I’m going to have to stop writing in 15 minutes to watch Karen Dahlstrom streaming but as I’ve procrastinated all day and didn’t write yesterday I figured it’s best I get started. I’ve had a second glass of ice coffee; the second was actually ice creamed coffee so I should have enough energy. I didn’t till I drank it.
Today’s expedition was to see my gastroenterologist in person for the first time since COVID-19. I screwed up and didn’t order the car three days in advance so despite it being in the nineties with thundershowers I had to take two buses to get there. At least I timed it perfectly and hardly waited for either bus. Thank you Google Maps. They take your temperature and give you a mask when you come in. I of course was already wearing a mask, but I had to change into the one that they gave me. It wasn’t nearly as stylish. I realized on the trip over there that some people really don’t know what masks are for. First I saw a woman come out of the bodega with the mask on her chin and pull it up when she got outside. On one of the buses a rider was a nose peeper but lifted it over his nose when he got out. When they were indoors where the risk of infection is high, and the air is cooler they went unmasked. When they got outside where the risk is lower, and it was hot and humid they put it on. It seems impossible but they don’t know the reason people should wear masks. Informed people are usually uninformed about how uninformed many people are.
When I saw the nurse, who does the pre-exam check-in I told her about my intestinal obstruction over the weekend. When Dr. Kwah walked in she asked me how she was, and I told her that this appointment was good timing. There then was confusion as she thought I was talking about something else, which she then told me. She’s leaving for NYU, the Tisch Hospital.
Hello there, remember me. It’s been 20 hours since I wrote that last sentence. I stopped to watch Karen and somehow lost the next three hours. Perhaps I was abducted by aliens. OK now back to our regularly scheduled blogging.
I was not happy that Dr. Kwah is leaving. I’ve had Crohn’s since 1969, I have had many GI doctors in that time. She is in the top three and I told her. She listens to me and explains things to me at the right level. She’s someone I’d be friends with if she weren’t my doctor, and of course she’s taken great care of me medically. We discussed who my new doctor will be. She gave me a choice of two and I went with the one she thought best for me as I have a complicated history including cancer. The one I’m going to is older, the head of the department. He’s the one she asks when he has questions, specializes in exactly what I have. The other choice was a younger woman and I’d probably more comfortable with her but that shouldn’t be my primary concern. It’s so funny and good that when I was young women doctors were scarce and people didn’t trust them. Now they are as common as men and I feel more comfortable with a woman. That has nothing to do with medicine, just the way I’m emotionally inclined. I shouldn’t be, it’s a prejudice, but it’s true. It’s why my therapist is always a woman.
After my bittersweet farewell with my doctor, she thanked me for being a good patient, I made an appointment with my new doctor and had blood tests. The phlebotomist was so good I didn’t even notice her doing anything. She didn’t give me the “you’ll feel a pinch” warning and I didn’t notice she inserted the needle. I usually like to watch. That’s fine. It’s not like it’s exciting. I just like watching the blood begin to flow. I am supposed to get a call today about scheduling an MRI because I had that obstruction over the weekend and so the new doctor can see the current state of my intestines. I haven’t gotten it by the end of the day, I’ll call tomorrow. I know some people hate MRI; I fall asleep.
The doctor is only a half a mile from Stop & Shop, so I walked there after the appointment. I got some much-needed eggs, potatoes, and ice cream. I ended up buying much more than I expected to. It was quite heavy. Next time I go I bring my wheeled shopping cooler. I had rather good timing on the buses home. They moved the first bus stop because of construction but I found it.
When I got home I was hot and tired, so I made the ice creamed coffee that I discussed at the start of the entry. Karen’s show was great. The WiFi gremlins tried their best to interfere but Karen persevered. I decided that the right word to describe Karen’s singing is soulful. Even if she’s doing a cover that isn’t soulful in the original it becomes so when she sings it. She makes you feel what she’s singing.
I had one of my late-night calls to Katherine last night. This time I wanted to call earlier, around 10, but didn’t get around to it until 10:52 which at least is before 11. So of course, we talked extra-long. I didn’t get to sleep until after 4 AM. I went right back to sleep when my alarm went off at 8:00 and did something I haven’t done in ages. I woke up at after noon, 12:30. It was a weird night filled with weird dreams, including dreams about dreams. One thing I sort of remember is talking to the women who were really stars from A Wrinkle in Time. I called them witches and wasn’t sure that was correct, I conflated them with the three witches from Macbeth. They were doing a chant involving HDL. Why? Katherine and I talked about cholesterol levels. In the dream I knew there was something that should complement HDL but couldn’t come up with LDL.
I was rewarded for sleeping late to find out that my roommate brought back a fresh salt bagel for me! Sausageeggandcheese on a fresh bagel is even better than sausageeggandcheese on a toasted bagel. I have not had the luxury of eating that since I left my apartment in Briarwood. One area that I’m lucky is that there are certain simple pleasures that give me great delight, like that breakfast. I have had it so many times in my life but it’s still a special treat. I’d hate to have anhedonia and not be able to enjoy anything. At this moment I’m enjoying the simple pleasure of finishing a blog and getting ready to post it.
Wise Madness 