bit of a scare

When we got to the doctor's office this morning, we found that Lisa had to go down the hall so they could take more blood, to compare it with the results from last Thursday. We were a bit dismayed, having thought that it was going to be a regular visit - just a few days early. Lisa wasn't feeling up to par; she hasn't felt very well for a month or more.

So the lab took her blood and we went back down the hall to the doctor's office. The receptionist said that they would give us a call when the results came in. On a whim, Lisa asked if somebody could take her blood pressure. It has been high lately and her pulse has been fast. She was told to sit down and someone would be with her shortly.

A few minutes later, Lisa was called into the back. They checked her BP and pulse and our plans for the day changed. We were told to hang around while they consulted with the doctor; basically, they wanted him to let them know whether he could see Lisa or should they send her to the hospital (!). A little while later, at high noon, Lisa was given an appointment to see the doctor personally at 4:20 P.M.

This caused us to muse whimsically, and only briefly, about  medical marijuana. At that point we were getting worried and needed to lighten our moods. This also meant that we could either drive the 20 miles home and come back a few hours later, or we could find something to do in town. At that point Lisa felt well enough to stick around.

I was hungry and wanted to go home, but that's a lot of driving and I couldn't justify the fuel consumption. So, we went to the Bi-Lo grocery store in Waynesville, where I bought a bottle of pop for each of us and a big package of cheap cookies. Then we went to a little park nestled between Richland Creek and the railroad tracks.

It seems kind of silly, in retrospect, that we'd do something so simple; Waynesville is a tourist town. Surely we could have found something more interesting to do. But Lisa didn't feel like walking around town and I'm more of a nature guy anyway.

While we were there, I reminded Lisa that today is May 14th, 2012 - the fourth anniversary of the first day that Lisa and I spoke to each other. We didn't meet in person until the 18th, at a park along the Gulf of Mexico. And here we were today, in a park by a mountain stream.

After a little over an hour at the park, we headed back to the doctor's office to wait for the appointment. It was starting to look like rain. There were still two hours left before her appointment.

Not too long after we settled down in the waiting room, Lisa started to complain about the "noise". I didn't think that it was loud in there at all, but Lisa had a headache so everything seemed more intense. Soon she asked me to get some damp paper towels for her forehead.

After the first hour, with one more to go, Lisa said that she wanted to leave. She was tired and felt awful. (You know you're sick when you don't even feel well enough to see your doctor.) I spoke to the receptionist, she contacted the nurse, and I was told that it wouldn't be "too much longer." Of course, I didn't want to take Lisa home anyway. She didn't look well and I didn't want her to end up in the hospital. I convinced her to stay.

The nurse called us at precisely 4:20 and got Lisa as comfortable as possible in an exam room; after she left us, I turned off the overhead light because it was bothering Lisa a lot. We didn't have to wait too long for the doctor.

He was quite concerned about Lisa's BP, pulse rate and the liver enzyme tests. He took her off of Percocet to protect her liver, giving her straight oxycodone instead, and took her off of ibuprofen and rosuvastatin (Crestor) and put her on bisoprolol for her high blood pressure.

She also had a UTI, so he gave her an antibiotic.

And we still have to go back on Thursday for her regular appointment; she'll probably have to give more blood then too. At least we're moving ahead on this, and we both feel better for having seen the doctor.