(no subject)
Mar. 28th, 2019 02:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckI'm making Scott go back to the doctor tomorrow. The augmentin is not, so far as we can tell, helping his illness at all. He's getting some symptomatic relief from tessalon and a pharmacy of OTC things, but the cough still sounds like all of his internal organs are about to wrench loose and come out his mouth.
I've sent a patient portal message to my doctor about getting a referral to have my hands looked at again with an eye toward evaluation for surgery. I don't know if I'd be a good candidate for that, but there's damn all else to try. I don't think that cortisone shots will help at all given that the problem is a bone that moves side to side when even slightly jostled.
When I got the osteoarthritis diagnosis, they told me that cortisone and surgery were the only treatment options beyond being careful (I saw an OT hand specialist) and using OTC painkillers. At this point, the hand problems are making PT for my other upper body chronic pain issues more difficult. I need to do that PT several times a day, and I'm afraid to because of the hand pain.
They told me I can't make the osteoarthritis worse by using my hands, but I think that what they actually meant was that I can't make it better by not using my hands.
I think I'm going to have to ask Scott where he's keeping the tax documentation. He was planning to do our taxes the weekend he got sick, and he's been too sick since then to even remember that it's March. I'm not sure exactly what I'll need to do (beyond using his laptop because I don't have a copy of the software), but I am sure that we can't wait for him to be better. I'm more likely to be able to figure out what needs doing if I start this weekend and have two weeks than if I wait and hope that he gets sufficiently better to do the work himself.
The long term disability review for my insurance from the university is requiring an 'independent medical evaluation.' It's scheduled for 8 a.m. on June 13th. I'm trying to find out what time the building opens. If it opens at 7 a.m. or earlier, Scott can drop me off. If it doesn't, I'm going to need an appointment later in the day (though they're telling me that later in the day is 'impossible' due to how long the testing takes). I called the doctor to ask about building hours and got sent straight to voicemail, so I'm assuming he's one of those solo practice doctors that does nothing but disability reviews.
The office is located in a place where there really aren't any options for places to sit if the building's not open. The bus would get me there around 7:30, but that would involve taking a commuter bus to campus and a good bit of walking. School will still be in session then, so getting a cab there is unlikely at that time of day (there are two hour windows on school days when cabs are simply not available at all). A cab or the A-Ride would both have the problem that I still might get there massively early and have nowhere to go.
I suppose I should be glad for an appointment in June. Waiting outside for an hour in January would be potentially lethal. (For those who know Ann Arbor, the place is near the Washtenaw/Stadium intersection.)
I want to snarl at the universe just to regain some feeling of having any agency in the face of all of this.
I've sent a patient portal message to my doctor about getting a referral to have my hands looked at again with an eye toward evaluation for surgery. I don't know if I'd be a good candidate for that, but there's damn all else to try. I don't think that cortisone shots will help at all given that the problem is a bone that moves side to side when even slightly jostled.
When I got the osteoarthritis diagnosis, they told me that cortisone and surgery were the only treatment options beyond being careful (I saw an OT hand specialist) and using OTC painkillers. At this point, the hand problems are making PT for my other upper body chronic pain issues more difficult. I need to do that PT several times a day, and I'm afraid to because of the hand pain.
They told me I can't make the osteoarthritis worse by using my hands, but I think that what they actually meant was that I can't make it better by not using my hands.
I think I'm going to have to ask Scott where he's keeping the tax documentation. He was planning to do our taxes the weekend he got sick, and he's been too sick since then to even remember that it's March. I'm not sure exactly what I'll need to do (beyond using his laptop because I don't have a copy of the software), but I am sure that we can't wait for him to be better. I'm more likely to be able to figure out what needs doing if I start this weekend and have two weeks than if I wait and hope that he gets sufficiently better to do the work himself.
The long term disability review for my insurance from the university is requiring an 'independent medical evaluation.' It's scheduled for 8 a.m. on June 13th. I'm trying to find out what time the building opens. If it opens at 7 a.m. or earlier, Scott can drop me off. If it doesn't, I'm going to need an appointment later in the day (though they're telling me that later in the day is 'impossible' due to how long the testing takes). I called the doctor to ask about building hours and got sent straight to voicemail, so I'm assuming he's one of those solo practice doctors that does nothing but disability reviews.
The office is located in a place where there really aren't any options for places to sit if the building's not open. The bus would get me there around 7:30, but that would involve taking a commuter bus to campus and a good bit of walking. School will still be in session then, so getting a cab there is unlikely at that time of day (there are two hour windows on school days when cabs are simply not available at all). A cab or the A-Ride would both have the problem that I still might get there massively early and have nowhere to go.
I suppose I should be glad for an appointment in June. Waiting outside for an hour in January would be potentially lethal. (For those who know Ann Arbor, the place is near the Washtenaw/Stadium intersection.)
I want to snarl at the universe just to regain some feeling of having any agency in the face of all of this.
no subject
Date: 2019-03-28 06:44 pm (UTC)This all sounds so frustrating.
no subject
Date: 2019-03-28 06:53 pm (UTC)Just a shot in the dark, but has Scott been tested for Pertussis?
This probably isn't a good option, but if you want to stay over here the night before your appointment, I could drive you over there arriving shortly before 8am. We have a good guest bed, but also a marauding small child who tends to make loud banging noises that wake us up at 5:30 or 6 in the morning most mornings.
no subject
Date: 2019-03-28 09:34 pm (UTC)I really hope it's not pertussis because that cough lasts for so very, very long. I don't know if testing at this point would yield any sort of data as it looks like the testing is most viable early on.
Scott's going to see if he can get the day of my appointment off. Beyond that, I'm not sure. I'll let you know. Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2019-03-29 12:38 am (UTC)