Doctor's appointments. Yesterday I had 3 doctor's appointments with only 2 planned. The third was a last minute recommendation from my rheumatologist.
My first appointment was with neurology. I saw a nurse practitioner, Ann Rechtzigel, who works with Dr. Evans (whom I had seen during my first visit at Noran). She was very nice and knowledgeable about migraines. This time it was more about treatment options and migraines in general. She gave me a migraine diary. For those who do not know, this is to keep track and see if we can notice a pattern. I'm guessing there's not going to be much of a pattern as I have them almost daily and it's due to the Behcet's disease, but I'll give it a shot. Hell maybe I'll find they happen only in cold weather and I don't have them as often with the warm weather so I'll be forced to move somewhere sunny. Like right next to a beach. A girl can dream can't she?
Next stop was Carbone's in the East Side of St. Paul. I'll bet you were expecting another doctor visit, right? I had a couple hours to kill before the next appointment so Jason and I went to our old hood and had some delicious subs. Nom nom nom!
Stuffed and ready for a nap, next up was my rheumy appointment. Once again, Dr. Grandits is the best rheumatologist a person can ask for. She listens and genuinely cares about her patients. Why can't they all be like this? Numerous things happened at this visit. I will begin a new medication called Humira. It is an injectable. Sounds like it will be a couple weeks before I can get it from the pharmacy. Guessing I'll need a PA, or prior authorization. I'm not even going to get started on PA's. I am officially now on an LOA due to my symptom worsening. I will discuss in more detail in another post. I got my handicap parking form, just need to turn it into the DMV. Yes, I feel old. What 33 year old wants to have handicap parking permit? I can just imagine the looks and comments I'm going to get. Well little do those people know I have a mouth and am not afraid to use it:) The plan is to go back in 3 months.
My third appointment was for an ophthalmologist. Starting Tuesday, a blood vessel burst in my eye. I hadn't been doing anything that would cause it-sneezing, coughing, straining, etc. It felt like there was something in my eye and there was a little pressure as well. It was still there when I saw Dr. Grandits so I asked her what she thought. She suggested I go see an ophthalmologist to make sure it was OK. With Behcet's you are at risk for developing eye problems, such as uveitis. Scary to even think of. I agreed with her decision as this was the first time this has ever happened to me. Luckily I was able to find an appointment at the Cambridge clinic and it was only an hour away. Just enough time to make it there. So much for stopping at Tea Source on the way home for peppermint tea.
I dozed off on the way up to Cambridge. I definitely needed it.
This doctor was OK, not my favorite but tolerable. His name was Dr. Villella. One of the first questions he asked me was "Did you drive here?". I didn't care for his tone of voice, which was not very nice. I replied with "No, I barely drive anymore due to my disease." Asshole...I wasn't in the mood for some doc I didn't know lecturing me on a disease he knows nothing about. Maybe this sounds mean but those of us with Behcet's are use to having to defend ourselves at doctor's office and it gets old really quick. For the record, Jason drove me to all of my appointments that day. And I'm not fibbing when I say I barely drive anymore. My body and eyes can't take it most of the time. The rest of the appointment was fine. He applauded me for being proactive. Not sure proactive is quite the word I'd say. More like worry wort. Only good news out of the day? My eyes were fine. It was a subconjunctivitis hemorrhage.
By the time I made it home, I was completely exhausted. My body was screaming at me to lay down. I was so happy the appointments were done.
"You know you're getting old when everything hurts. And what doesn't hurt doesn't work." Hy Gardner
Note: This post was written on 4/5/12 but not published until 4/9/12 as I've had quite a week which I'm sure I will complain about later:)
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