Wrist tendonitis

I haven't been posting regularly. It's mainly because I have been resting my left wrist.

A while back, I noticed swelling in my left wrist. Two weeks ago, it was noticeably swollen. I went to an urgent care clinic to have it checked out. I had a nice doctor who diagnosed what I had as being wrist tendonitis.

I got anti-inflammatory medication and a prescription for a wrist-thumb splint. I have been wearing the splint all the time, except when I am showering or washing my hands. I'm nearly done taking all my anti-inflammatory pills.

Yesterday was the first time in ages where I didn't see any signs of swelling. I had more range of motion with my wrist. The pain isn't as bad. I am happy to see some good progress.

The rest has helped. I have learned not to use my left hand as much. It's interesting that my right hand is the dominant one, but my left wrist is the one with the problem.

I hope that I make a good, full recovery.

Foot pain and doctors

I didn't sleep well last night. I woke up to foot pain. It seems to happen once a month. My foot is doing much better now.

I managed to ask that I get a phone call from my doctor later on today. I have been contemplating changing doctors, but it's not the best time during a pandemic.

My work offers connecting virtually to a doctor. I may give that a try and see how that goes.

The weekend and an appointment change

My weekend is coming to a close. I often wonder why weekends end up blowing by so quickly and the workweek tends to not do the same thing.

I am contemplating changing my in-person doctor's appointment to having it over the phone like I have been since this pandemic started. The woman at the lab made it in-person. I don't trust her judgment. Half a year ago, she insisted that I get my health card updated even though expired ones are considered valid during this pandemic.

We'll see what happens. I dread waiting because it's horrendous and I could be doing better things with my time.

Got my first vaccine shot!

I am thankful for getting my first COVID-19 vaccine shot on Friday. Everything went well.

The clinic was at a hockey arena. I haven't stepped foot into one for over a year. It was nice.

Everyone at this arena was helpful, kind, and wonderful. The medical doctor who administered my vaccine shot was so great, explaining what will happen and what symptoms I could feel afterwards. I

 have no soreness in my arm right now. I did have a dull, mild headache. It has since disappeared.

It was a well-organized clinic. My second shot is in August. I took half a day off to get the shot on Friday and will take the other half day then. It's not like I have places to go with my vacation days, so I'm okay taking time off to relax, even if it's getting a vaccination and driving for an hour to get to the clinic.

A productive Sunday

I had a productive Sunday. I tend to cook in the morning. I made a batch of French toast to enjoy throughout the week. The bread has no sugar, which is great.

I also made mini turkey quiches. I'm still using up my leftover turkey, and added spinach and cheese to the egg mixture. They turned out better than I had expected.

My dad needed me to help book a doctor's appointment for him. Everything is done online and he isn't there. He's booked for a phone appointment later on today.

I also finished filing tax returns for my parents. He gave me all tax receipts on Easter Monday and wondered why I hadn't done them on Thursday. I have to work. I do my best tax work on the weekend when I'm not pressured. It was odd. Our tax deadline is always at the end of April, so I didn't understand why he felt like rushing things.

Sadly, the weekend is over. Here's to a new workweek!

Foot pain and magnesium

My foot pain returned last night. I still can't pinpoint what triggers it. However, eating a banana does the trick in getting rid of the pain.

Last Friday, I had a phone call appointment with my doctor. I asked what would be an better alternative to eating a banana for this foot pain. She recommended anything green and leafy. She thinks it's the magnesium that is helping me out.

Interesting. It makes sense why I have supplemented potassium and my foot pain occurred regularly. Eating a banana a day has helped reduce the occurrence to once every 1.5 to 2 months.

I do drink a green smoothie daily, except that it's mainly avocado, celery, protein powder, and cucumbers. Last week, I had spinach in it. Perhaps I should keep that up.

I will need to look at magnesium and see if that helps. I love eating bananas, but they get sugary when they get ripe. She says that eating a banana a day is okay and that maybe breaking it up so that I eat half in the morning and half in the afternoon will help.

I finally got a call from my doctor

The doctor drama continues. I called the clinic at around 10:30 am and spoke to the receptionist on why I didn't get a call on Tuesday. She apologized and said that things were busy. She said that the doctor would  call me back on Wednesday.

Guess what time I got that phone call? At nearly 17:00. I was in a work call. I had it running on mute while I talked with my doctor.

She didn't apologize. She said that she was busy. I said that it was understandable. However, for a patient who is waiting to have a call at a specific time, it wasn't acceptable.

Anyway, I have an appointment for bloodwork. Fun!

I am considering doing the virtual doctor thing over video. My company health plan covers it. It may avoid this phone call nonsense.

No doctor call, but I had a nice chat with a colleague about his English skills

As expected, I didn't get a call from my doctor. I left a voice message, letting folks there know that they missed the boat and to call me back later on today. I'll be calling them, too. I don't trust their reliability, which is sad.

I will ask for my appointment to be over the phone. I don't see the need to come into the clinic.

On a happier note, I worked with a software developer on a new feature. After we were done, he confided that he likes writing documentation. He said that if I have any feedback on his written work (he's from Brazil), he'd be happy to get some from me. 

It was nice to hear. I wish that more developers would work on improving their English, if English is their second language. Heck, there are some folks whose first language is English and aren't great at it!

I let him know that I'd be happy to provide feedback. I do it anyway within my team, so it's a natural extension.

A call with my doctor and items in the mail 1.5 months later

Yesterday, I called my doctor's office to inquire about whether I could talk over the phone with her or see her at the clinic. Three months ago, consultations were strictly over the phone.

I got an odd setup where my doctor will call me later on today and determine whether I need to come in to see her. I'm not liking that screening process. Sadly, I have to live with it.

I'm pretty punctual when it comes to appointments. I have a feeling that either the call will come to me late or I won't get one. I'm trying to be optimistic, but I don't have that vibe.

On an interesting note as I change the subject, I had ordered a couple of items from the United States in early July. The packaged arrived today. Thank goodness they weren't crucial items. I'm glad that I have them at long last.

Bumps in the love journey and my portable humidifier

It has been an interesting few days. On the romantic side, we aren't doing great. I'll talk about that in an upcoming blog post. I am still sorting through some of the ridiculousness that has transpired.

I still have congestion. I will let my doctor know when I see her on Tuesday. The good news is that it's getting better, but it has been around for a week that I'm concerned. My teeth also feel achy, which is odd. I got over-the-counter sinus medicine at the drug store to help with my congestion. So far, it's working out fairly well.

On Thursday night, I got a portable humidifier. It works well. The downside is that the instructions come from China and they aren't complete. I have been figuring it out as I go. I do like it, as it also acts as a nightlight. It also has two mist modes. There's a continuous one and a pulsating version. Fun!

Busy packing, going to appointments, and working

I spent some time packing for my staycation. I am pretty late with this task for my standards. I have been trying to wrap up work.

My doctor's appointment went well. I have another appointment today. I then get a bit of a break before I have a dental one in a couple of week.

Ah, the excitement... haha!

Vaccines and dating criteria

I had my doctor's appointment yesterday. My blood and urine reports were good.

I was asked whether I got my diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine recently. I said that I haven't had it since I was a kid.

Apparently, you are supposed to get it every ten years. Who knew? I got mine done. It's better safe than sorry.

I also got a leaflet from my doctor on the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Apparently, it's open to any adult who is sexually active where I live.

My guy and I talked about our health and partners that we've had when we first started dating.

"I have only had sex with one other person in my life," he admitted.
"Same here," I replied.
"That's good. We won't get any weird viruses," he stated.
"So, that's how you choose who you want to date. Attractive? Yes. No sexually transmitted diseases? Good. I'm horny. Let's go!"

He's sweet. I'm glad that we have been together, and we have been healthy and happy every since.

Dr. Death podcast

I love listening to podcasts. I have probably been listening to them since 2005.

I am currently listening to Dr. Death. It deals with Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a neurosurgeon who operated on 33 patients and eventually murdered three of them. He was an incompetent medical practitioner and the Texas medical board didn't act promptly when the first wave of complains came in.

It's a six-part podcast. I am listening to the fifth episode and can't wait for the final one. I feel for his patients who were operated on by this crazy doctor.

Dopey on cough syrup

This week, my guy started off with a light cough. It progressed into a dry, hacking one.

On Thursday, he called me from his car.

"Hey, sweetie. I left work early and am going to a walk-in clinic. I'll see how long it takes for me to see a doctor and then we can meet for dinner somewhere,"
"Okay," I said, at my desk taking the call.

Roughly twenty minutes later, he called me to say that he was done seeing the doctor and got a prescription for cough medicine. Wow, that was fast! We met at the Afghani restaurant again, but for dinner.

My order was better in that I didn't get dairy dressing on my salad. However, my guy didn't get any, either. I also got rice even though I never ordered it.

We sat down and started eating. My guy was dopey.

"It's rush hour right now. It's Rush Limbaugh hour... haha," he said.
"Are you okay?" I asked him.
"Sure, I'm doing the Rush Lambada," he said, moving his arms around as if he were dancing.

My guy doesn't dance unless he is high on something. He's a sweet, cheerful dopey guy when he is.

"How much over-the-counter cough medicine did you have today?" I asked him.
"I have this much left of the bottle," he said, showing me less than an inch with his fingers.
"Wow, that's a ton," I noted.
"Yes. I needed to suppress my cough. I ended up chugging it down," he admitted.

Luckily, we were at the restaurant for two hours and he had cut off his cough syrup-chugging for two hours before we met. It was wearing off by the time we left.

"You'll be okay?" I asked him.
"Yes, I'm doing much better now," he said, squeezing my hand.

We both learned that you can indeed get high on cough syrup. I recommend that you don't!

Why can't medical folks communicate well?

My biggest beef this year seeing various medical folks is that they don't communicate with one another. As someone who needs to communicate with people often, it drives me crazy.

The other day, when I went in to see my doctor for my regular quarterly checkup, as well as for my bronchitis. She asked a ton of questions about my eye stroke. I couldn't answer any of them. I asked if she got the report from my ophthalmologist. She didn't. I know that I gave him my family doctor's name and address.

She asked for the phone number of my ophthalmologist's office. Luckily, I had that on my phone. So, I showed her the number on my cell phone. She called her receptionist and asked to get my report from that office.

"Do you mind waiting for the report?" she asked me.
"Frankly, I want to go home and sleep," I admitted. "I don't know how long it will take."
"You have a good point."

I had already waited for 40 minutes in the waiting room to see my doctor. Why do I need to do it for an unspecified period when I am obviously not feeling well with all that coughing and sniffling?

My doctor is understanding. She said that she would follow up with me once the report comes to her. I just wish that medical folks made my life easier, rather than causing more havoc that I do not need to be subjected to.

Reading Grey in the doctor's office and thinking about ben wa balls

I had my quarterly doctor's appointment on Wednesday afternoon. I work from home on Wednesdays, so it isn't a big deal for me to work an extra couple of hours or so, to make up for my time away.

As expected, my doctor was running late. I was the first appointment after lunch, too.

I do come prepared. I have done everything from playing games on my phone to actually doing work on my laptop.

This time, I decided to pull out my Kobo app and read a book. I am more than halfway through reading Grey, which is essentially the Fifty Shades of Grey book, except that it is written from Christian Grey's perspective. I got it on sale just after Christmas.

Before my doctor came to see me, I was reading the part where Christian inserts ben wa balls in Ana, and then spank her across his knee with his hand. He first spanked her over her black lacy panties with his bare hand and then took them down to continue spanking her.

Before he spanked her, he tucked her hair behind her ear. He wanted to see her expression after each smack. He also kissed her backside afterwards.

All these details are reminiscent of what my guy and I do. I like wearing lacy black panties. He likes to spank me with them on and then eventually giving me a hard bare-bottomed spanking. He is known to kiss my backside sweetly after a spanking. He also likes seeing my reaction during a spanking.

The only difference? Ben wa balls. We don't own a set. Perhaps we should.

My doctor took my blood pressure. Luckily, reading Grey didn't affect my blood pressure. Instead, it made me feel aroused and happy.

Skype, shellac manicure, sleep, and spanking

My guy pinged me on Skype while I was waiting to see my doctor on Wednesday afternoon. Naturally, my appointment was running late.

I have never understood why things run that late with doctors in general. My appointment was at 13:00. I make it a habit to get there at the exact time of my appointment.

Anyway, my guy kept me company for a bit. I told him that I'd ping him once I was home. He was good with that.

Sadly, we never got around to talking to each other. I texted him and didn't hear back from him:

I'm home. Let me know when you're free.
Think you may be in dreamland =0

At 17:00, I had a manicure appointment. I had to use a Groupon by the end of the month before it expires. I got purple shellac polish, which is my favourite colour. My guy loves when I have purple polish on, as it turns him on even more.

He woke up while I was getting my nails done:

Hey
Where did you go?
You will be punished for this
You're in big trouble

My argument is that I shouldn't be spanked because he was his usual sleepyhead self. Naturally, that's not going to hold up well as a decent reason.