we had to pass through a short breezeway. Emphasis on the breeze. Cold wind blowing right into my face. I literally felt my lungs seize up. Thankfully, 1 North was equally warm (mostly from the crush of people in the pharmacy.. it was packed!) Get in the appropriate line hand over Kaiser card, photo ID, and my paperwork, and get told...
"Oh, they're working on that at 2 North."
Walking is not my favorite thing these days. But back we go, with me waiting in line and mom sitting as far as possible from our new friend and reading her book. While in line, I got to listen to a live taping of The Real Housewives of Santa Theresa as these two women in front of me chatted away about all things vapid until I wanted to shout "First World Problems!" and ship them off to South Sudan to sell Avon. My name finally came up (it looked like were were two people total working in this pharmacy) just before I reached the front of the line. Paid for steroids, back home.
It'd be nice to be able to get out of bed one morning without coughing so hard I puke. Let's hope the new drugs make a difference.
She laughed when she saw that the Santa Clara ER had diagnosed me with pneumonia. Her exact words: "Yeah, one diagnostic indicator out of eight. I'm going to sign my name to that right after I buy that beach house in Kansas." She's given me a new drug to try, and the inhaler is so James Bond it hurts. I have to open this egg-shaped box, flip up the actual mouthpiece, put a little capsule into the chamber, lower the mouthpiece (piercing the capsule) and take three or four as-good-as-possible pulls on the mouthpiece. Then I need only wait for the Baron Harkonnen to come close enough... The stuff is called Spiriva. I also got a refill on my Prednisone. If the Spiriva isn't the show-stopper Dr. Butcher hopes it will be (I'm giving it a couple of days to work with my Advair) I go back on the Prednisone, and the two daily inhalers plus the Combivent for crisis moments. Which I have many of these days.
I like doctor appointments where I don't have to disrobe. Dr. Butcher took a quick listen to my lungs, saying the usual crackles and wheezes were in the usual places, she didn't need another X-Ray, since it would look like the last seven, and we need to focus on getting me clear "with a hammer" so we can go back to trying to maintain a livable existence. I thanked her, made a joke about baseball season, and collected my mom who was kind enough to give me a ride as I'm still really not comfortable driving like this. Dr. Butcher had told me that my scrip would be in the 2 North Pharmacy, just a few steps from the pulmonary office. We went in, sat down, and waited for my name to come up. During this time, an elderly man came up, sat down next to us, and began listing off all his ailments. He didn't mention halitosis, but I figured that one out on my own. In the mean time, we had been sitting there a good twenty minutes and same two names were on the ready screen. I looked at my visit paperwork and saw 1 North Pharmacy listed. It gave us an excuse to escape.
Now I had actually been having a pretty good breathing day. Mom kept the car warm, and since heat soothes so many lung problems, that office is always a bit warmer than a normal doctor's office. But to get from 2 North to 1 North we had to pass through a short breezeway. Emphasis on the breeze. Cold wind blowing right into my face. I literally felt my lungs seize up. Thankfully, 1 North was equally warm (mostly from the crush of people in the pharmacy.. it was packed!) Get in the appropriate line hand over Kaiser card, photo ID, and my paperwork, and get told...
"Oh, they're working on that at 2 North."
Walking is not my favorite thing these days. But back we go, with me waiting in line and mom sitting as far as possible from our new friend and reading her book. While in line, I got to listen to a live taping of The Real Housewives of Santa Theresa as these two women in front of me chatted away about all things vapid until I wanted to shout "First World Problems!" and ship them off to South Sudan to sell Avon. My name finally came up (it looked like were were two people total working in this pharmacy) just before I reached the front of the line. Paid for steroids, back home.
It'd be nice to be able to get out of bed one morning without coughing so hard I puke. Let's hope the new drugs make a difference.
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no subject
Date: 20 Jan 2011 20:02 (UTC)no subject
Date: 20 Jan 2011 20:22 (UTC)no subject
Date: 21 Jan 2011 00:34 (UTC)May your lungs stay in your chest..
Date: 21 Jan 2011 07:50 (UTC)Yeah, time is unfortunately the only thing that Really Helps.
Did I mention why I hate colds and flus? Because once I start coughing... Literally, as soon as I start coughing these days, I'm in the doctor's saying It Must Stop Now! Give me the hard stuff (codeine for me). Because if it doesn't stop NOW, I will be sick for months. And I can't take half the stuff you are taking (bad reactions).
*gentle hugs*
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Date: 21 Jan 2011 08:49 (UTC)