Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Not Planning My Funeral Quite Yet

Look. I just love my doctor.
That is all.
He is so freaking kind I can't believe it.
"How've you been?" he asks as he swings into the room. And as always, I am taken aback at just how darn cute is. Look- cute doesn't hurt in a doctor, especially if it's the friendly kind of cute that simply makes your heart happy. He seems so entirely approachable.
And then he started going over my blood work, congratulating me for GETTING the blood work done because he knows me and knows how hard that is for me. And everything was pretty good except for my cholesterol which is a fucking mess. I told him that I'd like to try and do something dietarily to help that.
"I will admit," I told him, "I could eat less pork."
He laughed. And agreed that I could try that.
We discussed Mexico. We discussed his little boy. He showed me his picture. He's adorable, just like his dad. He told me that he did not have one thing to fuss at me about. I told him that I wished, in that case, that I HAD brought him the dozen eggs I'd thought about bringing him. He let me know that he would love fresh eggs. That he's a vegetarian and eggs are an important part of his diet. He got me talking about chickens. He excused himself, went out for a moment and came back with a picture of a chicken that said on it something like, "When I grow up I want to retire and raise chickens."
"I keep that in my cubby," he told me. And then he told me where he'd gotten it and some backstory there which concerned his wife and a special place that means a lot to him. And we talked about chickens some more and all of a sudden he says, "Let me check your blood pressure again," because it had not been that good when the nurse had taken it because my blood pressure always spikes when I go to the doctor.
"No," I said. "It'll just be awful again."
But I got up on the table and he took it while I was still talking about the problem of too many roosters and damn if it hadn't gone down to a level that is not only normal but also the lowest of any reading I've had in a doctor's office in years.

I am so grateful I found this kind doctor. He is not afraid to transcend that wall between himself and the patient which is so very rare but which, for a patient like me, is so very important.

So. That's done.

And then I met Lily and Jessie at Costco with Maggie and August. Levon was at home with his daddy and the two three-year old cousins had already been to the library story time and were in a merry mood.


First it was tickle time.


Then Magnolia decided to ride on the bottom of the cart. "Come on, August!" she said. So he joined her.


This made them happy for at least half an aisle.
When we left the store, Maggie ran to the wall outside and said, "Take our picture!"


And so we did. I suggested that they kiss which only inspired August to jump off the wall entirely.
Sigh...

I love those kids so much. I told them at one point that they cracked me up.
"We crackies," said August.
"Yes you are," I told him.

And so the rest of the day has gone by with me in the best of spirits. Getting a doctor's appointment over with is tantamount to the relief a junkie feels when he's scored.
At least I would imagine.
Of course the feeling won't last forever but for right now, it's a real good high.

I got to see August again later on when Vergil and his friend Sam came out to borrow Mr. Moon's Jon boat. Not only did they bring August but they brought Sam's ten month old little boy who is gorgeous and has huge blue eyes and indescribably thick, long eyelashes. I wanted to grab him up and start nomming his big, beautiful cheeks but I did not. I just flirted from afar. August and I went to the trash and recycle place- our so very special Mer-and-August thing to do. He just loves sitting in that booster seat like a big boy and we even stopped at the Post Office on the way back.


"Thank you for helping me," I told him. 
"I help lots of people," he said. 
He does. 

I got six nice eggs today from my sweet hens. I have determined that perhaps at least five of the young chicks are roosters. 
I am making venison chili. 
I feel somewhat reborn and renewed. 
And although there may be chicken shit on my porch I would never, EVER serve fast food hamberders to any guest in my house. 
I'm just classy like that. 

Love...Ms. Moon




24 comments:

  1. I have that same thing with my doctor. My blood pressure is high when the tec takes it and then goes way down to ok when the doctor takes it. I think it's because I'm worried because it's going to be high and the tec is so busy, taking blood pressure, temperature and whatever that thing is they clamp on your finger all at the same time. Congrats on getting the blood work done.

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    1. The finger-clamp thing is to measure oxygen levels.
      But yeah- a wise doctor listens and acts accordingly to get the full story.

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  2. i'm glad all went well. i get the same kind of anxiety about the dentist. it's horrible and a lot of people just don't get it.

    xxalainaxx

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    1. It really is horrible and I'm sure that for people who don't have these feelings, impossible to understand. But it's a reality for many of us and we do suffer.

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  3. Your good doctor sounds so much like the wonderful one we have here in our town. You’re lucky yours is young ~ I told our doc he wasn’t allowed to retire until John & I & L & L are all gone; of course he’s our age, so I was only kidding (sort of)!

    The crackies are too cute for words ~ I bet they get a lot of smiles from onlookers wherever they go. And August is one lucky 21st Century kid to get to go in that old-timey post office and gather mail from those beautiful antique p.o. boxes!!!

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    1. Oh, how I have envied you guys with your sweet Dudley! You know, I saw him once when he was practicing at the Tallahassee residency program. I fell in love with him as everyone does. This was MANY years ago.
      August asked me yesterday if the post office box below mine was his grandma's. Since she lives in NC, I doubt it. But wasn't that sweet?

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  4. Replies
    1. How does he get around spell check? It's unbelievable.

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  5. I hear so much about cholesterol -- how it matters, how it doesn't matter, etc. etc. -- that it's enough to drive you crazy! I know many friends who've absolutely refused to go on cholesterol-lowering medicine and who achieve it through diet. I also know people who take Chinese herbs to control it. I'm so glad that your doctor visit was good -- I need to get a physical through my new insurance plan, and I just dread the whole thing.

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    1. Well, at one point I was really stubborn and went practically vegan in order to lower my cholesterol and it really did not help much. I did lose weight though! My sweet doc says that this is a genetic thing. That he has it too. And there are herbs and supplements that help but they often contain the same things (in a more natural form, of course) that the meds do. It's one of those things. Who knows? Not me.

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  6. I am so happy to hear all went well with your doctor visit, and theses photos of maggie and august need to go right into the maggie and august hall of fame. I have a feeling "come on august" will be a refrain you hear from maggie for years to come!

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    1. I think you are most likely correct about "come on August!"

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  7. I think I need to go to your doctor. I've never had high blood pressure except for the last few years, not terribly high and my last doctor who moved even farther away than she already was wasn't terribly concerned about it. glad the visit went well. I've read it's not the cholesterol but whether your veins and arteries are inflamed. it's the inflammation that causes the cholesterol to stick.

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    1. And do we have a test to check for vein inflammation? I have no idea.

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  8. Read The Great Cholesterol Con Amazon l took statins for high chol and have been left with lots of problems caused by statins But some problems have gone. Read about statins. Don't know if this will work been having trouble commenting as you know. Cholesterol is a trigger word for me. Maggi x

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    1. I know that statins can be very dangerous. I really would like to avoid them.

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    2. Just wrote long reply Gone. Seethe. I reversed high chol and Diabetes 2 with diet in Jason Fung The Obesity Code not really about fat not a restrictive ever hungry deprived way of eating. Also The Great cholesterol con and the truth about statins. Am left with permanent muscle damage but vision and brain restored Maggi xxx

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  9. I'm glad the doctor visit went well.

    Yeah, fast food at the White House, just screams classy. The man is an ass. Good thing you have chickens:)

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    1. He's not just an ass, he's a low-class cheap son-of-a-bitch ass.
      It IS a good thing I have chickens.

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  10. FIVE roosters?! Oh boy.

    Your doctor was really smart to take your BP again and get what is probably (hopefully) a more accurate reading of what it's like in your day-to-day life. He sounds like a great doctor, and one who takes time with his patients, unlike many doctors.

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    1. He's precious, Steve. He really is. And he provides a safe and caring place for people outside the mainstream of "normal" patients. I love that about him so much.

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  11. You’re very fortunate to have a good doctor like that! And I am still very much in love with that little man August, he is darling, and then with Maggie too, they are just an adorable pair. I can hardly stand it! So sweet!

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    1. Maggie and August together definitely break the cute limit in my opinion. They are my beloved crackies.

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  12. Can't remember if it was Dan Siegel or some other researcher, but there was a study on patient outcomes that showed recovery times were notably improved when physicians engaged empathically (acknowledged to some extent how a patient was *feeling*) at least once during the interaction. Sounds like a good doc who might pay attention in that sense. Glad you found him.

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