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Visiting the Medical Clinic
I made an appointment to go see Nurse Practitioner…9:20 am. Didn’t have many coughdrops, so I stopped on the way and bought a few to make it. Smart move on my part. It took longer than I anticipated.

I no sooner sat down and began reading my compelling book by Ted Dekker, when the clerk/receptionist sent me for a blood test (WHAT?), a chest x-ray and a sinus x-ray. So I waited. Pretty soon x-ray technician took me into the x-ray room, and I had a chest x-ray. I didn’t know what a sinus x-ray was, so I didn’t say anything. I went back to the waiting room and began reading, and the Needle-Woman called my name. In I went to get more blood from the same lady. I asked how she was feeling, she said she had a cold and wasn’t feeling too well. I told her she was around too many sick people.

She pulled 3 vials of blood. I don’t know how she does it, but she held the wad of gauze on the needle prick (a misnomer if I ever heard of one!) and with gloves on asked me my full name, then pulled off the sticker name tags and put them on the vials. Then she taped on the gauze on my bruised arm. (First bloodletting was for liver function test, it went up 3 — to 50, the 2nd was for hepititis (nurse later explained that was protocol), and today just because….can I get anemic from all that bloodletting in one week?

They sent me back to the Nurse Practitioner. Looks like I gained 10 pounds from last time, blood pressure was 140 / 80, not too bad, temperature I didn’t hear. I explained the medications I was taking, and then explained, not coughing up anything. Oh, didn’t you get a sinus x-ray? Back I went.

The technician apologized, but didn’t matter to me, I was in for the long haul. The morning was ruined anyway. Pretty soon, I had my x-rays. When I was supposed to put my nose and chin to the x-ray part — I felt like a kid holding my nose against the glass making myself look like a pig. She asked me which side of my face hurt the most — I said — neither one! There you are!

Back I went. Pretty soon the Nurse Practitioner came in. She said: Chest X-ray is OK, blood work looks good,
and then she said — you have a sinus infection.

She gave me a sample of Clarinex, a prescription for antibiotic (don’t take with iron, multi vitamins or milk) and one for some cough syrup (makes me dizzy?). Then that lovely lady gave me samples for Benicar, the new blood pressure med. She said my Christmas present for Christmas was no more coughing!

Now you know how my morning was. I forgot to take the phone, and Ed was a little worried. I’ve had a little nap, and put on the stew that I should have done this morning. Ed loves the beef stew and it was time. Soup is all that really sounds good to me with all the coughing I have done.

This morning reminded me of the day that I made my decision for Medicare D RX. Since I am a retired teacher, the health insurance will be minus the prescription part by January 1st. Oh, oh! Now what. While racking my brain, studying online, finding out which medications are available with which plan, asking friends what they were going to do, I decided. What a load off of my mind. The selection will help pay for the medication that I will need on the 4th of January. I just counted my prescription pills.

When I opted to get Medicare B last summer, I assumed that the school insurance would be secondary. WRONG. Never assume anything. Medicare was not paying. Received a letter with two phone numbers on it. It wasn’t one of those letters that you can ignore, and maybe it will dissipate, disappear, drop into cyber nothingness. Or like Sanford used to put his bills back in the mailbox. Remember?

I called the first number. I punched ‘1’ for English. As I progressed into the labrinth of number-land, I thought perhaps I had hit another number for a more peculiar language. I didn’t understand at all. What is a medicare beneficiary? I thought it was an insurance term for next of kin. Then I realized that may be what I needed. There were 9 choices. I chose the wrong one. I hung up.

I tried again. This time my piano student was at the door after I chose numbers and was in the 3rd level somewhere. I might as well be in cave with choices without number. I hung up. I recalled Dick Van Dyke asking someone to lay down the phone, because they were cleaning the phone lines and were going to blow! Do you remember that sitcom? It was back in the 60’s when funny television was funny. Perhaps if I blowed on the phone, it would clean out, clarify all the things I was hearing.

The next day…I had to recoup my energy, patience and persistance quotient overnight…I tried again. After about 10 minutes I reached a human being! Wow! A human! I wanted to jump through the wires and hug her. If it were a him, I would have hugged him, too. Hugging is fun, you always get hugged back.

After I explained my problem, I heard the clatter of Rudolph’s hoofs on the roof…wrong story…I heard the clatter of computer keys on the phone. And then it was finished. I asked again. Is Medicare the primary insurance? She assured me that it was. I guess my birthday convinced her I was old enough. Being old enough has always been a phobia for me since my peers in the 7th grade wouldn’t tell me what they were talking about and they responded, “You aren’t old enough.”

So my day is ended. Such an interesting day. Perhaps I should take a nap before I go to bed. Reckon?
Golden Years. Oh, yes! I am in the Golden Years!