I was up early and on the road by 7:40 this morning. I had a doctor’s appointment in Wichita at 9:20 and they requested I come 30 minutes early to fill out paperwork.
I got there in good time and filled out 12 pages of paperwork. Geez! I wonder if anyone even reads it.
The nurse that checked me in was friendly and efficient. She spent lots of time entering things on the computer, took my vitals and then left.
This was my first visit to meet this Doctor. He is young and I liked the way he listened and asked questions. I didn’t like when he said several times why did you do that when I was telling him I did what a doctor told me to do. I don’t know, why don’t you call the doctor and ask why they said to do that!
He thinks my pancreas problems may have been caused by Covid. He said he is seeing lots of new patients that have similar problems now. The tail of my pancreas is atrophied and he said that is usually from a block in the duct. The CT scan shows I have a stone in the duct but the MRI didn’t confirm that. He wants to do a test where he sends a camera down my throat far enough so he can visualize the pancreas. If needed, he will take a biopsy of the stone or tumor or whatever is causing the duct blockage. Not sure when that is going to happen as they haven’t called me to schedule it yet.
When that test is done and whatever we need to do to fix that problem, then he wants to schedule a colonoscopy. When I told him I got into trouble last one he said why did they have you do a two day prep. I told him to call the doctor and ask him I just was doing what I was told to do. His prep is different and he allows the patient to determine if they need round two or not based on the results they are getting.
I asked about doing both at the same time but he discouraged it. He said if he has to take a biopsy that doing the colonoscopy afterwards would increase the risk of complications. I agreed to wait on the colonoscopy.
I told him about the reaction my stomach sometimes does to me after eating a meal. I try not to eat till I am full but two or three hours after I eat I feel overfull and it can take up to eight hours for that to pass. I struggle to even drink water when it happens. He thinks the pancreas is not producing the proper enzymes to break down the food. I have to take him a stool sample and he will test for it. He said it is an easy fix with medication. Not sure when I will take the stool back to him. If they schedule the other test soon I will wait and take it when I go for that. If it is a month or so out, I will have to make a trip to Wichita to deliver a specimen sooner. It is exciting to think that issue can be solved easily.
Overall I liked the doctor and found his staff to be competent. We shall see how far out he is booked and how quickly he can do this procedure.
After I was done at his office I went to Costco and manage to find things I didn’t know I needed plus got the couple things I did need. They were not busy today so it was a good time to go.
I then went to Chipotle and had lunch and then came home. I got home around 12:30. Kathy helped me get the car unloaded and I managed to get things put away.
When I got home, the neighbors were here mowing. I had a nice chat with the man of the house. I had met him before but hadn’t taken time to chat with him. I so appreciate them mowing for us.
I haven’t done much this afternoon. I wanted to take a nap but decided not to. Hoping I can sleep tonight and then get up tomorrow and get some things done around here. The level of lack of cleanliness is starting to bother me and it is time to clean.
My printer froze up today. It tells me I have a paper jam and I don’t. I did all the troubleshooting things several videos told me to try and no luck. The printer is over six years old so thinking it is into its planned obsolete thing that electronics seem to enter. I ordered a new one that will be here Monday. If anyone knows about these things and wants it to try to unstick it, you are welcome to it. Wouldn’t you know I just put a new toner and drum in it. How do they time there things to blow up when you spend money to put new guts in them?
Thursday I need to go to Emporia and get Coke’s for the Detainees for their World Cup treat. I am to drop off the Coke and Popcorn Thursday afternoon at the Center. I will check with Jason and see if he is free for lunch that day and make the trip to town more fun. I probably need to get some groceries while I am at Walmart picking up the Cokes.
No plans for the weekend. Next Monday I have to go to Topeka for an Ultrasound. It is my normal six month thyroid check up time. I think I go to annually after this next appointment as I am almost ten years out from having cancer. I had my thyroid removed in 2017. How is that almost 10 years ago? That time thing gets me sometimes. The chances of a reoccurrence after 10 years is 1%. I like my chances at this point of staying cancer free.
Geez, if it wasn’t for doctor’s appointments I might not have to leave the house much. I have several trips to Wichita coming up whenever they get scheduled. I have two trips to Topeka sometime in August for other doctor appointments there.
Got another nice donation for Love in Action today. These donations always motivate me to continue to find ways to support the Detainees. After the World Cup treats we don’t have anything else special planned. I will come up with something for Labor Day and then start thinking about the fall and winter holidays and see what we can do for them then. It will be nice when the piece of exercise equipment comes in and I pay our share of that. Still not sure how much that will be so it is hard to budget until that number gets plugged in. I’m still expecting it to arrive any day.
Feeling a bit optimistic that maybe some of my health challenges will finally get resolved. It is interesting to me how the two different gut doctors choose different approaches to my problems. I like figuring out the pancreas first as that seems to be the more pressing of my concerns. Trusting this doctor will actually follow-up and do what he says he will do. I never have heard back from the other office about the results of the MRI I had done in May or to reschedule the colonoscopy.
Grateful for a new doctor that appears to be competent, grateful for a safe trip to and from Wichita, and grateful for my neighbors that mowed our yard today.