2nd PFT

-
I had my second PFT schedule for the 2nd of April. Greg was on his Spring Break, but I had to get off work a little early. When the nurse came in, she looked a bit surprised and said, "You're back already?" I was surprised she remembered me. I just told her that it had been about six months, so it was due.


Well, we get in there and she tries to use the oximeter, which of course doesn't work, then tries to use the ear clip which also doesn't read anything. That should have been the first clue for me of how things were going to go down. Well, she shows me the new machine they have and has me go in and sit on the chair. Knowing I was going to be there for a while, I asked her if I could grab my coat to sit on. It was a rock hard wood chair, and my butt just can't take that for long periods of time. Once we finally got that settled, I went to put my mouth on the mouthpiece. I don't even come close to fitting my mouth around it. So she grabs the one they use for kids. Well, my mouth doesn't fit around that one either. Of course not. And of course that is the smallest mouthpiece that they have, which actually surprises me because this is a test scleroderma patients do quite a bit, and I can't possibly be the only one who can't open my mouth....Right? Anyway, I started crying out of frustration, and the nurse was just a sweetheart. She kept saying things like, "I'm sorry you have to go through this," and just tried to make me feel better. She sent Dr. Walker a message letting him know I wasn't able to do the PFT, but I haven't heard from him about it, so it must not be too important.

After the nurse said, "Sorry you had to waste your time coming out here," we responded with, "Well, I already got work off, so it's okay." I was craving a seafood sub from Subway, so we went and got one, then Greg surprised me by taking me to Divergent.


Such a good movie! It could have followed the book a little better, but the main dude is might good looking, so I didn't mind too much.

Then we came out to this scene of snow. Despite not being able to do the PFT, it turned out to be a good day. We'll have to see what my doc says when I visit him next.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Beginning - Raynaud's

-
Image
In December of 2011, I noticed that if my hands got really cold, they would turn white, and go numb. It just started in my middle fingers, and progressively got worse. I just thought it was really strange, but didn’t think anything of it. I'd just wear gloves and try to keep them warm. In January of 2012, they started turning a purpleish/blackish color when they got too cold, and they were really hard to warm up again. It kind of freaked me out, and one day at work I showed my co-workers. They kind of freaked out, so that kind of freaked me out. I ended up going to Instacare, where I learned that it was really expensive to go there. I kind of teared up when she told me how much it cost, and I guess she though I was crying because of my fingers. Needless to say those few tears got me in a bit quicker. The nurse came in and did all the basics, and then I waited for a bit longer. Of course by the time the doctor got in there, I had warmed up a bit so they weren't as black as the
Read more

1st Doctor's Appointment

-
Image
I had my very first doctor's appointment on September 5. After having to wait so long for the insurance to finally kick in, I was pretty excited to go to the doctor. I took the afternoon off, which was a good thing because I was there for quite a while. They were a bit busy, so I didn't even get in until about an hour after I was scheduled. I didn't even care. The nurses kept apologizing, but seriously. I did not even care.   When I finally got in, the nurse came in and briefly asked me what was going on and did her stuff, then left. Dr. Carlson came in shortly after, and asked to look at my hands. I showed him and he said, "I think I know what's going on." He then proceeded to ask me questions, so I got to start from the beginning and tell him everything. He'd ask me questions every now and then, then continue on. I felt like I got everything out, but it's kind of hard to remember EVERYTHING when you're not really sure what's part of it,
Read more

What is Scleroderma?

-
Image
By now, you're probably wondering just what exactly is Scleroderma. Well, in simple terms (and in a cute typo-graphic)   So, basically, my body has decided that it doesn't like the healthy body tissues in my body, and tries to get rid of them. So much for trying to get in shape and be healthy right? In more in depth terms, this is what eMedTV says about it: Scleroderma is derived from the Greek words "sklerosis," meaning hardness, and "derma," meaning skin. Therefore, it literally means "hard skin." Although it is often referred to as a single disease, it is really a symptom of a group of diseases. This group involves the abnormal growth of connective tissue, which supports the skin and internal organs. Therefore, scleroderma is sometimes used as an umbrella term for these disorders. In some forms of scleroderma, hard, tight skin is the extent of this abnormal process. However, in other forms, the problem goes much deeper
Read more