I had an orthopedic doctor appointment at 9:00 this morning so had to get up and get going. I didn’t sleep much last night as I had taken a nap the day before. During the night my knee started throbbing and it was a long, painful night.
The doctor’s office felt empty this morning and I got called right back even though I got there as requested 15 minutes early. All I interacted with were pleasant and efficient.
My blood pressure was very high today for some reason. I am to take it at home over the weekend and if it doesn’t go back down to normal I am to call my physician Monday.
They took several X-rays of my knee and then put me back in the room to wait for the doctor. It didn’t take him long to come in. He manipulated my knee in several ways.
He thinks I have arthritis that has flared up. I may have some minor meniscus or ligament damage but he wants to try a more conservative approach first.
He prescribe an anti inflammatory pill and a custom compound cream. I am to go back in a month if the pain isn’t gone and he will try a steroid injection. If that doesn’t work then he will do an MRI and go from there.
I left his office at 9:15 and went to Commercial Street Diner for breakfast. Jason was able to come join me and I got to spend some time with him. Breakfast was delicious as always and service was the best in town.
After breakfast I stopped at the pharmacy across the street from the hospital as they are the only pharmacy that can make the custom compound cream he ordered. They needed 30 more minutes to get it ready so I left to go do my other errands.
I drove by Michelle’s house on the way to Walmart. From the outside the work the contractor did looks great. She will need to reseed the area this fall but otherwise it looks good. I saw Tagen for a hot minute but didn’t stay long as he hadn’t gotten up for the day yet.
Went to Walmart to pick up another prescription and some groceries. Thankfully I stopped at the pharmacy first as they hadn’t received the script yet. I had to call the doctor’s office and have them resend it. After that ten minute phone call I picked up what groceries I needed and then went back to the pharmacy. After a ten minute wait they had it ready.
Went back to the other pharmacy and had to wait another ten minutes for them to have the script ready.
I was exhausted by then and came home. Not sure why the Walmart pharmacy had not received the script the first time it was sent but that seems to be my mojo these days with modern medicine.
Came home and put the groceries away and took the new pill and put the cream on my knee. This afternoon my knee is almost pain free! Yeah! I can use the cream up to four times a day if needed. That stuff must have some magic in it.
Took a long chair nap again this afternoon. I was frustrated with the wait at both pharmacies. A 20 minute wait turned into a two hour wait and am still not sure why the script that had been sent from the office while I was in the office hadn’t been received. Together the two scripts were over $200.
Felt better after my nap. It is nice to be almost pain free and my cranky pants seem to have gone away. I have a few things I want to take care of this evening and feel like I have the energy to do them. We shall see if I do.
No plans for the weekend. It will be nice to have a couple stay-at-home days ahead. I have a couple of things I would like to do so we shall see if I get to any of them.
Monday I am meeting a realtor at Tagen’s house so I can get it listed. Afterwards Ellexia and I are going to lunch and then I am getting a pedicure and Ellexia is getting a manicure. This will be a fun day. Wednesday Sophia has her surgery so will be going to town twice to take her and then go back to pick her up. Thursday I am meeting a friend for lunch.
Hoping to get some paperwork back next week so I can continue the work on Max’s estate and Kathy’s stuff. It sure will be nice when both of those projects are completed.
Still haven’t heard from the surgeon. Trusting his office will call the first part of next week. This has become a marathon of waiting. Betting it will be a month or more before I actually get to see him. Good thing this isn’t urgent!
Our modern medicine system feels very broken to me. Delays, insurance dictates protocols, prescription cost that prevent many from taking the drugs that would be helpful, appointments that are hard to procure and long waits when you do get one. Surely we can do better than this. I keep searching and listening for the lesson that is in all of this for me. I had to talk myself out of the feeling of not being seen or heard today.
Yesterday I was able to replace the crock pot lid handle that I had melted the week before. I found the part on Amazon and it came in and I was able to put it on. I get ridiculously proud of myself when I can fix something like that. Simple task but I am not always successful accomplishing it.
I was able to talk myself out of the rabbit hole this afternoon. I took a quick dip into the muck pond but am out of it already. I can’t always do it that quickly. Sleep helped! Being almost pain free helped too. I forget how chronic pain can drain a person and my pain wasn’t as bad as many suffer with.
This has been a chaotic two months with way too much drama and decisions that needed to be made. Trusting that life will slow down and become slow and simple again. I remember the first of May not being sure what I was going to do as I had so much empty space on my calendar. Need to remember not to worry about that as things have a way of coming up. I relish the thought of weeks of empty space that may be coming up for me.
Grateful for a compassionate and kind doctor and staff today, grateful for drugs that are giving me great pain relief, and grateful for an empty space type of weekend coming up.